Group Size
?
1.) Small group (teams of 4-6)
2.) Individual Task
3.) Large Group
4.) Any
Small group (teams of 4-6)
Learning Environment
?
1.) Lecture Theatre
2.) Presentation Space
3.) Carousel Tables (small working group)
4.) Any
5.) Outside
6.) Special
Carousel Tables (small working group)
QAA Enterprise Theme(s)
?
1.) Creativity and Innovation
2.) Opportunity recognition, creation and evaluation
3.) Decision making supported by critical analysis and judgement
4.) Implementation of ideas through leadership and management
5.) Reflection and Action
6.) Interpersonal Skills
7.) Communication and Strategy
1Creativity and Innovation
6Interpersonal Skills
Key points;
In early 2013 Cardiff University Enterprise delivered a two hour enterprise intervention session to 88 third year Optometry students which aimed to raiseawareness of the relevance of business and commercial skills to Optometry graduates by highlighting their role in the founding and running of an Optometry practice.
This was achieved via the use of XING, a business strategy game that simulates the founding and development of a business whilst fostering creativity, communication, decision making, team collaboration and business planning skills.
For graduates soon to enter pre-registration and then the workplace as practising optometrists, an understanding of commercial drivers, processes and ethics as they apply within the optometry sector is a valuable asset.
The QAA Optometry benchmarks document (2007) highlight a range of key professional skills expected of Optometry graduates. These include as examples, communication and interpersonal, recognition of role within multidisciplinary teams, autonomous learning, problem solving, flexibility, time management and organisational management. Elsewhere the document asserts the need for graduates to be aware of the legal and commercial restraints within which optometry operates and an ability to translate theoretical knowledge into practice in a clinical setting.
The General Optical Council emphasises the need for optometry business registrants to operate in an informed, professional and ethical manner for the benefit of both patient and practitioner. The guidelines offered by the GOC incorporate elements of commercial and enterprise awareness as they are applied within a corporate optometry setting.
The session began with class discussion as to what commercial awareness is and how it can be of value to optometrists. As you would expect discussion tended towards ideas of founding or working for a private optometry practice and consideration of how key corporate or ‘chain’ businesses / employers operate within the field. Providing opportunity for students to themselves identify the relevance of commercial awareness to future professional ambitionserved to provide context and investment in the group exercise which followed.
Following the discussion students were provided with a brief scene setting scenario which challenged them to generate business strategy and plans for founding and developing a new private optometry practice. In groups of eight to twelve and using XING packs, learners were required to collaboratively generate ideas, plan, problem solve, decision make and negotiate in order to create a considered business strategy that addressed relevant business start-up goals, processes and challenges they might expect to encounter along the way. Cardiff University Enterprise staff facilitated the exercise by guiding students through the various component activities and providing appropriate business advice and clarification as needed in order for learners to complete the task.
The XING exercise concluded with presentations complemented by class question and answer sessions focussing on each group’s completed business strategies, the decisions made and their justifications. This was followed by a general round up and class based discussion reflecting on what had been learnt and the value such learning may have for a newly qualified optometrist about to become a professional practitioner.
Xing provides a practical and visual form of business planning which introduces different elements of a business plan such as key roles, processes and stages. Introducing learners to technical terminology and business English (particularly useful for overseas and non-business students), it supports enterprise skills development, for example presentation, creativity, meeting and group management, collaborative problem solving, project planning. It provides an active and involving means of introducing business learning whilst relating it to disciplinary learning via the authoring of an appropriate scenario. Through the group based activity students gain experience of working in teams, establishing goals, mediating decisions whilst providing
opportunities to reflect on these types of activity and evaluate outcomes.
XING offers a range of benefits for participants: Students quickly learn to take ownership through challenging, engaging and competitive tasks; It encourages learners to consider enterprise oriented employment be it by the application of their own business ideas through self-employment or via enterprising roles within organisations; XING can also aid students in their preparation for work related learning or placements.
The intervention achieved its intended goals of introducing and raising awareness of the value of commercial awareness to optometrists soon to enter professional practice. Anecdotal student feedback was extremely positive.
During the concluding class discussion a number of student comments highlighted the value and apposite timing of the session in the context of their degree programme. It was mentioned that a lot was learnt in a short space of time through the XING exercise. The exercise was generally felt to have provided an enjoyable and interesting route into a subject that could potentially have been quite abstract and terse. The opportunity to actively engaging in commercial thinking was viewed as a positive and useful by participants.
The examples of curriculum development for enterprise related outcomes were originally outlined by Neil Coles at the International Enterprise Educators Conference under the heading 'From Archaeology to Zoology; an A-Z of enterprise in the curriculum'. For his work in contextualising enterprise for any subject, Neil won the 2013 National Enterprise Educator Award.
N/A
