On 16-17 March, Lego® Serious Play®, Ingenuity Lab’s First Plug-in Programme was successfully carried out at the Library of the University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Under the guidance of professional facilitators, students not only explored the various ways to play with Lego but also experienced the joy of "learning through play, playing through learning," and the appeal of individual creativity.
Professor Kok Wei Khong, Dean of NUBS China, actively encourages students to engage in such programmes to continually expand their innovative practical experience. He believes that programmes like this will play a crucial role in students' journeys toward becoming entrepreneurs.
"Choose a Lego brick, give it a special meaning and exchange it as a precious gift!" This was the first interactive session of the Lego® Serious Play® – the gift exchange. In this process, students carefully selected a Lego brick, endowed it with personal significance, and during the exchange with other classmates, experienced the unique meaning and emotion that the same gift could have in the hands of different people.
"How many ducks would be exactly the same?" Using the same six bricks, each student constructed their own duck. Even though there were 40 participants, every duck created was unique. Through this game, students saw the innovation, possibilities and diversity of the individual. At the same time, facilitator Ligeng Wang stated that such creativity and imagination are not abilities we acquire through learning but rather innate capabilities we are born with. Therefore, it is very important to explore and develop our own creativity.
Next, the students used an array of Lego bricks to complete creative projects on themes such as "the one thing you most want to do at UNNC," "the thing you are most proud of from childhood to adulthood," "the most fulfilling thing that makes you feel the joy of being human," and "role-play as an AI or a student to explain the relationship between the two from different perspectives." Led by the facilitators Lin Zhang and Ligeng Wang, the participants demonstrated their imaginative powers.
Zhuojun Yu, a Year 2 student from the BSc Finance, Accounting and Management programme, shared: "I built a model where our students swim with the ducks in the Nottingham River on campus. In the previous round of model building, each person had their own unique duck, and I’m thankful to my teammates for lending me their ducks to create the final piece. I hope to convey the concept of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature, as well as reflect the mutual help and teamwork within the group."
Design a product for a sled company based on user personas to attract more customers. This unique session is led by Dr Lin Zhang, Deputy Dean of the Xuanhuai College at Tianjin University. With years of experience in innovation and entrepreneurship education, she created a safe and comfortable environment for students, making them not afraid of mistakes and failures, and showcasing more innovative and comprehensive results. Through involvement, the students realised that a key factor determining whether innovation can achieve commercial success is to what extent innovation can meet the known needs of participants.
Ingenuity Lab is aims to create a stimulating culture of ideas generation and exploration and establish a dynamic community of student and alumni of UNNC to help accelerate their business growth into the marketplace and towards entrepreneurial success. The successful launch of the first plug-in programme under the Ingenuity Lab has enabled students with the opportunity to explore and stimulate their latent abilities and creativity, deepening their understanding of their own capabilities. This profound self-awareness will assist the students in facing the challenges of their future career paths with a more comprehensive and mature attitude.