Course Resources and Evaluations

Texts and Resources

Most World Campus courses require that students purchase materials (e.g., textbooks, specific software, etc.). To learn about how to order materials, please see the Course Materials page. You should check LionPATH approximately 3–4 weeks before the course begins for a list of required materials.

The course also incorporates a number of additional resources into each lesson, including:

• Published research;
• Books;
• Videos; and
• TED talks.

Links to some of these resources will be provided within the lesson commentary. Other resources will be on e-reserve for you at the Penn State University Libraries and can be accessed using the Library Resources tab of the Course Navigation menu. For more information about how to access the e-Reserves resources for this course, contact the E-Reserves department of the University Libraries.

Readings, videos, journal entries and discussion questions are integrated throughout the lesson content. Although the readings and questions are summarized at the beginning of each lesson so that you may gauge the time you will need to devote to reading and writing each week, the content is designed for you to read sequentially. It is recommended that you start with the course content, and then pause to read the assigned readings and to respond to the journal entries and discussion questions when you are prompted within the lesson.

Course Evaluations

The evaluations are designed to have you apply course concepts through reflection questions, assignments, simulations and case studies. There is very little memorization of facts; rather, you will be asked to internalize general principles so that you can interpret real-world contexts and make educated judgment calls about what approaches are most likely to lead to success in product innovation. The goal of this course is not to present product innovation as if there is any one “right” formula for success; but, rather to develop in you an awareness of the fundamental issues that should be taken into account when innovating in a variety of organizational and market contexts.

Reading Quizzes

There is a brief reading quiz incorporated into most lessons that requires reading beyond the course commentary. [Please note: there are several lessons without additional required readings; there is no reading quiz in these cases.] You may look ahead at the quiz before you begin each reading so as to have the questions in mind as you read. These quizzes are intended to reward your diligent reading of the assigned material with very attainable points toward your course grade.

Journal Entries

Most lessons require you to write two journal entries in response to prompts embedded within the course content. Your responses do not have to be especially long. Being concise with your thoughts, especially in business writing, is a skill. In most cases, 2–3 thoughtful paragraphs will be enough; however, if you only write 1–2 sentences for each question, you will not earn full credit. Journal entries should demonstrate that you have internalized and reflected on the relevant lessons. In your response, please do not just write what you think…elaborate and explain how and/or why you have arrived to that way of thinking. Typically, there is no “right or wrong” answer for the journal responses, but you will be evaluated on your display of critical thinking with respect to the prompts.

Discussions

Most lessons also require two discussion forum posts, which will be guided by prompts throughout the course content. Again, these responses may be brief, but should be thoughtful. Your critical thinking about the prompt should be evident. If you have done research to write the post and/or respond to a classmate, please properly cite the source using APA guidelines. Many of these discussion posts require that you do some research in advance of writing the initial post, creating a “flipped classroom” environment. Any research you collect needs proper citation. Please review the Penn State Libraries' APA Quick Citation Guide.

The discussion forum responses are an ideal opportunity for you to pull from your specific skills and experience for the benefit of your classmates, who may come from very different professional and educational backgrounds. In most cases, you will be asked to respond to two of your classmates' posts; please keep your replies positive and constructive, and (if applicable) use this as an opportunity to provide your unique professional or educational perspective. [Please also take note that, because you are required to reply to classmates' posts, your original posts to the discussion forum are due by Thursday at 11:59 pm ET each week. Your replies to classmates are then due by Sunday at 11:59 pm ET each week.]

Assignments

Most lessons include an assignment, which will help you build on that lesson's content toward your semester project: a comprehensive product innovation proposal, complete with primary market research and a preliminary business case. Weekly assignments typically require that you submit a one- to two-page response focused on the application of the concepts from that lesson to a possible product innovation. It is advisable to begin generating ideas for your semester project as soon as possible so that you can maximize the applicability of each assignment to this larger project, but you are not required to commit to your final product innovation idea until mid-semester.

Again, as mentioned above, you will have done research to write the assignment, it is required that you properly cite the source using APA guidelines. Any research you collect needs proper citation. Per APA Guidelines, you must use in-text citations as well as a References Cited list. Please review the Penn State Libraries' APA Quick Citation Guide.

Case Studies and Simulation of Product Innovation

Case studies are used in a many ways in education to develop a plethora of skills, most namely “the ability to transfer academic knowledge to real-life contexts” (Penn, Currie, Hoad & O'Brien, 2016, abstract). We will utilize a few case studies to give you an opportunity to apply what you have learned in different ways:

• By assessing real product innovation cases;
• By identifying a product innovation failure and the barrier to innovation that prevented this product's success; and
• By making recommendations based on the details of a hypothetical product innovation case.

In these case study assignments, you will select an organization and analyze the company's innovation management, techniques and/or strategy and product outcomes.

The simulation of a product innovation is a group activity requiring you to work within a team to respond to a product innovation case based on information about a hypothetical organization, market and set of product innovation opportunities. Your team will generate sound recommendations for how the company should proceed (and why). All teams will work on the same prompt and, after completing the assignment, be given an opportunity to compare differences in their approaches in a class discussion forum. This team project requires a written proposal.

Source: Penn, M. L., Currie, C. S. M., Hoad, K. A., & O’Brien, F. A. (2016). The use of case studies in OR teaching. Higher Education Pedagogies, 1(1), 16–25. doi: 10.1080/23752696.2015.1134201

Product Dissection

This product dissection activity will introduce you to the use of virtual product dissection as a means to inspire creativity in engineering design and product innovation. It is a means for providing a framework for you in your own design projects as well as product innovation out in industry. This activity is based on empirical studies on how to to use product dissection as a tool for learning about how products work and as a tool for design inspiration. The activity spans two course modules and includes an online product dissection activity, followed-up with a team written submission and individual reflection in a journal entry.

Major Course Projects

In this course you will be asked to submit both an individual and a group Product Innovation Proposal.

Individual Product Innovation Proposal

At the mid-semester point, you will be required to submit an individual product innovation proposal, in which you outline a concept for product innovation. The proposal, which includes both a written submission (minimum three pages and maximum six pages) and a Bongo video submission (minimum two-minute and maximum five-minute), will be guided by an outline of required information. Other students and the course instructor will then evaluate the proposals (based on a provided rubric) to rank the highest with respect to the evaluation criteria. The instructor will assign students to work in teams to advance the top-ranked concepts into a Team Product Innovation Proposal. Please pay attention to the due dates for the Video Submission…it is due on a Thursday at 11:59 PM ET so that classmates may have time to comment before Sunday evening!

You will find a dedicated description page a little later in this lesson; it will give you all of the details of this assignment.

Team Product Innovation Proposal

This team assignment will provide you with experience working on a product innovation proposal within a virtual team (as will be required of you in professional contexts). The final submission will include both a written summary of your product innovation proposal (minimum eight pages and maximum ten pages) and a Bongo video summary of the proposal's highlights (minimum three minutes and maximum six minutes), which is due the week before the proposal [please pay attention to due dates in Canvas!]. You will have approximately half of the semester to work together in your assigned team on this project.

You will find a dedicated description page a little later in this lesson; it will give you all of the details of this assignment.

Grading

Grades will be assigned based on both the completeness of responses and on the instructor's assessment of the student's efforts to reflect on the course material and demonstrate critical thinking in the responses.

For more information about the content and grading of this course, please refer to the Course Syllabus using the Canvas Course Navigation menu.