| Unit name | Innovation Project |
|---|---|
| Unit code | INOVM0021 |
| Credit points | 60 |
| Level of study | M/7 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Academic Year (weeks 1 - 52) |
| Unit director | Mr. Dave Jarman |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Units you must take before you take this one (pre-requisite units) |
Tools and Methods for Innovation Either: Idea to Launch or Client Led Brief |
| Units you must take alongside this one (co-requisite units) |
None |
| Units you may not take alongside this one | |
| School/department | Centre for Innovation |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
Why is this unit important?
This final project acts as a focus for the accumulated skills resulting from other units within the Innovation and Entrepreneurship master's degree programmes: the overarching aim is application of those skills within an innovative and creative conceptualisation, design and development cycle leading to a potentially viable and sustainable innovative new venture.
How does this unit fit into your programme of study?
The unit offers a high degree of freedom to select and develop a project and allows you to work together as a collaborative development team or to work on your own if you wish; spending a significant amount of time and effort on the research and development of a novel offering which meets a clearly identified market opportunity to create value.
The result will be a venture plan which can be presented to potential investors or stakeholders, alongside a design document which provides a clear account of their design process and a reflective summary of what has been learned through the process of doing the project.
This unit provides an opportunity to refine and exercise a highly transferable set of skills including collaboration, self-awareness, self-reflection, self-management; creative design; research; product or service development and prototyping; analysis, critique, and evaluation; entrepreneurship and new venture creation.
An overview of content
This is a supervised dissertation unit, as such there is no taught content. Your supervisor will however support you to extend your knowledge and skills gained from previous units.
How will students, personally, be different as a result of the unit
You will have gained not only competence and confidence applying your research and design skills to the creation of a Venture, but produced a Plan of a standard you can share with potential stakeholders to get started. This unit should not only provide a transformative opportunity to explore a project of real interest, but also of real career value in either starting a venture or showcasing the kinds of skills employers want to see. Design Thinking, Systems Thinking and business development knowledge will have been extended and you will be able to select and apply them to a range of real and imagined scenarios. You will have further acknowledged and be able to articulate what thinking and acting like an entrepreneur means to you.
Learning Outcomes
By the completion of this unit students should be able to:
1. Select and apply a range of appropriate tools and approaches to develop a compelling value proposition for an innovative new project.
2. Critically evaluate the desirability, feasibility, viability, adaptability, and credibility of a proposed innovation project.
3. Present a professional-standard plan for an innovation project covering all aspects of the contextual or market analysis, route to adoption and implementation, strategic advantage, and financial case.
4. Document and reflect critically on both the process of discovering and validating a viable and innovative value creation opportunity and the personal learning that took place.
5. Demonstrate skills collaborating with and for others in the process of realising value creation activities.
This dissertation-type project is intended to promote self-directed and collaborative learning, under guidance of an academic supervisor (plus any relevant external third-parties).
Tasks which help you learn and prepare you for summative tasks (formative):
Regular supervision meetings will help you prepare for your summative assessments. There is also an early Project Proposal submission intended to help staff give you an early steer on the direction of your project and point you towards valuable resources and guidance. The Concept Pitch summative assessment also falls early and carries only 10% of the marks and is as such also intended as a valuable feedback opportunity from a panel of Centre staff.
Tasks which count towards your unit mark (summative):
3500 words
3500 words
2000 words
10 minutes (equivalent to 1000 words)
When an assessment does not go to plan
In the case of individual assessments a student who was not able to take or pass the assessment at the first attempt would get a fresh attempt to pass the same assessment. In the case of any group assessments we would enable anyone who was not able to take or pass the assessment at this first attempt an individual assessment in the form of an individual critique of their group’s original submission highlighting areas for improvement and development through better use of the taught methods.
If this unit has a Resource List, you will normally find a link to it in the Blackboard area for the unit. Sometimes there will be a separate link for each weekly topic.
If you are unable to access a list through Blackboard, you can also find it via the Resource Lists homepage. Search for the list by the unit name or code (e.g. INOVM0021).
How much time the unit requires
Each credit equates to 10 hours of total student input. For example a 20 credit unit will take you 200 hours
of study to complete. Your total learning time is made up of contact time, directed learning tasks,
independent learning and assessment activity.
See the Faculty workload statement relating to this unit for more information.
Assessment
The Board of Examiners will consider all cases where students have failed or not completed the assessments required for credit.
The Board considers each student's outcomes across all the units which contribute to each year's programme of study. If you have self-certificated your absence from an
assessment, you will normally be required to complete it the next time it runs (this is usually in the next assessment period).
The Board of Examiners will take into account any extenuating circumstances and operates
within the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
