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Course Description

Challenge Based Innovation (CBI) is a project- and problem-based learning course, where multidisciplinary student teams and their instructors collaborate with faculty researchers and community and industry partners to innovate novel solutions to real-world problems. The projects are proposed by cross-disciplinary faculty collaborators and derived from using research to tackle complex human-centered challenges. The multidisciplinary student teams act as catalysts in developing and implementing novel solutions.

Examples

The Fall 2019 section of the DI_CBI course was team-taught by faculty members from Biological Sciences, Architecture and Fashion - it focused on supporting multiple student teams to participate in the international Biodesign Challenge competition ().

Other examples could include addressing mental health challenges, future transportation systems, poverty and/or accessibility challenges, etc.

Propose A Challenge Based Innovation Course Project

The DI_CBI course provides faculty with the opportunity to co-teach intersectional challenges that respond to competitions and/or live projects, with potential to implement the solutions developed within the course upon completion. The general expectation is that the proposed challenge would be the single focus for the entire semester. Please address the following criteria in your proposal:

1. CBI courses must be co-taught by at least two faculty (or a faculty/staff combination) from different departments (ideally colleges) in order to collaboratively address the context of the proposed challenge.
2. The challenge concept should be open to student involvement from any degree program and should clearly require collaboration beyond one disciplinary perspective. As such, the proposed challenge should be “intersectional” in nature.

Submission/Proposal Process

• Proposals of no more than 1,000 words should include:

  • Full name, title, email and department of each teaching collaborator.
  • Description of the proposed “challenge-based innovation” project concept.
  • Detail of how the project will incorporate team building/management, human-centered design approaches (empathy), making/prototyping and iterating, and collaborative ideation techniques. (DI executive director is happy to discuss these elements prior to proposal submission!)
• Each teaching collaborator must include supporting email from department chair/director of each program involved. Ideally, each instructor will be supported with a full-course-load assignment to co-teach the DI CBI course. Supporting funds to help academic departments support the workload assignment to teach the DI course may be available. Please encourage your program/department/school chair to contact J.R. Campbell, executive director for the Design Innovation Initiative, to discuss options at jrcamp@kent.edu.
• $1,000 of project supply funds will be provided by the Design Innovation Initiative (these must be direct material/supplies and/or student travel costs).
• Proposals should be emailed to DI@kent.edu.

Review Process

• The Design Innovation Curricular Task Force Team will review all proposals and make recommendations to the executive director, Design Innovation for consideration of support.
• Proposals will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. Notification will typically occur within two weeks of proposal submission.