Intercultural Approach to Design Thinking (10 cr)

Learning outcomes

The student is able to
- communicate in English in a professional way in his/her own field of study
- apply intercultural management into practice
- apply intercultural theories into practice
- plan and develop services by applying service design thinking

Location and time

Students are required to work every week efficiently during the study unit.
You will confirm your participation in the study unit by being present during the first session. If you are sick you need to inform the teachers before the first session has begun. There should not be other reasons to be unavailable during the first session.

In addition, during all the weeks students will work in teams outside of class.
Students need to attend the contact sessions because they include hands-on work.

Materials

Design Thinking materials, you can consult also books in the library
Cultural theory books

Teaching methods

During the study unit, students will work in teams with a client to develop services.
The studies include English studies that are integrated into the study unit, following Laurea's learning approach Learning by Developing. In addition to working in English, the study unit focuses on intercultural theories and Design Thinking.

**This study unit is a finalist in the 2019 Quality Innovation Award in Higher Education in Finland**

Employer connections

You will work with a client to create new service ideas for them.

Exam schedules

see the schedule
please note that contact days are MANDATORY to participate

International connections

international environment, material and context

Completion alternatives

.If you are interested, here is some additional info, in case you wish to travel during the study unit instead of staying in Leppävaara. Project MOTION has two intensive study weeks, where a student who has been selected can participate in ONE only. These students will be enrolled in a different implementation than this one, by the teachers after the selections have been carried out. One of the events is during 23.-29.10.2022 in Klaipeda. The other event is during 6.-12.11.2022 in Fehmarn

Those who will complete the whole A9269 study unit need to carry out more assignments in order to complete the 10 ECTS. Only one destination is available for a student, and the teachers select the students to the destinations.

The EU pays for the accommodation, living and trips for the students.
This study unit is carried out in the project MOTION, www.tourismotion.eu .

Apply by writing an email, where you tell briefly about yourself, and why you should be chosen to join an intensive week. It it worthwhile creating a good or excellent application. Send it to MOTION [at] laurea.fi by 30.5.2022. Suitable candidates will be invited during weeks 22-24.

Student workload

10 ECTS= 270 hours of work/student

Content scheduling

You have enrolled in to study unit, Intercultural approach to design thinking (IADT) A9269-3021. This study unit will begin on 23rd August on the campus. The course in Canvas will be available before our start.
The English language is integrated into the design thinking approach in this implementation, and there is a need for a teacher who can be responsible for your language competencies and skills. Due to the changes in the employee situation, we are still waiting for another teacher (s) to join teacher team.
For this reason, please note that the study unit implementation and description in Pakki will only be updated after the summer break. The course's basic structure will not change, but naturally, decisions concerning assessments and tasks cannot be made until the teacher team has managed to start work together.
The Design Thinking approach in this study unit implementation will be conducted interactively. To learn intercultural communication skills, direct interaction between participants is essential. In practice, contact sessions will be based on collaboration and interaction and not primarily focusing on sharing information unidirectionally (= traditional lecturing). Meetings will include group discussions, presentations, elements from flipped learning and other interaction, and hopefully other inspiring activities. For that reason, mainly in the contact meetings, it will be necessary to communicate using video and voice. So, during the summer break, ensure that your device's camera and microphones are working correctly. In case you cannot use either of those, for example, with your laptop, you may also log in the zoom with two devices simultaneously (for example, with the mobile phone for audiovisual communication and computer to reach the material, share the screen, etc.). Please, check these practicalities well in advance.
Due to the interactive nature of the learning and teaching, our meetings will be audio recorded only to a limited extent, focusing on presentations, not workshops and other actions. Participation and involvement of each actor will be essential. In case you need to be absent, or you cannot interactively participate, there will be an option to complete the tasks differently (with video or written forms). These options will be communicated in Canvas after each contact meeting.

Evaluation scale

H-5

Further information

Laurea students: the English level test must be carried out before signing up for this study unit. In case the test result is fail, then the prep course in English must be successfully completed before joining this study unit.