Exploring Creativity and Innovation
Overview
This unit aims to provide a practical introduction to using selected innovation tools and methods in different contexts. Through hands-on learning, students will acquire familiarity with concepts, terms and processes that are part of a meaningful toolkit for implementing creativity and innovation in many different business and industry sectors and/or discipline areas. This unit emphasises learning-by-doing for knowledge and skills development, with students engaging in interdisciplinary projects to gain competency in working collaboratively as part of contemporary innovation practice.
Requisites
03-August-2025
Learning outcomes
Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:
- Analyse the nature of innovation culture in context including factors that stimulate and inhibit creativity, ideation and collaboration.
- Develop basic creativity and innovation skills by applying relevant tools to specific tasks.
- Interpret how creativity, design and innovation are interconnected, scalable and replicable processes.
- Develop design solutions iteratively, through ideation, user testing and prototyping.
- Apply sprint methodology to a complex, real-world challenge.
- Collaborate effectively in interdisciplinary teams on an innovation project integrating social, technological and environmental impacts.
Teaching methods
Hawthorn
| Type | Hours per week | Number of weeks | Total (number of hours) |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-campus Studio | 3.00 | 12 weeks | 36 |
| Unspecified Activities Readings | 1.00 | 12 weeks | 12 |
| Unspecified Activities Various | 5.00 | 12 weeks | 60 |
| Unspecified Activities Independent Learning | 3.50 | 12 weeks | 42 |
| TOTAL | 150 |
Assessment
| Type | Task | Weighting | ULO's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Project 1 | Group | 30% | 3,4,5,6 |
| Project 2 | Group | 40% | 1,2,4,5,6 |
| Reflective Piece | Individual | 30% | 1,3,5,6 |
Content
This unit may include:
- Using tools for bringing creativity and innovation to interdisciplinary practice
- Experiencing the culture of innovation including teamwork, collaboration and failing forward
- Creativity, curiosity and perseverance in relation to complexity and ambiguity - shifting from solving a problem to finding a better problem to solve
- Data collection, analysis and synthesis
- Hands-on ideation methods and techniques
- The technological, human and economic factors influencing complex challenges
Study resources
Reading materials
A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.