Module: Collaboration & Innovation

Latest Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2025 - 2026

Module Title	Collaboration & Innovation
Module Code	CSC1006 (ITS: CA120)
Faculty	Computing	School	Engineering & Computing
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	5

Description

One of the biggest challenges in collaboration is effective communication and co-operation between team members. The objective of this mode is to equip students with experience and understanding of the different types of tools and collaborative tasks which they will encounter as professionals. Going from Ideation to creation, the students will learn about project management, communication, and collaborative tools to support them.

Learning Outcomes

1. Comprehend the different types of collaborative situation, and the role of technology in facilitating effective co-operation.
2. Assess the appropriateness of different tools and technologies for specific collaborative tasks at various team sizes
3. Conduct ideation, design, and evaluation workshops, gathering appropriate feedback
4. Employ methods for reaching consensus in a group, and communicating group decisions effectively
5. Participate or Lead a team in a collaborative task
6. Create, Develop, and Evaluate innovation activities including business planning using techniques including the business canvas
7. Examine ethical considerations in team-building, project management and innovation tasks

*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Workload	Full time hours per semester
Lecture	24	Lectures including introduction to theory and practice of the elements of the course. Some materials will be generated by the students, some will be from external sources and the remainder will be digital notes.
Assignment Completion	36	Group work, individual assignments
Independent Study	65	Revision, self-directed learning and reading, reflection
Total Workload: 125

Section Breakdown
CRN	10179	Part of Term	Semester 1
Coursework	0%	Examination Weight	0%
Grade Scale	40PASS	Pass Both Elements	Y
Resit Category	RC1	Best Mark	N
Module Co-ordinator	Silvana MacMahon	Module Teacher	Graham Healy, Monica Ward

Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Assessment Breakdown
Group project	Students will collaborate in groups to take an idea from an initial ideation workshop to a final proposal	30%	n/a
Group presentation	Students will give a (timed) presentation using the tools discussed in the course on the collaboration aspects of a tool or product.	30%	n/a
Report(s)	Students will write a report on a key aspect of innovation, collaboration and technology supporting it,	15%	n/a
Digital Project	Students will be develop an individual and a group infographic	10%	n/a
Report(s)	Individual report	15%	n/a

Reassessment Requirement Type
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; RC1: A resit is available for both^* components of the module. RC2: No resit is available for a 100% coursework module. RC3: No resit is available for the coursework component where there is a coursework and summative examination element. ^* ‘Both’ is used in the context of the module having a coursework/summative examination split; where the module is 100% coursework, there will also be a resit of the assessment

Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

The Design of Everyday things
Human-centric design, design thinking, problem solving through experimentation, iteration, and evaluation, Action research and co-design

Lean and Agile Management
Lean Kanban, Scrum, Estimation Theory, resource planning/tracking, milestone tracking, feature-led development

Presentation and Communication
Ignite/Pecha Kucha, Visual storytelling, structuring presentations, leading interactive workshops, encouraging feedback, blogs, social media, and distributed note-taking

Working in Teams
Belbin Personality types, Consensus building and conflict handling, collaborative writing, giving constructive feedback, recording meetings, ethical aspects of collaboration

Collaboration Tools
Shared Authoring environments, Code repositories and version control, taxonomies and knowledge management, surveys and forms, collaborative notes and handling physical artefacts

Innovation
Business Models, Lean Startup approaches, Business Model Canvas, Opportunity Analysis, SWOT, Ethical aspects of innovation

Indicative Reading List

Books:

Don Norman.: 0, The design of everyday things, New York; Basic Books, 0465050654
Eric Ries: 0, The Lean Startup, Penguin Books Ltd, 0670921602
David J Anderson: 0, Kanban, Blue Hole Press, 0984521402
Garr Reynolds: 0, Presentation Zen, New Riders, 9780132901536
Tom DeMarco, Timothy Lister.: 0, Peopleware, Boston; Addison-Wesley, 0321934113

Articles:
None

Other Resources

None