This document summarizes research on how employers want graduates with real-world problem solving skills. It then describes a university program called StudioBlue that trains students in innovation and problem solving by having them develop solutions to real problems in the community. Students reported that the program helped them learn to be more creative, see problems as opportunities, and apply their skills outside the classroom. Quantitative measures also showed students felt more equipped to help local businesses after completing the program. The university aims to further study the benefits of this hands-on learning approach.

1. Battling “Senior-itis”
Challenging Students With Ideation
Through Implementation
Charlie Wood
Jim Zboja
Claire Cornell
The University of Tulsa

2. Background
• Employers are seeking graduates with
more than just “book smarts”
• They are looking for graduates with
experience and the ability to innovate
• Feedback at our university

3. Peter D. Hart Research Associates
Interviewed 305 employers, 510 recent
graduates and conducted three focus groups
with business executives.
• 73% of employers wanted graduates to have the
ability to apply knowledge and skills to real-
world settings.
• 70% wanted graduates to have the ability to be
innovative and think creatively.

4. Peter D. Hart Research Associates
• Both groups believe that higher education
institutions should provide students more
experience with real-world applications
through hands-on learning.

5. 2010 National Survey of Student
Engagement (NSSE)
• Surveyed 362,000 students at 564 U.S.
baccalaureate-granting colleges and
universities about their experience in college.
• 50% of graduating seniors reported that they
completed some kind of enriching educational
experience during their college career.
(practicum, internship, field experience, clinical
assignment)

6. 2010 National Survey of Student
Engagement (NSSE)
• 33% of the seniors reported that they had
completed a culminating senior experience.
(capstone course, senior project or thesis,
comprehensive exam)
• Graduating seniors reported a score of 1.74
when asked if they had engaged in a
community-based project during their 4
years of college. (1=never to rarely; 4=very
often)

7. Characteristics of Millennials
• optimistic, cooperative, team players, civic-
minded, confident. (Howe and Strauss, 2000)
• collaborative, altruistic, and they value personal
creativity. (Josiam et al., 2009)
• utilization of a team-based approach or
“collective creativity” taps into millennials’ high
esteem for creativity and their collaborative
nature.

8. What we did at TU
Our goal was to improve student
engagement and learning outcomes
through collaborative coursework by
providing students with training in
innovation and problem-solving and then
enabling them to develop creative, real-
world solutions that result in societal or
civic improvements.

9. StudioBlue
• Studio Blue: a one-of-a-kind resource at the Collins
College of Business designed to give TU students
practice employing the creative process by solving
real-world problems.
• Studio Blue’s benefits are two-fold:
1. Students learn to harness their innovative
abilities
2. Actual problems are solved for companies, non-
profits and other organizations

12. Pedagogical Approach
• John Dewey’s 3 Principles
Experience Inquiry Reflection
• Kolb’s Experiential Learning
Experiencing Reflecting Generalizing Applying
•IDEO’s Human Centered Design
Inspiration Ideation Implementation

13. Undergrad Application
The 1894 Challenge
• Project-based course on innovation
(inspiration ideation implementation)
• Identify 18 needs in local community,
among consumers, and on campus
• Develop set of 5-6 feasible solutions
to each problem
• Implement one per student

14. Corporate Projects Community Projects Campus Projects

16. Corporate Projects Community Projects Campus Projects

17. Welcome | About Us | Products | Contact Us | Surveys | Buy Online | Community
Welcome | About Us | Products |
Contact Us | Surveys | Buy Online |
Community
http://www.berganexperience.com/

18. Corporate Projects Community Projects Campus Projects

19. Oklahoma has the highest rate of female incarceration
in the U.S. and 81% of those women have children.

20. Qualitative Student Outcomes
•“The class taught me that you have to work at being
creative and innovative.”
•“This class was refreshing because it took the creativity
that I was used to and extended to the business realm
…. I never really thought about a business team
having to sit around and brainstorm innovative ideas
before this class.
•I got a chance to experience group brainstorming
and creativity in a sometimes problematic setting. Not
everyone was always on the same page and not
everyone was open to every idea…we had to overcome
the obstacles of negativity.”

21. Qualitative Student Outcomes
• “I now look at every problem that I face as an
opportunity for innovation. I used to abhor hearing
people complain, but now it’s one of my favorite past
times because I learned in this class that where
ever there is a complaint there is an opportunity
for innovation.”
• “The most valuable lesson I learned was that true
innovation requires taking risk and action… rather
than safely talking about what would be innovative.”

22. Qualitative Student Outcomes
• “One of the best classes I have taken; completely
different from anything I've ever seen in a classroom
before and a total breath of fresh air. This class
imitated the real work environment more than any
lecture style course.”
• “Traditionally when I found a problem in society I would
just complain about it. Now, I take these problems as
a challenge to find a better way to accomplish my
goals…. By learning how to better identify not only
problems, but creative solutions is one of the
lessons that I am personally most proud to have
been able to take away from this class.”

23. Qualitative Student Outcomes
“The course introduced me to something that I had
not experienced before since probably elementary
school. Throughout my education …any ideas
that I had would always be shut down to where I
did not want to speak anymore. I felt like the
more creative I was the more wrong I was.
This course has made me realize that I still have
my creative thinking process, it was just stored
away.”

24. MBA Course
• Project for a local nonprofit
•Students conducted qualitative research in order to
discover the needs of the target market.
• Brainstormed as a group to develop the most
effective promotional ideas for a marketing campaign.
•Creating a direct mail campaign that was printed and
mailed to 200 area businesses.
•The result was twice as many interested businesses in
hiring the graduates of the non-profit’s job training
program.

25. Quantitative Student Outcomes
• Self-report questionnaire on their impressions of how well-
equipped they felt they were to help a local small business
• Pre- and Post-tests
•Seven of the twenty study items displayed significant
improvement from the pre-test to the post-test stage.
•The most distinct improvements: “How to understand
customers and gain insights into their needs” and “Ability to
design solutions that are practical.”
• Nearly all items showed incremental, if not statistically
significant, improvement.

26. Where do we go from here?
• More precise testing of the benefits of the
HCD framework
• Impact on student learning (e.g., creativity tests)
• Impact on innovation quality of new hires (survey
hiring managers)
• Frequency of internship and job placements
as a result of student projects.

27. The University of Tulsa
THANK YOU!