Music

Objectives:

The learner will be able to explore an idea or concept as openly as possible to gather a wide range of solutions through the power of group work and seek to build a consensus through: 

• Developing problem-solving skills as team members 
• Analysing information (and working with limited information) 
• Negotiating and cooperating with one another.
• Listening and leading 
• Group Decision making (consensus building) 

Overview:

The focus within this task is open idea generation within a team, pooling the expertise/wisdom of the group to create ideas that can then be evaluated and explored.

Within this scenario, participants must pretend that they've been shipwrecked and are stranded in a life boat. Each team has a box of matches, and a number of items that they've salvaged from the sinking ship but they can’t keep them all within the lifeboat. Members must agree which items are most important for their survival as they need to prioritise.  

Activity:

The challenge should be issued to the group, and time given to the challenge individually.  This is important in creating the challenge of consensus building as it allows to think about the problem individually; continues the cycle of presentation and discussion in groups evaluate the process to draw out their experiences until the whole team has had a chance to voice their opinions and how teams arrive at consensus decision where everyone's opinion is heard.

Time:         Flexible, but normally between 25 and 40 minutes
Number:     Up to 5 people in each group

Instructions

1. Divide participants into their small teams, and provide everyone with a ranking sheet (with two columns).

2. Ask team members to take 10 minutes on their own to rank the items in order of importance. They should do this in the second column of their sheet.

3. Give the teams a further 10 minutes to confer and decide on their group rankings. Once agreed, they should list them in the third column of their sheets.

4. Ask each group to compare their individual rankings with their collective ones, and consider why any scores differ. Did anyone change their mind about their own rankings during the team discussions? How much were people influenced by the group conversation?

5. Now read out the "correct" order, collated by the experts at the US Coast Guard (from most to least important): 

1. Shaving mirror. (One of your most powerful tools, because you can use it to signal your location by reflecting the sun.) 
2. Can of petrol. (Again, potentially vital for signalling as petrol floats on water and can be lit by your matches.)  
3. Water container. (Essential for collecting water to restore your lost fluids.) 
4. Emergency rations. (Valuable for basic food intake.) 
5. Plastic sheet. (Could be used for shelter, or to collect rainwater.) 
6. Chocolate bars. (A handy food supply.) 
7. Fishing rod. (Potentially useful, but there is no guarantee that you're able to catch fish. Could also feasibly double as a tent pole.) 
8. Rope. (Handy for tying equipment together, but not necessarily vital for survival.) 
9. Floating seat or cushion. (Useful as a life preserver.) 
10. Shark repellent. (Potentially important when in the water.) 
11. Bottle of rum. (Could be useful as an antiseptic for treating injuries, but will only dehydrate you if you drink it.) 
12. Radio. (Chances are that you're out of range of any signal, anyway.) 
13. Sea chart. (Worthless without navigational equipment.) 
14. Mosquito net. (Assuming that you've been shipwrecked in the Atlantic, where there are no mosquitoes, this is pretty much useless.) 
15. Sextant. (Impractical without relevant tables or a chronometer.)

Once the general discussion relating to the individual scoring has died away, draw the discussion to the team approach and explore issues of leadership, listening, negotiation, decision-making and consensus building.

Skill Development:

It is typical of many ice-breaker tasks that the learning is not within the task objective, but within the team process and often the desire to complete the task can mask the transferable learning that has been gained.  It is therefore key, that once the discussion of the challenge itself is complete, that the debrief explore the skill development within the task and team work itself.

Either within the groups themselves, and then as a larger group, or working directly with the full group, seek reflections and comment on what they have learnt about:

1. Listening  
2. Negotiating   
3. Decision-making skills,  
4. Creativity skills for thinking "outside the box 
5. Consensus building

As a facilitator, it is important that you allow them to explore their team process and find the learning within that.  This can involve team members sharing difficult feelings about not being listened to, and this needs to be acknowledged, accepted and the lessons drawn from it (would it have been a better process to take view from each member and vote? Should individuals have been more forthcoming if they had strong views and how do they ensure they are heard in the future?). The lessons from each group can be usefully heard by the wider group, in order to understand and learn from different approaches as this allows deeper reflection as to how to approach similar challenges in the future to be explored.

Resources:

Develop a simple chart for each team member. This should comprise six columns. The first simply lists each item (see below). The second is empty so that each team member can rank the items. The third is for group rankings. The fourth is for the "correct" rankings, which are revealed at the end of the exercise. And the fifth and sixth are for the team to enter the difference between their individual and correct score, and the team and correct rankings, respectively. 

If this cant be done in advance and handed out, then it can be drawn by each team member at the start of the challenge.

Objective:

Students should be able to:

• Identify and respond to stakeholder needs
• Communicate enthusiasm to 'sell' new ideas, concepts or solutions
• Interact with others both to build trust for long-term relations and also to 'close the deal' to make things happen. 

Overview:

The focus within this task is open idea generation, pooling the expertise/wisdom of the group to create ideas that can then be evaluated and explored; all focused within time constraints and a clear objective to 'trade up' or enhance their resources.

The focus on this task is to encourage learners to learn outside the "classroom", independently or as part of a group to influence, create and establish effective networks through negotiation and building trust. It requires a range of skills including research, idea generation and networking or sales techniques.

