University College Dublin

The Professional Certificate course has two 5 ECTS modules. The Professional Diploma incorporates an additional model centred around a six month action research project worth 10 ECTS.

Throughout the course participants will engage in a hands-on, action learning environment with an emphasis on group work and project based learning.

Participants are required to apply the learning to a action project and present this at the end of the course along with a personal learning reflection.

Creative Thinking and Innovation for Entrepreneurial Educators (IA 40320)
This module aims to introduce participants to the mindsets and skills necessary to inspire creative thinking and innovation at the personal level and amongst student cohorts. Throughout the module, participants will be introduced to the core techniques and tools of creative thinking, problem solving and team-based innovation and they will be encouraged to reflect on how these can be applied in the educational context. Central to the module is an introduction to the Stanford d.school method of design thinking. The module also explores ways of triggering creative thinking within an educational institution. Generic foundations of teaching and learning, including motivation, evaluation and review will be explored. A strong emphasis is maintained on the verbal communication of creative and innovative ideas.

Upon completion of this module participants should:
Understand the relevance and importance of creative thinking and how it can be applied in a variety of disciplines to generate solutions.
Be able to use problem solving tools and techniques and understand the process for initiating and using creative techniques within project structures.
Have an understanding of general pedagogical principles within the context of creative thinking and innovation.
Have a knowledge of established methods and techniques for triggering creative thinking.
Have the ability to design and deliver their own style of educational experience for generating creative thinking in a multidisciplinary environment.
Participants will also have further developed their engagement with creative and innovative processes from an alternative angle, whilst constantly developing their networks and building on their interpersonal and presentation skills.

Entrepreneurial Thinking and Innovation for Entrepreneurial Educators (IA 40330)
This module aims to introduce participants to the mindsets and skills necessary to inspire entrepreneurial thought and action at the personal level and amongst student cohorts. The module introduces core concepts central to the development of entrepreneurial ideas from initial idea to launch such as opportunity generation and development, iteration and prototyping and idea validation. We draw particularly on the Osterwalder Business Model Canvas to work through the commercial development of ideas. Participants will be expected to develop projects through the canvas, working in teams to test ideas and prototype solutions. The module also considers ways of triggering entrepreneurial thinking within an educational institution. Generic foundations of teaching and learning, including motivation, evaluation and review will be explored.

Indicative Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this module participants should:
Have a broad interpretation of entrepreneurial activity and an understanding of its role in the context of their teaching and student learning.
An understanding of general pedagogical principles as they relate to entrepreneurial activity.
A knowledge of established methods and techniques for triggering entrepreneurial thinking.
Experience of group dynamics and motivation.
The ability to design and deliver their own style of educational experience for generating entrepreneurial thinking in a multidisciplinary environment.
Participants will also have further developed their engagement with entrepreneurial processes from an alternative angle, whilst constantly developing their networks and building on their interpersonal and presentation skills.

Action (IA 40260)
The aim of this module is to foster an entrepreneurial mindset amongst professional participants and to develop skills that will help them to identify the potential value of their ideas and convert those into sustainable economic, social, environmental and cultural activities and impacts.

Participants will embark on an individual six month (July - December approx.) project, which will provide them with an opportunity to apply the substance of the themes from the modules taken as part of the Professional Certificate for Entrepreneurial Educators to practice in their classrooms, lecture theatres or training and learning environments. Each participant will create a presentation and report. At the end of the module, participants present findings from their project work and any future development plans.

On completion, participants should:
Have a broad interpretation of entrepreneurial thinking and an understanding of its role in the context of their profession.
Be able to recognise potential opportunities for themselves and opportunities which may emerge in collaboration with others.
Understand how to develop a structured plan to move ideas from the creative ideas stage through evaluation, translation and, ultimately, realisation of the new venture in an educational context.
Be able to identify the problems that are likely to be encountered during the development and implementation process and develop a strategy to navigate around them.
Have acquired an appreciation of the challenges and rewards of launching a new idea or educational approach and an understanding of the critical activities involved.
Have developed a network of peers spanning numerous disciplines.
Have acquired a set of transferable skills including team-building, negotiation, networking, pitching.