The Foremlink Methodology
THE FOREMLINK METHODOLOGY
The Atom Model
The Atom Model that we developed for ForEMLink is a way of fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in Higher Education on a local, national, European and global scale. The aim is to promote entrepreneurial competencies in higher education students through learning processes that teachers can facilitate with creative, innovative and entrepreneurial activities placed in each phase of the Atom Model and its challenges. The Atom Model contains a process and activities that teachers can use to facilitate the development of entrepreneurship in students. It is based on a partnership perspective on how one may integrate entrepreneurship as a natural element in the preparation of Higher Education didactics.
Learning Sphere
The Learning Sphere circulates around the 6 elements in the atom. The spheres are social, physical, mental, and influences the atom and the elements here.
This sphere is important for the the atmosphere that fosters the 6 elements of innovation.
The Atom Model (PDF)
The core or nucleus of the model is the challenge.
The challenge is what the students and teachers throughout the whole process of working with the Atom model must initiate from and return to, and is why it has a central placement in the model.
Challenges can be found in the challenge section of the ForEMlink platform: https://www.foremlink.com/challenges.
All activities in this section will focus on how to find and formulate a challenge.
Explore the field in order to be able to properly identify the challenges of the field, if possible, through physical presence and/or virtual condition.
The purpose is to gather a broad range of data that will enable the participants to experience the challenge from an inside perspective. The aim is to achieve a sufficiently deep understanding of the challenge itself and of the field surrounding the challenge. You want to look for the 'not-obvious', or the unknown, which is a fruitful path to innovation.
All activities in this section will inspire you how to explore the challenge.
On the basis of the collected data, an analysis is conducted. Theoretical perspectives can be added in order to develop a deeper understanding of the challenge, its origin and its components. The aim of the analyse is to see patterns and to achieve an in-depth understanding of the challenge. It is imperative to undertake a careful analysis in order to avoid quick fixes and obvious answers to the challenge. All activities in this element will focus on how to analyse the data that was collected in the Explore element.
Ideate is about creating innovative solutions to the challenge. The aim is to unleash creativity in the participants and to generate new ideas drawing on a broad field of knowledge and approaches. After the generating of ideas, a sorting of ideas takes place. The different ideas are discussed and chosen in the light of the themes and specifications and the particular ideas that the students wish to continue with. Activities in this element will focus on either how to ideate innovative solutions to the challenge or to select the idea to focus on.
When prototyping, the chosen ideas are given a form and are substantiated, or 'materialised'. It is imperative to visualise the ideas in order for both participants and 'clients' to share, understand, test and validate them. Complexities and opportunities are explored collectively. The knowledge necessary to qualify the prototype is gathered.
If possible, the prototype is communicated to and/or tested in the field in order to attain feedback. The aim is to conceptualize the ideas and solutions generated in the ideatiation stage. You are working towards being able to bridge the gap between idea and action. For this to happen, the ideas must be given a manifested visual expression others can understand and relate to. All activities in this element will focus on how to build a prototype.
Realise means that Steps are designed for implementation of the prototype. The next step is the realisation of the prototype if possible within the given frames. The guiding principle in this process is matching the prototype to the possible. Questions such as who, where, and how many are answered.This takes place in a dialogue between the external stakeholders and the participants. All activities in this element will focus on how to realise the prototype and make it come in to action.
Lastly in the 6 elements of innovation is to evaluate. This evaluation is composed of two parts:
1) An external part where the idea and the action or action plans are evaluated by the external partners in the project. This is an end point of the students working with solving the challenge.
2) An internal evaluation with the teachers and the other students of the innovative learning process.
The Mental Learning Sphere encourages the development of an entrepreneurial mindset to help the students complete the 6 elements of innovation. The entrepreneurial mindset must be present during the innovative learning process for the students to be able to work with the 6 elements of innovation. All the activities in this section will foster and facilitate the Mental Learning Sphere.
After careful evaluation, plans are made for the implementation of the prototype in the field. The guiding principle in this process is matching the prototype to the possible. Steps are designed for the realisation to take place. Questions such as who, where, and how many are answered. Needles to say, this takes place in a dialogue between the external stakeholders and the participants. Depending on the circumstances, either a full realisation of the prototype can take place, or a detailed blueprint is created. The aim is to design a plan of how to implement the prototypes. The plan must be realistic and sufficiently detailed for others to put it into practice. The next step is the realisation of the prototype if possible within the given frames.