Activity:

Description:

The activity is run over 2 or more weeks and is learner directed experience.

Each learner/ group is given a low value object (such as "Red Paperclip") and asked over an agreed period of time to "trade the item up" to something of a higher value. Over time learners are tasked with seeing who can come up with item of highest value through the individual trades, in order to achieve this. Each trade MUST BE recorded by signature and photographic evidence the trade has taken place.

Learners are asked on completion of the task to create presentation e.g. Petcha Kutcha 20 x 20, video story, blog to share their experience with peers at a showcase event where the individual trading experience is shared and lessons learnt identified through clear/directed reflection.

All items traded up to are donated to chosen charity identified by learners, to avoid any issues of 'personal gain'. 

Skill Development:

As well as working within teams, enterprise and entrepreneurship involves the ability to build effective relationships with others. Well-developed interpersonal skills form the core of relationships both within and beyond the team. Reflection on this task should acknowledge the group reaching the (perceived) highest value object, but also explore the transactional experience and the motivations to engage. This also provides the opportunity to reflect upon social and interpersonal skills, such as

• Building trust
• Influencing
• Networking
• Negotiation
• Stakeholder relations.

Resources:

Per person:

• Red Paperclip (or other item to trade e.g. something from your department or subject area
• Trade up exchange form (simple dated log of activity) 
• Internet access
• Personal access to IT (Telephone; iPads/ Laptops) during the challenge 

References:

Key Authors

http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.co.uk/

Books

www.http://oneredpaperclip.blogspot.co.uk/

http://www.pechakucha.org/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5167388.stm

Objective:

Effective engagement of Alumni seeks to support the students to become:

• be flexible and adaptable, seeing alternative perspectives and offering a choice of solutions
• review and evaluate multiple solutions in contexts that anticipate and accommodate change and contain elements of ambiguity, uncertainty and risk.

Overview:

With the pre-arranged (and prolonged) support of alumni (now professionals) this approach of continued access to external professionals (ideally programme/course Alumni) is designed to prepare students to be able to engage with real clients and better enable them to respond proactively to change.

Externals are invited to engage with the current student group as they undertake a task, using social media (facebook; twitter etc) an/or Skype. This creates either incremental weekly instruction that builds into an overall assignment or regular support or feedback on course work from externals.

Activity

This approach needs pre-agreement and commitment of externals (ideally Programme/course Alumni) who commit to short, but regular interaction through social media or Skype.

This activity can either be driven by a live brief or challenge identified by the external (higher level of engagement) or as comment and support to those undertaking the programme, through sharing expertise and current work experiences. If the students are working on a live brief or task given by the external, this high level of interactivity can mean that summative deadlines can changedand information updated, and the newsworthy or other high profile influences can be included throughout the module. (The assignment usually mirrors an actual assignment undertaken professionally by an Alumni professional).

This engagement can be “managed” by the tutor – to pre-plan some ambiguity or pre-agreed change of brief/scope with the Alumni contact, or left open to allow access to externals as an organic relationship, where advice may be sought by the students or experience/daily practice shared by the Professional as they see fit.

In addition, any presentation /show case or final assignment submission can be shared with the external and their input made part of the summative or formative feedback (assessment strategy).

Note that the choice of social media will impact on the type of engagement between alumni and students, but ideally something that the Alumni member uses regularly will ensure more regular engagement. Even small inputs (as typically seen in social media such as Twitter) can guide student approach and ensure that they are able to ask private questions, and that other students can also learn from the mentor/alumni generic comments or insights.

Skill Development:

Depending upon the level and type of engagement, students can benefit from insights from a ‘typical day/week’ of a professional working in their area, or be pushed to develop their tolerance to ambiguity (through changing deadlines, or unexpected changes to the brief or additional information). This can build resilience in the students but there needs to be clear expectations of this relationship, as well as additional tutor support.

Students typically respond well to changes and additional insights from professional Alumni and can develop their understanding and judgement, in their chosen field, whilst gaining further insight regarding professional practice.

Students should be bought together to share their experience of virtually engaging with their Alumni contact and explore their emotional responses to the changing briefs or additional information. They need to explore, and develop strategies, for coping with ‘real world’ brief/challenges and exploringthis together, and sharing how they dealt with it, and could deal with it in the future, builds their confidence and resilience to change. Using reflective practice to consider the learning across the group can draw out a range of key lessons for preparing for future challenges.

Resources:

Access to, and ongoing (committed) virtual engagement by appropriate alumni – determine brief/project or to commit to regular updating/comment for a pre-agreed period of time.

References:

Penaluna, A., Penaluna, K and Diego, I. (2014) The role of education in enterprising creativity. In Sternberg R and Krauss, G. (2014) Handbook of Research on Entrepreneurship and Creativity. Cheltenham / Massachusetts: Edward Elgar).

