ENCS 483/6041

InnovationandCriticalThinkinginScienceandTechnology
Instructor:
Time:
Email:
Office Hours:
appointment

Dr. Deborah Dysart-Gale, Centre for Engineering in

Society
Mohamed Haydar; Kyle Gehmlich
Wednesday, 14h4517h30
Deborah.dysartgale@ concordia.ca
EV2.255 Tuesday, 3:00-4:30p and by

Course Description
This experiential course provides students the opportunity to explore
the theory and practice of innovation and design thinking in
interdisciplinary teams. Topics covered include ideation, team work,
presentation skills and problem identification.
Understanding, thinking, arguing, and creativity in science
and technology; analyzing and critiquing complex problems
using theories of creativity, communication, business, and
psychology; exploring the processes of invention and
innovation and their impact on economics, popular media,
and social and cultural structures; case studies of why some
inventions fail and others succeed; examining the role
experts and researchers play in the diffusion of ideas.
Students will be evaluated on case studies, assignments, and
exams. Lectures: three hours per week.
Course Objectives
Participants will learn to address and utilize different approaches to
design in disciplinary and interdisciplinary team settings.
Attendance and Participation Policy
Prompt attendance and class preparation are basic expectations. Class
participation is compulsory.
Class Etiquette
It is expected that all students will contribute to a supportive and nondiscriminatory learning environment by respecting basic classroom
courtesy and displaying professional behavior. Late arrivals, early
departures, ringing cell phones, text messaging and eating are all
disruptive activities that negatively affect classroom learning,
reflecting disrespect and inattention to colleagues. Students are
expected to conduct themselves professionally, participate in class

discussions, offer their considered observations, and listen respectfully

to others opinions, even if these are in disagreement with their own.
Academic Misconduct
The most common offense under the Academic Code of Conduct is
plagiarism, which the Code defines as the presentation of the work of
another person as ones own or without proper acknowledgement.
This could be material copied word-for-word from books, journals, Internet sites,
professors course notes, etc. It could be material that is paraphrased but closely
resembles the original source. It could be the work of a fellow student, for example, an
answer on a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another
student. It might be a paper purchased through one of the many available sources.
Plagiarism does not refer to words alone - it can also refer to copying images, graphs,
tables, and ideas. Presentation is not limited to written work. It also includes oral
presentations, computer assignments and artistic works. Finally, if you translate the work
of another person into French or English and do not cite the source, this is also
plagiarism.
Source: http://provost.concordia.ca/academicintegrity/plagiarism
Course Assignments
All graded and ungraded assignments are to be completed before class
begins on the day specified on the schedule. Assignments turned in
after the beginning of class or in the case of Moodle submission, after
the cut off time, are considered late assignments and will receive a
zero. No late assignments will be accepted without prior instructor
approval.
Assignment 1: Passion and Skills Inventory
10%
Individual assignment. Using the template found on the Moodle, you
will assess and identify your interests and activities in pursuing your
degree and other personal development at this stage of your life.
Assignment 2: Creativity Challenge
10%
Group assignment. Your team will be given an object with instructions
to increase the monetary or social value of that object. Deliverables
are a 2-minute video describing your object, to be given in a 5-minute
presentation. Individual component is a 1-page reflection of your
innovation process.
Assignment 3: Landfill Project
10%
Group assignment: Your team will identify and assess a poorly
designed object that fails to address user problems for which it is
intended. Presentation.

Individual assignment: You will re-assess the object your team

presented and improve it significantly to address a real problem faced
by a defined group of users.
Assignment 4: Interview Journal Project
10%
Individual assignment. All members of your team will first interview
members of your designated group of users to identify a significant
problem they face, how they currently deal with the problem, and then
interview them again to validate the prototype solution your team
designs. In this assignment, you will create a journal reporting on your
experiences when conducting your interviews.
Assignment 5: Prior Art Assessment
10%
Group assignment. Your team will prepare a report on the existing
solutions that are similar to yours.
Assignment 6: Final Innovation Project
40%
Group assignment. The final project will document the process your
team used as you identified a significant problem faced by your
defined group of users. You will report on the interviews, C-sketches,
validation, and prior art research. Final deliverables are a 2-minute
video describing your project, to be given in a 10-minute presentation.
Written component is a log of the process. Individual component is a 1page reflection of your innovation process and learning.
Assignment 7: Participation:
10%
Because progress in the course requires maximum personal effort in
creativity and innovation, as well as team work, participation will
comprise an important component of the final grade
Tentative Schedule
See Moodle
Assignments consist primarily of group presentations, and thus cannot
be easily rescheduled in case of absence. Group members who cannot
participate in their teams presentation will lose 10% of the assignment
grade, and be responsible for all written and team work associated
with the assignment.