The Social Learning Sphere is primarily perceived as the social relations and the collaboration between students. In cores of the Atom Model, students work with solutions for real-world challenges and for them to dare to present creative solutions, it is our experience that the Social Learning Sphere, security and mutual trust among group members are essential. All activities in this section will foster the Social Learning Sphere.
The Physical Learning Sphere includes the physical environment in the learning process to strengthen the students’ awareness of the physical environment in relation to their learning.
The focus on the physical learning sphere and the students participation in the development of the physical learning environment facilitates their ownership and can be described as the 'third educator'. All the activities in this section will foster the Physical Learning Sphere.
THE FOREMLINK METHODOLOGY
The Why
The labour market for Higher Education graduates across Europe is characterised by multidisciplinary collaboration and an entrepreneurial mindset. We consider entrepreneurial competencies essential for all graduates, as well as students across study programmes. Entrepreneurial competencies are in increasingly high demand and Imperative in a dynamic and globalised society.
From our perspective, practice-oriented teaching is essential for developing students’ entrepreneurial mindsets and action competencies while encouraging the application of theoretical perspectives and reflection. Practice-oriented teaching does not conflict with theory comprehension. In Bloom’s taxonomy, a high level is achieved not only by understanding and applying a theory but also by being able to apply it in both simple and complex contexts. Partnership members believe that students must be trained to understand that “real-world” often differs from the technical theories and academic criteria of higher education.
Danish entrepreneurship researcher Anne Kirketerp (2010) defines the term ‘self-efficacy’ as “the competence to implement actions of change which possess (positive) values to oneself and others” (own translation).
The Atom Model starts with a practice-oriented challenge - the paradigm through which students are trained to handle real-life challenges.
The Atom Model may be seen as a framework on how to approach a challenge and how lessons in innovation and entrepreneurship can be managed in a constantly changing context. In Higher Education, the framework and conditions, such as formal Requirements and curricular guidance will always apply. However, the dynamism of this context offers didactic possibilities in which the Atom Model may be applied as an inspiration for concrete initiatives.
We created the Atom Model in a manner that allows it to be moulded, adjusted and adapted according to the curriculum and learning framework in which it is used. We view it as a contribution to the development of didactic plans so that entrepreneurship may be integrated into lessons as a natural element.
In The entrepreneurial process, it is essential that students are given a clearly defined task that both incorporates the demands of the curriculum and is openly formulated so that the students can produce creative and comprehensive solutions. This balance between restriction and freedom is a prerequisite for innovation and creative solutions.
FOREMLINK
The Methodology
ForEMLink seeks to develop an approach that will offer relevant and practical learning to students in higher education, increasing their entrepreneurship skills, and potentially helping them to start viable businesses or make valuable innovative solutions as Intrapreneurs in existing enterprises. ForEMLink brings together four organisations for whom inspiring entrepreneurial mindsets is a common challenge. Through sharing their knowledge and expertise, and by working together, the four partners
This project has developed a metaphor that is inspired by physics for the way it approaches learning. It is a new, shared universe of learning – for project-partners, students, and teachers, or who else might be interested. The Universe consists of different components and spheres for learning in Higher Education, and revolves around fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and is called the Atom model.
The Atom Model is designed in a way that makes it possible to use all its elements. However, one may also select activities from specific elements that seem most meaningful for the educational courses that the teacher is preparing. Similarly, one may select activities related to the subject and curriculum criteria of an existing course. With this flexibility, the entrepreneurial activities can be adjusted to the subject area with the specific didactics employed within the timescale that the teacher has at their disposal.
The process starts and ends with a challenge at the core of the Atom Model which neither the teacher nor the students have the solution to. Through the six elements, the students and teacher discover that dealing with challenges using various approaches and activities produces different solutions. Part of the process is to step in to uncharted territory in terms of knowledge, risk taking, making mistakes, learning and trying again. Initially, the path to a suitable solution is unknown and it may take students several attempts to find it. It is therefore essential to be open to new solutions and not to assume that the solution to a challenge is known beforehand. Students may suggest excellent solutions allowing them to develop their skills and become more knowledgeable in a specific area.