Scott, J., Penaluna, A., Thompson, J & Brooksbank, D. Experiential entrepreneurship education: Effectiveness and learning outcomes. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research (Forthcoming)

Jones, C., Penaluna, A., Matlay, H., Penaluna, K. Discovering the Soul of Enterprise Education. Education +Training, Emerald Publishing (Forthcoming)

Penaluna, K., Penaluna, A., Jones, C. and Matlay, H. (2014) ‘When did you last predict a good idea?: Exploring the case of assessing creativity through learning outcomes’, Industry and Higher Education, Vol.8, No.6, December 2014: 399 - 410

Penaluna, A., Coates J. and Penaluna K., (2011) Creativity-Based Assessment and Neural Understandings: A Discussion and Case Study Analysis. Education + Training, Emerald Publishing, Volume 52, Issue 8/9, pp. 660 - 678

Objective:

• To enhance self-awareness in team work through reflective practice
• To reflect upon individual behaviour and practice
• To explore individual approaches to team work
• To develop approaches to improved future team working

Overview 

This reflective activity is based upon 'open questioning' to encourage students to explore their own behaviour in a group. As this activity focuses upon the individual it can be run effectively in any learning space and with any group size, however there are modifications available if the group has worked together before. 

Activity

Students are asked to work alone to complete the following sentences in relation to yourself when working in teams:

My greatest skill in teams is

A skill in teams which I could handle better is

My quality which team members respond to best is

I respond best to team members who

If there is one thing I do too much of, it is

If there is one thing I could do more of, it is

Team members find my manner predominantly

Students are asked to attempt this task individually (3-5 minutes) making notes for their own use.
Then they are invited to turn to the person next to them and ask them 'How did you get on?'.
This question is worded that way in case anyone does not want to talk about the specifics of what they have put down but still talk about how difficult or otherwise they found the exercise.
After they have discussed for 5 minutes or so, the tutor should ask the whole group the question, 'How did you get on?'
Individuals respond by exploring the difficulties they found in answering this and collectively the group seeks to identify three pre-requisites for developing self-awareness. 
These are:

1. you have to be curious about yourself: many have never really thought about their behaviour or attitude in teams;
2. you have to willing and able to seek information (feedback) about yourself from others;
3. you have be prepared to consider and process all feedback; many are concerned about how they will handle the information (inclined to filter out the 'good' news or the 'bad' news)

Modification: If the group have worked together before you can ask them to undertake this task in pairs. First answering for themselves and secondly answering for their partners.

Then they can discuss/compare perceptions, and hopefully learn about the accuracy of individual self-awareness.
This deepens their skill development as will require effective interpersonal skills.

Modification 2: Completing a list of prescribed incomplete sentences can be a simple but very powerful tool for getting started on the reflective process. You can issue similar open questions after presentations or group work for individuals to reflect on. For example:

• What I like most about my performance is ..
• I have most difficulty when I ..
• The bit I look forward to most is ..
• If I could change one thing about my approach it would be ..

Here are some incomplete sentences for use by a student or lecturer in reflecting on a teaching /presentation session:

The part of the session that I found most rewarding was ..
The one part I would do differently if I had the chance would be ..
I was at my most uncertain when ..
I was most relaxed when ..
I felt anxious when ..
I was pleased with ..
I felt awkward when ..
One part of what I said that I could have worded differently was ..

Skill Development

Developing effective reflective skills requires practice and repetition. These open questions, together with the opportunity to share and comment, create the space for students to review their approach and consider the future lessons for their practice/behaviour. The technique of 'open questions' supports reflective practice and can be adapted to review many of the individual and group activities that students are challenged to undertake. Collective debriefing on personal reflection is also incredibly useful in helping the students appreciate wider viewpoints or to deepen their own practice. However it may be helpful to share clear ground rules regarding personal disclosure during these discussions to ensure that individuals only share elements of their reflection that they are comfortable with. 

Resources:

None

References:

Mortiboys, A. (2012) Teaching with Emotional Intelligence 2nd edition London: Routledge
Paperback www.alanmortiboys.co.uk

Objective:

• To provide students with an opportunity to reflect upon and identify their own skills.
• To provide students with an opportunity to identify how each of these skills presents opportunities.
• To improve student’s knowledge, understanding and implementation of effective problem solving strategies.
• To encourage students to apply theoretical problem solving strategies within a real world context.

Overview:

The ability to identify solutions to problems, the creativity to identify the skills and resources needed to achieve these solutions, and the insight to identify the new opportunities these skills and resources can present are essential for the enterprising student.

Breaking Problems Down and Putting Solutions Together is a workshop designed to nurture these skills in students: presenting them with opportunities to reflect on their own skills, and think creatively about their applications, to explore and implement problem solving strategies in a variety of contexts, and to apply the above to real-world contexts, in their own lives and their own enterprises.

The workshop is designed to last for approximately 90 minutes, with ample opportunities for extension activities, further research and discussion. The workshop is suitable for a group of any size, through best works where space is available for students to engage in practical activities.

No preparation is required from students, and preparation time for workshop leaders in minimal (ensuring AV presentation is working correctly, ensuring basic materials for practical / extension activities have been sourced etc.).

An AV presentation, and full lesson plan, to accompany the delivery of this workshop is freely available online, and can be downloaded via the links provided in the Resources / References section of this document.

Activity:

(See Resources / References for materials to accompany the delivery of this activity). 

