Intersecting Programme Design Thinking in Business disciplines in a new Technological University
Intersecting Programme Design Thinking in Business disciplines in a new Technological University

Summary/Abstract: This reflective paper discusses how design thinking principles and stages can support a people-focused collaboration between two new Schools in a new Faculty of Business in a new technological university (TU) in Ireland; TUs are a new entity for the higher education sector in the country. The layers of ‘newness’ and uncertainty in the context of this work enabled design principles to be a useful complemental tool for our planning. There are currently five TUs in Ireland with TU Dublin being the first established in January 2019. Technological Universities have been founded to address the social and economic needs of their region and to engage in industry-focused research. A focus is on science and technology programmes that are vocationally and professionally oriented, and a key aspect of the TU remit is an expectation to play a pivotal role in facilitating access and progression for students particularly through relationships with the further education and training sector. The collaboration is between two Heads of School in this context who are using design thinking to help shape their future business programme portfolio for the next 3-5 years. In such a novel situation that we found ourselves in 2022-23, dealing with change at multiple levels required new ways of thinking. This work was part of a University-wide School and Programmatic Review process where people-focused curriculum and learning design involved the academic staff and students who constitute new disciplinary-based programme design teams. We believe that design thinking can provide us with a set of shared principles, processes, practices and attitudes that encourage our disciplinary teams to “think like designers” through a complex process of restructuring our programme portfolio in this new technological university context.

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