When teachers go for training... innovation

Vice Rector Hoang Anh Tuan presented flowers to thank the lecturers who participated in the course.

The course is designed and implemented to help faculty and staff of the university access innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, thereby creating impetus for innovation in teaching and learning methods to adapt to the 21st-century context. With an entrepreneurial mindset (willingness to innovate, create, and adapt to changing situations), faculty and staff will be strong promoters of the entrepreneurial spirit and innovation among students and create innovations in their own current work.

The teachers participated in the Marshmallow Tower building challenge.

During the first two days of the course, faculty and staff learned about creative thinking, entrepreneurial thinking, and design thinking – crucial foundational thinking for entrepreneurial educators. In the creative thinking session, participants worked directly with experts from SAP Vietnam – Ms. Josephin Galla and her colleagues. The entrepreneurial thinking and design thinking sessions were led by lecturers from Vietnam National University, Hanoi and the Ministry of Science and Technology – who had completed the VIBE Entrepreneurial Educator course in 2018-2019, including: Dr. Nguyen Mai Huong, Dr. Hoang Thi Bao Thoa, Dr. Dao Thi Dieu Linh, Dr. Le Thanh Huyen, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu, and Dr. Lu Thi Thanh Le.

The course attracted instructors of all ages.

The first sessions of the course were designed as learning by doing, in which faculty members from the University of Social Sciences and Humanities faced various challenges such as drawing brain maps, designing backpacks according to the needs of a "client"—a colleague in the group—designing a co-working space for the University to utilize design thinking, etc. Feedback on these experiences indicated that the class effectively conveyed lessons through simple, fun games that stimulated creativity and teamwork skills.

At the end of the first two sessions, the participants formed project teams to undertake an open challenge leading up to the final pitching session – identifying problems and proposing startup solutions related to their area of ​​expertise.

On November 15-16, 2019, trainees will continue their training on intellectual property protection with research ideas and Canva models for innovative startups. Specifically, on Saturday afternoon, November 16th, six trainee groups will present their ideas and solutions in the final pitching session. The best ideas from faculty and staff of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, selected at this final pitching session, will receive further support from the Entrepreneurship Educators Group and be connected to the Ministry of Science and Technology's Innovation Startup Ecosystem Support Project in 2020.

It can be said that the course has "activated" and is expected to contribute to "igniting" the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. Not only are the humanities lecturers very enthusiastic about the journey of the innovative entrepreneurial educators, but the Board of Directors and departments of the University have always been supportive and given maximum encouragement to the class. A community of innovative entrepreneurial educators is gradually forming at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, contributing to promoting the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship among faculty and students.

Teachers who are interested can follow and support the activities of this community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmst.ussh/