Part 1: Introduction

• Students are introduced to the themes to be covered during the workshop.
• As a warm up / ice breaker activity, a simple, practical challenge may be set to students at this point (For example – challenging students to cut a whole in a piece of A4 paper which is large enough to climb though – something which can be done with some lateral thinking!).
• The group discuss what businesses do, at the most basic level. I.e. provide products and services to meet the needs of customers. It is proposed that we may think of ‘needs’ as ‘problems’ for our purposes, and so can think of businesses as ‘problem solvers’ of various guises.
• Students are instructed that the workshop will be delivered in reverse order, i.e. Putting Solutions Together first, and Breaking Problems Down second (for good reason!).

Part 2: Identifying Skills

• Students are asked to list all the skills they feel that they have. Several examples may be offered to the group to stimulate thought. Students may do this alone, or confer with their colleagues.
• Students are invited to be bold (i.e. not too modest) in this process, and are invited to share their ideas with the whole group.  
• The amount of skills possessed by each individual, and by the group as a whole, is stressed.  

Part 3: Skills to Products

• Students are asked to consider each skill on their list, and for each skill consider what it allows them to do, i.e. a service it allows them to deliver,or a product it allow them to produce. (For example, skills in painting may help me to produce portraits, make prints and postcards, or tutor a person in art).
• Again, students may work as individuals, or confer whilst doing this, and again, students are asked to share their thoughts with the whole group. 
• As students share ideas, a full list of products and solutions can be noted at the front of the class, demonstrating the products and services at the group’s disposal.  
• It is suggested to students that these products and services are the basis of solutions to countless problems, and the basis for countless new opportunities.  

Part 4: Real World Example  

• Students are offered a real world example, where a focus on creativity and solutions (as opposed to problems) has led to a novel and unexpected outcome to a problem.  
• Contained within the AV presentation linked to this workshop, is a short film clip of Physicist Richard Feynman, discussing the story of how he came to win his Nobel Prize, and develop QED, in this very way!

Part 5: Breaking Problems Down

• Students discuss the nature of problems (Are they fundamentals, or can large problems be broken down into smaller problems?).  
• Students are presented with an example of a ‘difficult problem.’  
• Contained within the AV presentation accompanying this workshop, is an example question from a job interview for a position with Google.  
• To be solved, the problem must be broken down into a series of smaller, simpler problems. The group are invited to do this, and an answer to the problem is proposed as a group.
• If time permits, further activities may be offered at this stage (see How To Guides for inspiration on problem solving challenges).

Part 6: Problem Solving in a Real World Context

• Students are asked to reflect on a problem they have encountered (this can be something as basic as needing to meet an upcoming essay deadline, or something more substantial).  
• Students are asked to take this problem, and break it down as far as possible, into a series of smaller problems.
• Students are asked to reflect on the services and products they earlier identified as being at their disposal, and see how each provides a solution to each of these smaller problems, reflecting on any gaps.
• If desired, students may wish to share the examples they produce at this stage.

Part 7: Conclusion

• The group reflect on the merits of breaking problems down, and focussing on the solutions at their disposal, as a problem solving strategy.
• The key themes covered in the session are re-capped.

Skill Development:

Through participating in the workshop, students will be better adept at identifying their own skills, and seeing how these skills can be applied, in a wide variety of contexts, to solve problems and create opportunities. The will be better adept at breaking down and categorizing problems they encounter, and producing strategies to solve them quickly and efficiently. Through reflecting upon, documenting, and sharing their skills, abilities and the solutions at their disposal, they should have greater confidence in their capabilities, and better equipped to identify the specific areas of their skills set which they wish to develop.

Resources:

• Lesson plans and PowerPoint presentations to accompany this activity can be downloaded via > https://moodle.glyndwr.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=37§ion=11
• For activities on a similar theme, see How To Guide 'Creative Problem Solving'
  

References:

Zone Enterprise Hub, Topic: ZONE Resources. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: https://moodle.glyndwr.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=37§ion=11. [Accessed 30 July 2015].

Author:

• Originally delivered as an ‘Empower’ workshop, for the North East Wales Youth Entrepreneurship (YES) Hub, funded by Welsh Government.

Associated Case Studies

• Workshop: Breaking Problems Down and Putting Solutions Together (QAA 1, 2, 5)

Objective:

• The learner will be able to explore an idea or concept as openly as possible to gather a wide range of solutions
• To evidence the power of group work as more ideas are created through team work
• To explore the potential of networks and social connections

Overview

This group task challenges the teams to generate ideas within constraints. This task engages students by allowing them to draw upon their knowledge, connections, hobbies, subject experience, social networks etc. The open brief allows them to be creative but the constraints of time and “no spend” heighten their creativity.

Activity

There is an abundant supply of free-to-use resources which are not readily considered by those addressing a task. This challenge asks “How can you use one or more of these to provide an innovative product, service or experience which creates value for its users?” and seeks to engage the learners to consider the multiple forms of value creation - financial, economic, social, cultural, environmental, aesthetic.

Process – By placing your students into small working groups, suggest the following challenges to them:

1. BRAINSTORM: Identify by listing or brainstorming all the ‘freely available resources’ you can think of. These must be resources you can use for free, without being challenged or acting illegally or irresponsibly. They may include physical, virtual, human, financial and knowledge resources, for example. (Note: you are asking them to draw together resources that will not ‘cost’ so whilst it is recognised that their time ought to be valued and compensated, for the purposes of this task, we are seeking access to resources that they can reach for free at this moment).
2. COMBINATION: Using this “brain stormed” list, ask the group to combine selected resources to provide products, services or experiences which create new value? Aim to identify at least 3 innovative combinations.
3. EVALUATION: ask the groups to select the best option. Who will the innovation be of value to? Whose problem does it solve?
4. REFLECTION and REVIEW: What forms of value are you creating from the list above.
5. REFLECTION: How can you ‘make it happen’ to implement the innovation?
6. COMMUNICATE: Communicate your idea as effectively you can, using available resources, to the group, outlining the need they are addressing.

