Student group’s challenge

“Students worked on the problem that the alarm button is poorly used by elderly. They (the elderly) leave the alarm buttons by their bedside table or in the shower. And then, students have to figure out why elderly poorly use the alarm button, whether it is a problem or not, and how the use of the alarm button can be improved among the elderly. […] Companies, producing alarm buttons, are also thinking about these kinds of issues. The student group generated several variations with functionality of alarm buttons retrieved from talking with elderly, for example, in a care center. So, the students were on track and the company was their stakeholder. However, at the end, the stakeholder just dropped out. So, in the end, there was no newly developed product. The students wanted to develop a final product, but then there was nothing, except for some well-thought-out ideas that could solve the problem. Student felt like they had no product. How did the students react? Yes, the students were—of course— disappointed. There are students who expect a lot from companies and there are students who expect nothing from companies and who get a little. However, in this case, the students expected a lot from the company. They (students) had the feeling that their idea could really be transformed into something, and that the manufacturer would listen to them. So, the students were—of course—disappointed” [T12 alarm button].

Teaching activities

“In my opinion, as a teacher, you have to make immediately clear that it is not about developing a new product and that it does make sense that such a company has something else on its mind. I tell the students that the company takes over your ideas very cheaply. That is fine, view that as a fantastic outcome of what you have done. Because you still produced several ideas and that is your contribution to the problem. […] I think students are fine with this reassurance. I have the feeling that this helps. If you just relativize those things, but also say, ‘look, everything you do has an impact, even if you do not think so. You have talked to a lot of people, you have brought ideas to the manufacturer and if your innovation is not transformed into a product, perhaps the idea will be picked up by someone else. So, it always has an impact what you do. Even if there is nothing at the end’. So, yes, I have the feeling that students find that helpful” [T12 alarm button].