Tag Archives: Innovation

NOVA Lab: A Class in Flux

Since 2019, NOVA Lab has utilized Fluxspace, an innovative educational space, for project presentations and learning. The class evolved from a focus on design-thinking to more social initiatives, leading to concerns about diminishing entrepreneurial vigor. Insights from critique panels at Fluxspace prompted reflections on curriculum adjustments to restore a design-centered focus. Revisions aim to emphasize tangible outcomes, community partnerships, and enhanced student engagement.

NOVA Notable #4: Connect to Learn

The entrepreneurial mindset thrives on networking, enhancing opportunities for success. Teachers and students gain recognition through collaboration and sharing experiences, exemplified by the NOVA Lab’s partnership with Ursinus College’s entrepreneurship program. An engaging visit allowed students to present projects and receive valuable feedback, emphasizing the importance of connections and experiential learning.

NOVA Lab Notables No. 3: Lehigh Univ. Impact Fellowships

In this month’s “Notables,” appreciation is extended to Phil Holcombe for his impactful design insights and feedback that improved various projects, and to Julia Killar and Lehigh University’s Creative Inquiry program for inspiring community-focused initiatives. These contributions significantly enrich NOVA Lab’s pursuit of social innovation and meaningful impact.

From Design Thinking to Futures Thinking (part 1)

In which we explore our class’s shift from a focus on Design Thinking to incorporating Design Thinking with Futures Thinking and its attendant skills in Scenario Planning, Foresight, Signal and Trend spotting, and Protopian thinking.

Dialogues on What Matters–NOVA Lab and the Future of Education

When I first imagined what today is NOVA Lab, my vision was based on years of reading and collecting of research, both quantitative and qualitative, in the fields of Project and Design-Based Learning. (Here’s a document, recently updated but by no means complete that captures a good deal of that research.) When the class launchedContinue reading “Dialogues on What Matters–NOVA Lab and the Future of Education”

“Well,How Did I Get Here?*” Or … Thank You.

I am not an entrepreneur. I do not own a business. Serial startups are not my thing. I am however, entrepreneurially minded. After almost 25 years of living, breathing, and evolving my understandings of creativity–from self-expressive to problem solving to problem finding and the applied creativity of design–I’ve come to enjoy the risks of startingContinue reading ““Well,How Did I Get Here?*” Or … Thank You.”

The Thrill of Victory, and the Agony of Defeat: Cassidy Lichtman’s “P/ATH” and Sport as a Good Thing

A look at a small but determined initiative using sports in a focused and determined way to achieve one’s goals as well as a way to develop a solid sense of self and a care for a larger key community.