FLEX 4
Use of creative Spaces within Higher Education to generate a motivational spark moment
During the CELT Festival in June 2016, Juliette Wilson-Thomas introduced Ed-Lab an innovative cross-faculty unit introducing enterprise into the curriculum. Students work with organisations or the local communities to develop creative educational initiatives, allowing many levels of engagement available to students: ranging from committing few hours to develop ideas to solve an issue, to developing of a project, which require research and planning and can contribute to an assignment or volunteering. Students have an opportunity to visit the organisation and experience the context in action and gain a realistic overview of what could be achieved. Creative spaces – facilitate guided ideation process, where organisation set a challenge or describe an issue they experiencing. Students respond to this challenge through brainstorming of creative ideas with a support of facilitators and community partners. Juliette explained the possibility of students from any department at MMU to get involved with this unit. In my role, I have been involved with the promotion of available funding for students’ Social Enterprise projects and running ideas.
Inspired by Ed-Lab’s approach, I was keen to reflect on the effectivity of the methods I used to engage students with the concept and development of social enterprise ideas: students reflecting on their skills and researching problems they could solve. Putting myself in a perspective of a student, I found Ed-LAB’s approach more inspiring, especially the idea of using of a creative space, an event engaging students in the active development of innovative ideas and facilitating a ‘spark moment’ that enhance their motivation to develop ideas into projects. The possibility of using such project to gain academic credits felt like a more realistic model, as many students despite enormous enthusiasm and depth of creative solutions, struggle to keep up their commitments to extracurricular projects they start.
Previously to engage students in the concept of Social Enterprise I run ideas generation workshops where students reflected on their skills and interests, researched problems they could solve and collaboratively developed an idea for a project. Aiming to spark their motivation to test and develop their idea, I have introduced the metaphor a growing a plant which represented a process of growing an idea from a seed, to fully functioning project. In the same way as a nurtured plant, if the idea is being developed and tested, it can grow into the successful project and even a business. This approach has helped me to engage students, who formed a student society and engaged with the use of unused greenhouse on campus where they grow produce and develop ideas for projects that use food and engage with sustainability. Students collaborated with staff across range of services: facilities on the restoration of the greenhouse or planting hanging baskets to make the campus more colourful and inviting; technical staff to use art-education lab to run cooking and sustainability workshops; environment team on appropriate use of space and sustainable ideas for project and academic staff on projects with local college. Activities such as this engaged other students in finding new interests and making new friends and contributed to enhancing community cohesion within a campus, which is essential for students to excel (Johnson et al’s 2007). While student-led projects made an impact on the campus community, the development of ideas within external environment, that present challenges solved in the context of students’ studies, would allow for further development of new skills and collaboration with professionals in the industry, contributing to development of professional abilities such as creativity, independent judgment, critical self-awareness, imagination and personal skills. (MMUCELT,2014)
Analysis:
Lack of motivation, not seeing the relevance of the course or to the student, can affect student engagement with extracurricular activities. Even students who are motivated to participate can find it difficult to commit to a project due to the amount of academic work and other personal commitments. Zepke and Leach (2010) suggest that student engagement is complex and need to be explored from various perspectives such as: intrinsic motivation and will to take actions; teachers facilitate active learning, collaboration and challenging experiences; institutional support and inclusive environment that respond to students needs and enable students to develop social and cultural capital become active citizens. To enhance student engagement there is a need for creating educational experiences that challenge, enrich and extend academic abilities of students. Ed-Lab provides an effective model to involve students on working on projects that go beyond programme of studies, provide opportunities to work collaboratively with students, staff and local communities. Solving real issues faced by communities or organisation can help students to become active citizens, who are aware of themselves and their abilities to effect change and prepare the constantly changing world.
The Social Enterprise ideas workshops and the use of the metaphor of ‘growth’ were partly engaging, as it only related to students’ intrinsic motivation and interest in this concept. According to (Thomas, 2012) interventions and approaches that enhance student engagement need to be mainstream, proactive, relevant, well-timed, collaborative and monitored. To enhance student engagement with the development of innovative ideas and entrepreneurial abilities, there is a need for collaboration with academic staff and external organisation to provide students with opportunities to develop innovative ideas link to their academic work and to expand their knowledge in practice.
The use of greenhouse served as a creative project space where students and staff worked collaboratively to restore and use the greenhouse and transformed it as learning laboratory which offered a social space for students on campus and contributed to the sense of belonging ‘students’ sense of being accepted, valued, included and encourage by other (teachers and pears)…’ (Goodenow 1993, cited in Thomas, 2012). Belonging developed through learning communities and partnership with staff and organisations can influence student academic engagement and student experience Zhao and Kuh (2004). Feeling of relatedness, social and environmental factors constructed within creative spaces can contribute to students’ intrinsic motivation ‘the inherent tendency to seek out novelty and challenges, to extend and exercise one’s capacities, to explore, and to learn’ (Ryan and Deci, 2000). Ed-Lab’s use of creative social environment where students can see the relevance of developing new skills through working on projects that use their ideas and skills they already have supported by expertise organisation and creative techniques that facilitate ideas, become a catalyst for ‘spark moment’ that motivate students to act on the developed ideas. Linking such project this format to assessment become a very attractive option within Higher Education.
Actions:
- Discuss the possibility of involving Cheshire students in engaging with Ed-Lab unit.
- To collaborate with academic staff to link Social Enterprise concept within a curriculum, and use Ed-Lab creative space concept during Development Week.
References:
Ryan, R. M. and Deci, E. L. (2000). ‘Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.’, American Psychologist, 55, 68-78. https://selfdeterminationtheory.org/SDT/documents/2000_RyanDeci_SDT.pdf
Johnson, D. R., Soldner, M., Leonard, J. B., & Patty, A. (2007). ‘Examining sense of belonging amongfirst-year undergraduates from different racial/ ethnic groups.’ Journal of College Student Development, 48(5), 525–542
Manchester Metropolitan University, Centre for Excellence Learning and Teaching (MMUCELT) (2014) The MMU Strategy for Learning, Teaching and Assessment. [Online] [10/01/2017] http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/employability/graduate_outcomes.php
Thomas (2012) ‘Building student engagement and belonging in Higher Education at a time of change: final report from the What Works?’ Student Retention & Success programme, London: Paul Hamlyn Foundation, [Online] [Accessed on 10/12/2016]
Zepke, N. and Leach, L. (2010) ‘Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action’, Active Learning in Higher Education 11(3) 167–177
Zhao, M. and Kuh, G. (2004) ‘Adding value: learning communities and student engagement.’, Research in Higher Education 45 (2), 115–38.
Marcin Wozniak cpd 