OD Resource 7 - Idea Tournament Discussion Board - Laurie Meamber
This assignment utilizes the structure of an innovation tournament popular in new product development within a standard LMS text based discussion board. It can also be adapted for use in other discussion board formats, such as video discussion boards. The instruction sheet follows the TILT model, describing the purpose of the assignment in relation to the course – including skills and knowledge, the tasks involved, an example, and the grading rubric. The assignment is broken into two parts – an initial posting and a reply. The initial posting is completed in teams and the reply is individual. The first part of the assignment asks teams to craft a descriptive name for the idea/post, to give a brief description of the idea as connected to potential customer/user for the idea, and statement on the problem the idea solves. The second part asks individuals to view the submissions and to respond to how well the idea addresses a meaningful customer/user need and the opportunity to offer additional comments. Learners practice creative thinking, presenting ideas, and giving and receiving constructive comments. Students also progress towards choosing an idea to carry forward as part of the course project. This type of assignment can be used across a variety of courses and contexts when asking individuals to generate ideas (thoughts, concepts), present them to others, and (give) gather useful feedback in order to further refine them. Attendees can benefit from reflecting on the assignment sheet and how best to adapt it for idea generation in other disciplines.