Depending upon time and the skills that you wish to develop, you can run this task within 1 session or extend the communication and reflection stages to create a half day task or a task that runs over 2 weeks. This allows the groups to access their resources and showcase their ideas in the presentation the following week.

Skill Development:

Within the group work, a range of skills are developed and as the tutor, you can place the emphasis on different areas, depending upon the time you have available. The core skills being developed are around idea generation and evaluation, however it is possible to extend this task to include deeper reflection and communication skills where the groups are required to analyse the challenge and their response to it, as well as present their idea. This reflection can either form part of the presentation brief so that the teams are both presenting their ideas and exploring their experience of the challenge, or you can draw the group together after the presentation-showcase to reflect collectively on:

• How the groups worked?
• What frustrations were caused by the constraints and open brief – and how were they handled?
• How did you address the stages of the challenge?
• How did the stages of the brain-storming/problem solving process help you meet the challenge?
• How would you address such a challenge in the future?
• Which group was most creative in their solution? Why is that your view? How do you assess creativity? 

And you can finally explore issues of cost with the group by recognising that some of these resources could be accessed once for free, but not repeatedly. Ask them to consider how they could achieve the same output/outcome regularly and attempt to cost this.

Resources:

(if available – flip chart or post its for brain storming; pens etc)
Resources to assist with presentation – access to powerpoint; flip charts etc

References:

http://www.palgrave.com/page/detail/opportunity-centred-entrepreneurship-david-rae/?sf1=barcode&st1=9781137474100
Rae, D (2015) “Opportunity-Centred Entrepreneurship” Palgrave

Objectives:

• Learners are given the opportunity to compose questions about a topic new to them; (links to intended learning outcomes)
• Learners are enabled to contribute things they already know about a new topic; (links to learning incomes)
• Learners are helped to learn from what each other already knows;
• Learners can gain confidence finding out that many others have similar questions.

Overview

This exercise greatly increases the ownership felt by learners about the curriculum content in a series of classes or lectures. This post-it exercise can usefully be a main part of the first lecture in a series on a topic or module. After a brief introduction to the ‘big picture’ of what is to be addressed in forthcoming sessions, learners are issued with a blue post-it and a pink post-it. They are given the opportunity to anonymously jot down (1) a question they believe could be important about the topic (pink post-it), and (2) something they already know about the topic (blue post-it).
They are then helped to look at each others’ post-its (both kinds).
The post-its are then collected by the teacher/lecturer, who uses them to plan the start of the next session in the series.

Activity
Session 1
1. Brief the learners very quickly (no more than two slides, or five minutes orally) about the main subject matter to be addressed in the forthcoming series about the topic or theme concerned. It can be useful at this stage to show on a slide (but not expand upon) the intended learning outcomes relating to the topic.
2. Issue blue and pink post-its, one to each learner (other colours if necessary of course).
3. Brief learners to write privately (and in clear handwriting) on the pink post-it one question about the topic, which they think may be important, but to which at this stage they do not know the correct (or best) answer to. Make the point that there’s no such thing as a silly question, and that it’s OK not to know the answers at this stage.
4. Then brief learners to use their blue post-its to write down one thing that they do already know about the topic. “Everyone knows something about anything” you might say. Encourage them to write down something interesting, or fascinating, or unusual if they can. Explain that at this stage it does not matter at all if what they know turns out to be wrong.
Steps 2-4 usually take no more than five minutes.
5. Ask learners to pass their post-its around, so they can look at each others’ questions, and the things their classmates already know about the topic. Learners’ confidence can often be seen to be increasing rapidly, when they see that several other learners have written similar questions to their own (“it wasn’t a silly question after all!”), and they are often quite fascinated by the things that others in the group have written on their blue post-its (“Well, I didn’t know that!”).
[optional] Suggest that learners spotting someone else’s question on a pink post-it could add a tick for ‘me too’ if they also want to find out the answer to the question.
Depending on the size of the group, and how interesting the learners find this task, this can usefully take 20 minutes or so.
6. When most learners have had the opportunity to look at most of the post-it entries, ask them to stick the post-its onto two charts, one for pink post-its (questions) and the other for blue post-its (things they already know).
7. This is probably most of the first session used up (if for example lecture slots are around 50 mins), and if so, only do general interest things until the end of the session, but take the charts with the respective post-its away with you.
8. Look through the pink post-its for recurring questions, addressing important topics in the curriculum, and linking well to one or more of the published intended learning outcomes. Look also for blue post-its which suggest that their owners already know the answers to these common questions. Prepare a slide as follows…
9. ‘37 of your pink post-its from the last session were similar to the following (very good) question: “…..” Hands-up if your question was similar to this one. Now hands up if you too want to find out the answer to this question’.

