The Student Experience Lab is thrilled to announce we'll be working with Pleasant View Elementary School who is the winning school from the Rhode Island Department of Education's "Innovation Powered by Technology Model" School Grant. Pleasant View was one of a dozen schools to apply for the $470,000 grant which will be used to train teachers, open three computer labs, purchase equipment and extend the school day. Beginning in September, students will spend at least half of their school day engaged in online learning, letting them learn at their own pace under the supervision of their classroom teacher.
Why students should play a designer role in the creation of new (and better!) school experiences. Choosing a school is only the first step in planning an academic career. After making a selection, students must match interests and passions with an academic program and make important decisions about which courses to take and when to take them. Yet many students struggle with these choices and have little knowledge of the long-term consequences of their decisions.
This past December the Student Experience Lab wrapped up a year-long system experiment at Utah State University that gave students the opportunity to use research and design methodologies to transform their college experience. Framed within the context of a real problem (originating from primary, student-based research activity), the Lab led students through the design process, ultimately landing on a conceptual prototype that re-invents the student service delivery model. This prototype will launch campus-wide in September, 2012.
Projects represents a component of the lab where we design, prototype and test new models with transformative potential. And 2011 marked the year we officially moved off the white board and into the real world with a series of experiments that took place in Utah and Rhode Island. These experiments were catalyzed by the foundational student experience research that took place in the lab during 2009 and 2011 and have led to the development of a new Student Experience Lab "participatory design" approach.
Since 2009, the Student Experience Lab has traveled the country logging hundreds of hours listening, observing and analyzing how students interact with America’s educational system. We’ve explored the social, emotional, and environmental factors that propel or hinder their success. And we’ve uncovered some interesting insights into how and why the system needs a big time jolt of innovation.
On October 29, 2011, 40 students, ages 12-22, traveled from all corner’s of Rhode Island’s public education system, to answer one simple question: can we create a student experience that enables all students to thrive? Their insights and passion for the design challenge will inspire you.
In the spring of 2011, the Business Innovation Factory’s (BIF) Student Experience Lab and Utah State University (USU) conducted a unique experience to put students in the driver’s seat of a new kind of student-led R&D to transform education. Using a collaborative approach, 15 undergraduate students - ranging from freshman to graduating seniors - took part in a “design studio” to develop fresh new ideas to help USU and its students better track and communicate the competencies and capabilities students acquire during their education experience. Ultimately, the goal of the studio was to find fresh, new approaches to supporting student success and timely and appropriate progress toward degree completion.
The Business Innovation Factory’s (BIF) is thrilled to announce a partnership with the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE). On Saturday, October 29, Team BIF and RIDE will hold a day-long, student-driven workshop to focus on solving a real-world design challenge facing educators today: how to create a student experience that enables all students to thrive.
What if we put students in the driver’s seat of a new kind of R&D to transform higher education? One that provided a platform for engaging students more fully in a real world effort that also involved faculty, and university administrators? Could we improve a student’s education experience? Yes. Could we take it a step further and transform higher education itself? Yes.
We're thrilled to announce that one of the student-led solution ideas to come out of our recent participatory design studio with Utah State University is headed into concept development. Learn more about how we are proactively putting students in the driver's seat of educational R&D activity.
On Monday June 20in Cambridge, Mass., and on Tuesday June 21in Washington, DC, the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center will release two new reports on The Educational Experience of Young Men of Color that provide the most comprehensive data, research findings and recommendations to improve the educational experiences and pathways of young men of color. Combined with findings from in-depth student interviews and video student voices, produced in collaboration with the Business Innovation Factory's Student Experience Lab, these two studies provide a compelling narrative that tracks the progress and pitfalls for young men of color on their way to a college degree.
In 2010, the Lumina Foundation for Education awarded us a grant to fund a project to give undergraduates the opportunity to use real-world research and design methodologies to transform how students understand, evaluate and articulate the skills, competencies and capabilities they learn in college. Since Lumina Foundation was already familiar with USU’s education reform efforts led by professor Norman Jones, chair of the history department, it recommended BIF partner with the university to develop a pilot class to lead students through a 16-week “research-design-ideate” cycle of discovery.
Design studios at universities are nothing new. In fact many schools run studios where students do design work for corporate clients who fund the studio. But you’d be hard-pressed to find many schools that are using this approach to develop game-changing innovations for their own organizations.
Join BIF's Student Experience Lab on June 20 from 2–4 p.m. EDT through a live video stream for a discussion on one of the most important issues facing our nation: The educational crisis facing young men of color. The event marks the official release of two new reports that provide the most comprehensive data and research on the educational experiences of young men of color at the Harvard University Tsai Auditorium at the Center for Government and International Studies. BIF is proud to have partnered with the College Board on this important initiative. Our work to bring the experience of young men of color to life in a way that makes their voice central to the national conversation about transforming the education system is an important first step to improving their experience and completion rates.
Need to turn around your company? Trying to start a movement? Want to change the world? Easy Peasy! Just turn it in to a game. Everywhere we turn, it seems there are experts claiming that the best path forward is to engage people with elements of competitive play. The business world in particular has gone gaga for gamification.
Right now, nearly half of all students who begin a college or credential program do not graduate within six years. In the coming decade, nearly two-thirds of all new jobs will require some level of education beyond high school. But, only 40% of Americans currently earn an associate or bachelor degree by age 27. Here at the Student Experience Lab, we believe change is possible with transformative solutions that put the student at the center of the innovation conversation. We're pleased to have joined The National Coalition for College Completion (NCCC) - a diverse, nonpartisan group representing business, civil rights, community-based, student and youth advocacy organizations to further strengthen our message.
We're collaborating with the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center on an important effort to bring the voice and experience of young men of color in the United States to the center of a national innovation conversation on how to significantly increase college completion rates among African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino and Native American male population.
This trailer video highlights the research, methodolgy and narrative behind our work.
The Business Innovation Factory (BIF) is pleased to announce receipt of a $250,000 grant from Lumina Foundation for Education in Indianapolis, Indiana to support the expansion of BIF’s Student Experience Lab. The Lab was established to create a real world platform for understanding and improving the student experience and to accelerate the design and development of solutions that enable more students to achieve academic success.
The College Board Advocacy & Policy Center and the Business Innovation Factory today announced a joint effort to explore new ideas and identify innovative solutions to improve the student experience and help ensure that students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to succeed in college and beyond.
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