Educating for Innovation

Higher education is seeking to rise to the challenge. With origins in medical education, problem-based learning has spread wide as a student-centered pedagogical approach to supporting interdisciplinary learning Design based education takes a similar approach with an added focus on creating: applying theory to creating artifacts, systems and solutions.  In the context of learning development and innovation skills, both problem-based and design-based education are often organized in a project-based manner. Typically, this means learners exploring different representations and alternative solutions to real challenges, iterating and interacting in teams to produce an outcome.

However, balancing different needs and varying resources is not easy in practice, and educators face a wide array of choices within such active learning approaches. Indeed, there are perhaps as many ways to organize problem-, design- and project-based learning as there are educators.

In this report, we take stock of the pedagogical choices and collaboration practices implemented to make educating for innovation work, hoping to shed light on different tactics in different contexts. Rather than offering a turnkey solution that inevitably fails to meet specific needs, we benchmark current practices in project-based learning across the globe to inspire and support local learning and experimentation. Together, we can learn from one another and co-create effective ways to foster the skills and capabilities we need for the future.