Session 2

10. Use the slide as above, then announce ‘Eleven of you probably know the answer to this question – I know this from what you wrote on your blue post-its! Hands up if you know the answer, and please keep your hand raised, until three or more people who don’t know the answer move to near you. Now, those who know the answer, talk your classmates through it.
11. You can then go on to another recurring question, with the same processes.

This kind of activity allows ownership of the important questions by members of the class, and the fact that other class members can share answers to these questions, rather than the teacher/lecturer providing the answers.

Skill Development:

This activity allows teachers/lectures to develop skills and confidence in allowing learners to contribute significantly to shaping the way that important questions are addressed in class.
It is also very comforting to learners entering a new topic to find out that many of their classmates have similar questions that they want or need answers to, and reassuring that lecturers/teachers take their questions seriously enough to base future class sessions on addressing them.

Resources:

A slide or two of very broad-brush briefing notes about the topic to be addressed in a series of sessions;
Pink and blue post-its, sufficient for one (or more) each for each learner:
Flipchart sheets for learners to stick the post-it onto, after the sharing activity;
Pens to give away for those who come without anything to write with!

References:

Race, P. (2014) ‘Making Learning Happen: 3rd edition’, London: Sage.
Race, P. (2015) ‘The Lecturer’s Toolkit; 4th edition’, Abingdon: Routledge.
http://phil-race.co.uk

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Objective:

The Music Business Module has the following aims:

• To provide a basic knowledge of arts and music business practices which will be particularly useful to students preparing for a self-managed career where their income is generated from performance, recording, composing or organizing musical events and/or setting up a music related business enterprise.
• To help students identify and develop their entrepreneurial abilities and skills.
• To enable students to put together a practical toolkit of resources on contracts, invoice systems, accounts and taxation, royalty collection systems, media, publicity and marketing.
• To provide guidance and mentoring for students as they plan for and carry out the Semester 2 event.
• To provide critical/theoretical perspectives on music entrepreneurship and the music industry.

Introduction:

Katie Wray, Newcastle University

‘We want to continue the work of our CETL (Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) and continue to ensure that students from all backgrounds and with all musical interests are able to take their own ideas forward; we do this through the Music Business Module, and by having support for enterprise embedded in our School of Arts and Cultures.’

Activity:

The first semester consists of lectures and seminars, some delivered by visiting speakers which normally include the following:

• Theoretical and critical perspectives on music entrepreneurship
• The portfolio career
• How the music industry and arts/music organisations of various sizes operate.
• Royalty collection systems, contracts, invoice systems, accounts and taxation
• Event/project management
• Project proposals and business plans

The second semester is spent working in teams to plan and carry out an event, supported by lectures on practical aspects such as marketing and finance, and mentoring on a team basis

Impact:

Final events have included a drumming workshop in Schools, which the Schools have paid for, funded by charging the parents and carers to come and watch the final end of day performance....very enterprising all round!

Learner outcome:

The examples of curriculum development for enterprise related outcomes were originally outlined by Neil Coles at the International Enterprise Educators Conference under the heading 'From Archaeology to Zoology; an A-Z of enterprise in the curriculum'. For his work in contextualising enterprise for any subject, Neil won the 2013 National Enterprise Educator Award.

Resources:

• For resources providing information of various aspects of the module content outlined above, see ‘How To Guides.’ 

References:

• Music - School of Arts and Cultures - Newcastle University. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.ncl.ac.uk/sacs/music/. [Accessed 04 August 2015].

Author:

• Neil Coles, Senior Enterprise Learning Officer, Cardiff University
• enterprise@cardiff.ac.uk
• Katie Wray, Newcastle University
• Katie.wray@ncl.ac.uk

Objective:

Students should gain an understanding of music’s role within the community including the nature of teaching and learning in music, the benefits and challenges of musical participation, and the range of contexts in which music creates and defines communities. The course will develop students’ research and group work skills through an extensive project based in the community.

Introduction:

This 20-credit undergraduate module at the University of Sheffield has brought civic/community engagement and enterprise to the music curriculum in exciting new ways: students were commissioned by two external partners to produce feasibility studies for community music projects to support mental health service users and refugees and asylum seekers. The external partners came to the first lecture of the module to brief the students, who then worked in groups of 6-8 to develop a strategy for fulfilling the given brief.

Activity:

In order to fulfil the brief, the teams of students had to engage in activities which were a form of market research and customer validation. One group devised plans for the development of a community choir, which has involved liaising with other singing groups in the city to find out what already exists, and what might work well with these clients. Two groups worked with a music therapist at an NHS Trust in Sheffield to observe existing musical activities and suggest new possibilities, with one team developing plans for a drumming group and another a singing group. The groups presented their feasibility studies to the external partners at a culmination event at the end of the semester. 

Teaching comprised 10 weekly sessions, with a mixture of mixture of formal lectures, presentations by guest speakers, and mentored small group work, with supporting materials on group roles to help the students work effectively on a sustained and complex task.

Impact:

The students have certainly learnt cultural agility and demonstrated respect for diversity, and we have all acquired a greater understanding of the place of “university music‟ in the wider arts world of Sheffield, and the potential for our students’ and graduates’ skills and energy to make a contribution to enriching the city and its diverse population.

We aspire for the feasibility studies to be developed into working projects, either by the external partners, or through the continued involvement of our students and graduates with further support from University of Sheffield Enterprise.

