Shared interests in live case-based learning – students’ dynamic role in an innovation ecosystem

Teaching engineering students to navigate complex innovation ecosystems and deal with wicked problems is vital for contributing to sustainable development. Research shows that case-based learning with real-life challenges boosts motivation and learning outcomes. This paper presents a course that is in the core of an ecosystem where engineering students engage with hospitals, and work on the hospitals’ documented innovation needs. By design, the course setup has a double purpose: in a learning context, the course strengthens intrapreneurship education, with students acting in an empowered role like professional consultants. In an organizational context, the course enhances knowledge sharing, filling in the gap of innovation competences and resources needed to create value and stimulate intrapreneurial initiatives. The ecosystem has evolved as result of an iterated development of the course including the tools and frameworks that empower the students to act as autonomous innovation consultants in constant interaction with the process of mobilizing the case partners. Thus, this paper presents a study based on current experiences and learnings, focusing on the relationship between the facilitation of student empowerment in live case-based learning and the impact on both 1) engineering students’ motivation and learning outcomes; 2) value creation for the participating ecosystem. The paper builds on qualitative data from two sources: yearly follow-up interviews with case partners since 2018, and student reflection reports from 2022.