Introduction

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity | Video on TED.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.htmlThe international competition is getting stronger and stronger. Companies and their strength within this competition get more dependent from dignified knowledge and innovative ability.
Students that want to start their own enterprise, have to learn to create some independent knowledge, because of this big competition.Within the minor Entrepreneurship we stimulate learning and creating in ‘the real world’ by connecting the learning tasks to real enterprising tasks. The intention of this, is that you’ll work your knowledge

and skills up by doing research yourself and to actually attempt things. The responsibility for handling this learning process is fully up to you.
This means that the teachers will be less focused on the direct transferring of knowledge, and more focused on attending the learning process. Because there are a lot of students from different kinds of studies, students can learn a lot from each other. The descriptions from above can be summarised with these three characteristics: situated learning, discovery learning and co-operative learning.

Self-regulating learning is partly based on the opinion that students should have the opportunity to determine their own direction and influence the environment. The concept of our education is aimed at stimulating independent thinking- and acting. In this modern society, independence is required. To prepare you guys for this, it is important that there is enough space to take decisions about learning.

Knowledge, the context and the student are not isolated from each other in situated learning. Knowledge can’t be separated from actual (personal) experiences. Therefore is the learning within the minor taking place on the basis of real assignments, where receiving knowledge and applying knowledge aren’t independent of each other.

Discovery learning assumes that absolute knowledge doesn’t exist and that this has to be (re) constructed continuously. Learning performances must be made on the basis of experiment and research. Learning never stops here. There are continuously new experiences, which may lead to new interpretations of reality. We stimulate discovery learning with assignments where there is no standard solution. Teachers function more as research assistants than transmitters of content knowledge.

Collaborative learning thinks of learning more as a social activity associated with a social dialogue. Students learn from and with each other. This is why we think that peer review meetings are so important. Conclusion: The concept of our education gives much space to students to make their own decisions. This provides a lot of freedom but sometimes little guidance. Teachers and fellow students could help with searching guidance. Not so much with direct answers, but more in the form of solution strategies. This will teach you to undertake in the unpredictable world outside school.

Creating and describing learning goals

Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigms | Video on TED.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http:// www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html

During minor Ad Agency, you should be able to set your own development goals for the coming semester. We are expecting you to get better at:

• -  formulating your own learning goals
• -  coming up with learning strategies
• -  predict the outcomes of the learning strategies
• -  make a description of the learning result

We are making a distinction between achievement goals, learning goals and learning results. Achievement goals are usually things you want to be able to do e.g. I want to be able to design a logo. Learning goals are underlying competencies which are needed to execute your achievement goal.

e.g. I want to know when a logo radiates quality. You will set these goals before and during your learning process. The learning result is a learning goal you have actually accomplished. This is determined after you executed your learning activities, but before you are taking the assessment.

Learning goals are characterised by their broad formulation. At the moment you have (partially) reached that goal, the description will become more specific. By the end the learning goal will become a learning result. This learning result is something, which the teachers will look at during the assessment at the end of the semester.

An example to illustrate the above: Jack started minor Ad Agency. He wants to be able to make a beautiful design. He once heard something about design principles, but he does not know what these principles entail. His achievement goal is: I want to be able to create a professional looking flyer. His derivative learning goal is: I want to know what the principles of design are. After all, it is not possible to make a professional design, if you do not know anything about design. He then puts the achievement goal and his learning goal in his PDP. He sets up a learning strategy. He wants to start reading a book called: “The universal principals of design” and he will follow the equal named lecture. This strategy is discussed with the design teacher, who agrees on this, but also gives the remark to look at a lot of different designs and try to copy some styles. After reading the book and following the lecture he makes some bullet points that were mentioned in the book and the lecture, he looks for some professional looking designs, which he criticises. He discusses this with other students. After that he makes some flyers for the client he is working for. Now that he is finished achieving his learning goal, he is ready to describe his learning result. His learning results are: I can make a flyer where I apply the golden ratio and have a well balanced, symmetrical design where the emphasis lies on the main topic. After he did all this his next question is: Is it possible to use an asymmetrical design or is that unprofessional? He starts from the top in formulating goals and strategies.

The construction of learning goals starts with establishing your current competence level. Start with making a mind map, with everything you know on design. We urge you to use software for this, which makes it easier to group and arrange topics as you learn more about graphic designs. Save different versions of your mind maps, to keep track of your growth. At the end of the minor you will probably know more than at the beginning.

