This workshop, which takes place over 2 full days per week, is the first master's course for students from very different backgrounds (place of origin, age, knowledge and practices). Students are often anxious and do not necessarily have a clear idea of what is expected. This is why during the first course a handbook containing the key concepts, the pedagogical objectives and what is expected in terms of deliverables is provided to them and is reviewed during the first face-to-face session.
During the first 3 weeks, they are provided with the general problematic defined beforehand by the teacher (e.g., sand extraction and consumption or plastic). They will go deeper into the subject by exploring different aspects of its complexity, especially through round tables with international experts. The objective is to bring students to have a global vision of this issue and to reflect on their own competences in the field.
From the 4th week, students are divided into groups of 3 to 6 people and define their specific problems. Until the 9th week of the course, the structure of the course will be built around these issues and the specific needs faced by the students (e.g., the need to meet with an expert on the issue). They also have access to the Fablab which gives them the opportunity to build and test prototypes. The goal is to bring them through each step of the innovation process and teach them the procedure behind it. In concrete terms, they will test their ideas until the end, check their viability and if it is not successful, develop a new innovation.
Students are asked to give regular (once a week) 3-minute presentations on the progress of their projects. These short presentations give the teachers the opportunity to check the level of students' commitment and whether the project is going in the right direction. At each presentation session held at the Biotech Campus, at least one external person is present to provide feedback to the groups.
During the 10th and 11th weeks, they must prepare and give an oral presentation that is assessed and in which different experts are invited to participate. They also produce a technical report on their innovation as a group.
The last week of the workshop takes the form of a learning festival and is reserved for a personal and collective reflection exercise on the aspects of the course that they preferred. They each write on a post-it notes 3 aspects that are then explored in greater depth together. This is done in a dynamic way, based on the "SNAP" card game (each student notes the aspect chosen on a post-it and identifies the students who have chosen the same one to form a group).
The assessment is based on the oral presentation, the technical report as well as on the presence.
