Introduction

In teams, students will explore a technological innovation being researched and advanced through the lens of at least one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). The team will assess how an innovative technology will impact a particular user group. Each team will be required to evaluate the societal, personal and psychological impact of the innovation, and produce an output/artifact to demonstrate their understanding of the potential impact or disruption the technology will have on society and/or a user group. The team will assess how an innovative technology will impact a particular user group. They will have to evaluate the societal, personal and psychological impact of the innovation, and produce an output/artifact to demonstrate their understanding of the potential impact or disruption the technology will have on society and/or a user group.

The Challenge

In this Challenge, teams will be informed by leading-edge research and industry advancements. They will be introduced to world-leading research and expertise where technology seeks to deliver excellent science, engage the public, and develop novel solutions for business and society. The Challenge will require a multi-disciplinary lens from the complementary fields of Social Sciences, Communications, Commerce/Fintech, Ethics, Law, Health, Environment, and Sustainability. 

Target Groups

Society and its citizens will be the ultimate target group to benefit from the outputs of this challenge. In addition, students will inform the ongoing research by sharing their findings and/or output with the relevant partners.

Expected Impact

Recommendations and outputs from this work will inform ongoing research by the industry and/or research partners. If these innovative technologies are to enhance society going forward, it will be useful to have diverse teams examine the potential impact as they are being advanced.

Learning Outcomes

Students on this challenge will have the opportunity to acquire the following outcomes:

• Explain innovative technologies being researched in the university and industry.
• Produce an output in a team that shows their understanding of innovative and disruptive technologies.
• Evaluate the societal, personal and psychological impacts of innovative and disruptive technologies.
• Analyse the potential impact of innovative and disruptive technologies.
• Develop an artefact that demonstrates an understanding of innovative and disruptive technologies.

Workload

2 hours synchronous + additional remote group work per week 

Application Deadline

7th September 2022

Challenge Duration (start/end date)

12th September - 4th December 2022

Sample student feedback from last year

‘I believe that this approach is very effective in boosting learning outcomes as it puts the student in charge of their own learning in order to complete the assessments successfully’. 

‘The Challenge Based Learning (CBL) approach felt like a fresh and innovative way of teaching from the more traditional way we are taught in other courses. It allowed us to feel more involved in our learning and gave us the opportunity to learn from our classmates too’. 

‘With this learning approach, it felt like we were working towards something that could make a difference and I felt a lot more interested and passionate about the topics we covered. Having a greater interest in the work we were doing made the learning process more enjoyable and helped me be more engaged during lectures and guest lectures'.