What is innovation?

The term innovation evokes possibility, novelty, and promise.  It is a term that has a slightly different hue depending on it context and it is it is worthwhile to consider the definition of innovation from those who have studied it. The first definition is from a business lens while the second is from an academic lens.:

“Innovation is the multi-stage process whereby organizations transform ideas into new/improved products, service or processes, in order to advance, compete and differentiate themselves successfully in their marketplace”[1]

“An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption”[2]

Why should chemistry faculty engage in instructional innovation?

As faculty teaching an historically challenging subject, instructional innovation can be leveraged to enhance the learning experience of students, to enhance our professional experience, and as a way to address and potentially alleviate challenges that are faced in the classroom and laboratory.  Some potential reasons to innovate include:

• To increase student engagement with the content, with their peers, and with their instructors.
• To improve learning outcomes such as mastery of content, metacognition, problem solving, synthesis and application of models.
• To cultivate enjoyment of the learning process.
• To increase student retention and attract talent into the field.

What is instructional innovation?

The definitive answer to the question is beyond the scope of this document, but it is a question that is worth asking and acknowledging. For the purposes of this nascent project, the following criteria will be used to identify instructional innovation:

• The use of an intervention or an intentionally designed approach to enhance student learning experience and outcomes.

1. Baregheh, Anahita; Rowley, Jennifer; Sambrook, Sally (4 September 2009). “Towards a multidisciplinary definition of innovation”. Management Decision. 47 (8): 1323–1339. doi:10.1108/00251740910984578. ISSN0025-1747.
2. Rogers, Everett M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-2209-1. OCLC 52030797.