What are the knowledge, skills and attitudes of a professional graphic designer? Think of everything you know and have learned so far during your education. Continue making the mind map until you run out of ideas. At this point you have reached the boundaries of your knowledge. To go over those boundaries talk to other people about graphic design, advertising etc. Read books on typography; watch tutorials on Lynda.com to extend your knowledge base and so on and so forth. Put all this knowledge into your mind map. You now have a preliminary view of everything needed for the minor Ad Agency.

With the mind map in front of you, you are going to determine what your current level in advertising is. At the same time you can find out, what you don’t know yet. Finally you will determine what it is you want to learn more about. What that is can be a wish or a necessity. Remember; do not solely work on your shortcomings. Make sure you improve on the things you are good at as well. How can you do this? In front of you is the mind map with all the competencies you know and think are important in the advertising world. There are 2×2 possibilities. You are competent or not in the topic you described and you either want to learn more about it or you don’t. Now use 4 different colours to circle around the topics.

You now have an overview on the competencies you want to learn more about. In your mind map they are circled with orange and blue. Now turn these categories into learning goals. The learning goals can

be exploratory, descriptive or explanatory. E.g. I want to know the content of a communication plan (exploratory), I want to know how different fonts go together while others do not (descriptive) or why is it that people read websites in an F-shaped way? (explanatory)

Make a learning strategy, which leads to a learning result for all the categories you have come up with. The next step is to prioritise. Decide which activities should be done first. Remember to visit teachers that can help you to come up with the right strategy.

After executing your learning activities you hopefully have reached your learning goal. You will certainly have reached a learning result, whatever your goal was. The content of the learning results are comprised of the following elements:

- Content
- Behaviour – Context
- Product

The content of the learning result are the competencies you have described earlier. The goals you first had are know formulated in a more specific fashion, so no misunderstanding can occur during the assessment. The behaviour is the level of competence is described according to the taxonomy of Bloom. De levels from lowest to highest are: knowledge, understanding, applying, analysing, synthesising. De context says something about the complexity of the work and the circumstances. In this case it is for the client you are working for and it is with some level of independence. Also the extent to which your work is related to other parts of the process determines the complexity. E.g. a design based on the concept, which subsequently was based on the research, is more complex than making sketches that you personally like. Finally you will show what the products are which show you are now competent at the described level. For all different levels and content there are several ways to display your competence.

An example: Jill worked on getting better at coming up with a good concept. She learned a view techniques she learned from the book: Creativiteit Hoe?Zo! With the group they applied these techniques and she wrote and drew on pieces of paper. She has learned to divert and convert and came up with an differentiating way to create a brand identity for the client. She describes her learning results as follows:

I can create a differentiating concept for a brand identity (achievement goal) I know and apply the superhero method, the negative brainstorm and the COCD-box (learning result) The proof for all of this is: the pieces of paper I used in the diverging methods, the COCD box I made for the converging stage, a description in my own words on these methods and the project plan which states the final concept.

Extra information for CMD students:

Notice that the categories in the learning result content, behaviour and context are the same as behaviour in the competence profile. The product is the same as results. Finally the learning strategies are the activities you describe.

Assessment

The assessment is where you’re going to prove your competence level to two teachers. All the products will be collected in a portfolio and will be used as prove during the assessment. Attention: the business plan is not a goal alone, all results of your learning activities are proof. You show the iterations you made during the minor. During the assessment you delivered this as proof. During the assessment you give an oral explanation on the delivered documents. The PDP will be leading during the assessment. The teachers will ask questions about the process, or want an explanation about the decisions that were made. After you proofed you are competent in about 30 minutes there will be a short consultation between the teachers. After that the results will be told and feedback will be given.

Teachers roles/ student roles

Within the minor entrepreneurship teachers have different roles: instructor, consultant, mentor and tutor.
Instructor: A teacher gives colleges and workshops. He transfers his knowledge on the whole group. Consultant: If you need clarification about a certain subject you can arrange a meeting with a teacher. The content is completely directed to you. You make your own appointment to get a private lesson. Be prepared and have some questions ready. You can only use consultants if you did visit the lessons and workshops. This is a condition to prevent repetition.

Mentor: With the mentor you discuss learning goals, learning activities, activities and to yield proof for the assessment. Within the minor entrepreneurship creating your own plan an indispensable part. Together with your mentor you determine the criteria for the assessment on the end of the semester. You create your own goals, the mentor validates them.

Tutor: in the peer conversations with other students you discuss the progress during the minor. The teacher is moderator and makes sure everyone is informed about the progress and helps with the learning process.