Measuring Innovation Skills Acquired by College and Polytechnic Students through Applied Research

Abstract

This article provides an overview of how colleges and polytechnic institutes are fostering innovation literacy via support for business innovation, and it outlines models for measuring innovation literacy for improved downstream innovation and productivity in industry. The article demonstrates how we can innovate innovation by taking a specific, proactive, and instrumental approach to fostering business innovation and skills acquisition gained through applied research work experience by students as part of their college education. This approach is being used by George Brown College in developing a framework for measuring this innovation potential with a long-term, outcomes-based analysis.

Keywords

• applied research
• business innovation
• college
• experiential learning
• innovation literacy
• logic model
• polytechnic
• skills
• student research