Learner outcome:

The students found the projects challenging. Their reflective diaries reveal issues of communication and problem solving in group work, and in working with external partners. They also illuminate moments of insight and discovery as they experienced their client groups in action and understood the adjustments needed to apply their musical and academic skills in new contexts.

The examples of curriculum development for enterprise related outcomes were originally outlined by Neil Coles at the International Enterprise Educators Conference under the heading 'From Archaeology to Zoology; an A-Z of enterprise in the curriculum'. For his work in contextualising enterprise for any subject, Neil won the 2013 National Enterprise Educator Award.

Resources:

For further examples of embedded enterprise within music, see ‘Music – Music Business Module’, and ‘Music - Developing Music Industry Knowledge Through Expert Panels.’

References:

• Cardiff University Enterprise | Be Enterprising | Make Things Happen. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/cuenterprise/. [Accessed 06 August 2015].
• Music - The University of Sheffield. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.shef.ac.uk/music. [Accessed 25 August 2015].
• University of Sheffield Enterprise. [ONLINE] Available at: http://enterprise.shef.ac.uk/. [Accessed 25 August 2015].

Author:

• With thanks to Dr Fay Hield and Dr Stephanie Pitts, Department of Music, The University of Sheffield, and University of Sheffield Enterprise.
• f.hield@sheffield.ac.uk

Objective:

• To provide students with opportunities to establish networks and professional relationships with music industry experts.
• To provide students with opportunities to identify opportunities within the music industry.
• For students to develop their knowledge and understanding of the music industry.

Introduction:

It’s essential for students of music, music technology and associated courses, that they have a working knowledge of their industry, a strong network of professional contacts, and the ability to draw upon their subject specific knowledge and understanding, to identify and create opportunities for themselves.

Panel events are one way of providing such opportunities to students.

As part of the ‘Creative Futures 2015’ conference at Glyndwr University, a panel event was held on the subject of the developing successful festivals and events in the music industry. The panel was organised with the support of Focus Wales music festival, who supplied a panel consisting of festival managers, marketers, performs and coordinators.

The panel session ran for 1 hour, was delivered to a group of approximately 50 students from various programmes and years of study, and was mediated by a member of the University’s enterprise team.

Activity:

Pre-Activity

• The mediator liaised with panellists to ensure they were happy with the running order and proposed topics for discussion.
• Short biographies were provided by each speaker, to feature in the session introduction.

Introduction

• The session opened with a welcome from the panel mediator, who introduced each panellist to the audience, inclusive of a brief biography.
• The running order of the session was explained to the audience (inclusive of topics which would be covered, when questions would be taken etc.).
• A short film was played to the audiences, showcasing Focus Wales Festival, and providing a context for the discussion which followed.

Discussion Topics & Q and A

• The first discussion topic was introduced (How to get your first experience of working in music festivals and events).
• Panellists discussed the topic, facilitated by the mediator, for approximately 5 minutes.
• Questions were then taken from the floor, and responded to for a further 5 minutes.
• The second discussion topic was then introduced, and the process repeated.
• The session aimed to ensure a broad range of topics were covered, to cater to the mixed audience, inclusive of financing, promoting and marketing, sources of help and support, working life at a festival etc.

Closing Remarks

• As the session entered its final 10 minutes, the mediator recapped the key points which had been discussed with the audience.
• Final questions were invited from the audience.
• Panellists were invited to recommend the ‘1 thing they would take away from the session.’
• The panel were thanked, and the session was brought to a close.
• Following the session, the panellists networked and chatted with students in an informal manner.

Impact:

The session served to be valuable both of the University, and to the panellists. It strengthened the relationship between the University and the locally based music event, and a number of student attendees went on to seek voluntary and paid opportunities with the festival. It helped the festival to raise its profile with the University population, and highlighted to students the opportunities available on their doorstep.

As a direct result of the panel session, the University collaborated in facilitating panel sessions at Focus Wales own conference for music industry professionals, which a number of University students attended.

Learner outcome:

For the learners, this was the first opportunity many had to speak directly with the organisers of a large scale music industry event. The session helped the learners to gain a more realistic understanding of the working of the music industry, the access routes into it, and the opportunities which may be available to them.

Through their questioning, the learners were able to fill the specific gaps in their own personal knowledge and understanding and through informal networking after the session, develop their interpersonal skills and establish valuable contacts.

Resources:

• The session required no resources other than an appropriate room, a mediator, and a panel sourced from the University’s existing professional networks. The use of film to open the session also provided valuable context.
• For a Case Example discussing the conference in which this session featured, see ‘Creative Futures 2015.’
• For a How To Guide on delivering panel sessions see ‘A Compendium of Pedagogies: THE USE OF PANELS.’

References:

• Creative Futures 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.glyndwr.ac.uk/creativefutures/. [Accessed 17 August 2015].
• Focus Wales. 2015. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.focuswales.com [Accessed 18 August 2015].

Author/contact details:

• www.macorcoran.com
• With thanks to the team from Focus Wales.

Objective:

• For learners to gain real world experience of enterprise by organising, promoting and managing a real music event.

