Case Study with UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science
Jack Brophy, Co-Founder Anytime Creativity
Craig Slattery, Assistant Professor of Regulatory Affairs & Toxicology at University College Dublin used our platform to offer a real-world challenge for his 155 Master students on his Regulatory Affairs for Life Sciences Masters module in March 2024. The primary goal was to deepen learning around the proposed revision of the directives & regulations of the European Medicine Agency (EMA). A secondary goal was to foster a collaborative problem-solving mindset amongst this new intake of diverse learners.
The Solution
Based on the EMA’s stated objectives, Craig identified 6 potential problem domains or focus areas and 6 broad all-encompassing solution enablers as illustrated here. The reason for providing such parameters is that research tells us that creativity thrives on constraints.1
Over the course of three weeks, students worked in teams to select a focus area, gather insights, define a narrowly focused problem, craft a solution and validate their solution via peer feedback. Upon completion of the challenge, students voted for their favourite ideas and all participants received a digital badge which they could add to their LinkedIn.
The Impact
- 166 diverse ideas created; 47 original team ideas and 119 individual builds.
- 95% participation rate despite being non-assessed with very high levels of student engagement.
- 56% of students scored it a 5 out of 5 experience, 34% rated it 4 out of 5 and 10% of students gave it 3 out of 5.
- 90% of students reported that it was their first exposure to creative thinking processes on any academic programme.
Craig is currently running the challenge again with his new cohort of Regulatory Affairs students. Using the analytics from last year’s challenge, he has been able to adapt the challenge parameters and revise the student journey to deepen engagement and further enhance the learning outcomes.
The Voice of the Educator and Student
“We created a customised, non-assessed Innovation Challenge for 165 Masters students based on new EMA directives & guidelines. The participation rates were very high and the quality of ideas were superb. Students were buzzing. The Voting gave everyone an appreciation of the diversity of ideas possible and required critical thinking to vote on the best idea while the build on others ideas tested a different creativity skill again. It was a fabulous challenge, low hassle for me and high impact for students. Highly recommended.”
Craig Slattery, Educator
“I liked that the Challenge was real-world because it made it so immersive. We had fun brainstorming so many different ideas and it made me think about how we all look at problems from different perspectives. I also liked the voting because it forced me to analyse all the different ideas. It was a great challenge and I learned loads about my creativity. Kudos all round.”
Alessandra Wong Albujar, Student
“I really enjoyed building on the ideas of others, looking through all the ideas that were submitted & thinking about how they could be improved. It forced me to think in creative ways that I don’t often use. Overall the Challenge was a fresh & playful way for students to test their real-world healthcare innovation skills. Well done for arranging it.”
Allison Laws, Student
References
1. Zhou, J. (2020). Bounding creativity: Condorcet winners in social networks. Stanford University.