Introduction :

THIS Project is a North Wales based social enterprise, promoting arts and culture through a wide range of services and activities, including exhibitions, concerts, training and events, the management of pop-up and semi-permanent gallery / event spaces, and providing studio spaces for professional artists. Based in Wrexham, it serves North Wales and wider region, and has a close relationship with the region’s key education and arts organisations.

In May 2014, a group of FE Students (from Coleg Cambria in North East Wales) all aged in between 16 and 17, approached THIS Project, keen to understand more about how the organisation promotes and runs the music events conducted from ‘Undegun’, it’s premier Wrexham-based music venue.

With the help and guidance of THIS Project’s staff, the students took responsibly for organising a gig of their own, managing all aspects of its delivery. The project was branded as ‘THIS Gig’.

The experience ultimately inspired and equipped the students to set up their own music promotions company.

Activity:

Guided by the THIS Project team, through regular meetings, shadowing opportunities, advice and mentoring, the group of students took responsibility for a number of the key elements of delivering their own music event.

• The first stage was artist engagement. This involved identifying and booking artists the students were keen to have perform, and approaching artists and managers to discuss details such as fees, technical specifications, and itineraries for the event.
• Once times and dates had been confirmed, the students developed a marketing plan. They identified 14 – 20 year olds as their target audience, and devised and implemented a strategy for reaching this group. This was inclusive of social media marketing (via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), the design, production and dissemination of event posters and flyers, and the production of a promotional video for the event. THIS Project offered additional marketing support to the students, utilising its networks to provide them with a promotional slot on local radio station Calon FM and drafting a press release with the students which was disseminated to local newspapers and music bloggers
• In the run up to the show, THIS Project Staff offered mentoring to the students on live music venue management, and the students shadowed staff at a range of live music events to build confidence and experience.
• One the evening of the show, the students assigned themselves the roles of ‘Artist Liaison, Stage Manager’ and ‘Venue Manager’ each with its own set of responsibilities and, with the support of THIS Project staff, oversaw the running of the event.

There was approximately 5 months in between the students first approaching THIS Project, and the delivery of the event itself. During this period, the students received approximately 100 hours of staff support from the THIS Project team.

Impact:

The project as a whole, and the music event itself were extremely successful. Key achievements included;

• The sell-out of all pre-sale event tickets.
• The venue reaching capacity on the night of the event.
• Positive feedback from audience members.
• Positive feedback from staff / performers.

Figure 1: Local Press Coverage of THIS Gig

After the event, the students met with THIS Project staff to de-brief, review the project and event, and identify ways in which the students could look to develop their skills further in the future.

The conclusions to this discussion were;

• To sell tickets online, via and digital service such as ‘EventBrite’ to make the selling of advance tickets less complicated.
• To offer further designated job roles to the group (in addition to the artist liaison, stage manager and venue manager roles undertaken here), allowing for broader experience and skill development.
• To have more experience of financial management of events such as this.

For THIS Project as an organisation, the motivation for supporting THIS GIG was to give an opportunity towards a group of eager young people that wanted to be more active within their community by providing events by people their age for people their age. To this end it was a huge success.

Following THIS Gig, the students involved were so inspired by their experience, that they formed their own music productions company, and have gone on to develop their new business, running music events a number of venues and organisations.

Learner outcomes:

THIS Gig was a large and ambitious project, with a wide range of outcomes achieved by the learners involved.

Some of the skills developed by learners through the project included;

• Organisation and time management.
• Managing finances and keeping to budgets.
• Marketing (Including design and promotion, in many media).
• Interpersonal skills (Liaising with customers, artists, managers and THIS Project Staff).
• Event management.
• Team work.

Resources:

Essential to the project’s success, was the ability of THIS Project to offer its time, facilities and expertise to the students involved.

References:

• THIS Project Website > www.thisproject.co.uk
• An interview with the students involved in THIS Gig > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uiqUjZCwwk

This example features in 'Bath Spa University Careers - Embedding Enterprise and Employability in the Curriculum' - Download the full document HERE.

Introduction:

Since 2005 over 400 final year students have undertaken this creative enterprise module.

Students are challenged to develop a creative project over the course of the year which has some commercial element – it might be a product, a service, an event, or a series of performances – but there are some key elements to note; students actually have to DO something, not just write about it, and they have to enter it into the university’s enterprise competition (historically the Business Plan Competition, now the Create it and Plan it elements of Bath Sparks).

Activity:

Students organise themselves into small teams, write a business plan for their chosen music-related project and then work on creating this project throughout the year: this involves them in raising and making money, and engaging in new and existing markets.

Students are encouraged to think imaginatively about potential commercial ideas, manage risk and reward, and develop future business ideas. Their journey is often illustrative.

They learn the advantages of networking as well as delivering and managing their material. They are subject to peer-group review as well as tutor and business support.

Impact:

The planning, execution, and reflection on trying to make their ideas happen is massively valuable learning and drives not only the development of employable competencies but provides evidence that students routinely use to gain future employment should their enterprises not work out. It is ultimately a safe space to trial their ideas and learn the hard way.

References:

• Bath Spa University - Schools - Music And Performing Arts - Courses - Undergraduate. 2016. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bathspa.ac.uk/schools/music-and-performing-arts/courses/undergraduate/Commercial-Music. [Accessed 11 January 2016].

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We have produced a guidance sheet which will assist you in completing the Case Study.

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