The Theory Part: Self-study, Book Reading, Lectures & Discussion Sessions

➔ Self-study

You are expected to conduct timely independent self-study on the course materials as suggested in the course schedule and make your own notes based on self-study to set the foundation for achieving all the learning goals of this course. The independent self-study will allow you to actively participate in discussion sessions and complete team assignments work.

Learning goals 1. and 2. of this course will be achieved through a combination of (i) independent book reading, (ii) reading and watching lecture study materials, (iii) independent watching of prerecorded lecture videos and (iv) active participation in discussion sessions.

➔ Book Reading (and Lecture Study Materials)

In reading each of the book chapter, please make sure you are able to answer the following questions for yourself:

What are the key concepts or process/new product development (NPD) activities discussed in each book chapter? (e.g., what is a new product, who are lead users, etc.)
How are the key constructs or NPD activities defined and how would I explain them to others?
What are the key NPD processes/activities, insights and examples presented in each book chapter and how would I explain them to others?
What are the key take-aways from each book chapter for managing NPD phases?
How does the key concepts or NPD process/ activities discussed in each book chapter link to other book chapters or NPD phases ? (think of e.g., why concept evaluation is needed considering that new products fail or why project innovation charter (PIC) must be reconsidered after the financial analysis)?
Which key concepts or NPD process/ activities discussed in each book chapter might be applicable for the assignment and how they can be applied to the assignments? (think of key questions and objectives mentioned in each assignment)

In preparing for the exam you could additionally:

Think of at least three multiple-choice questions based on each book chapter in the style of the example exam and discuss them with fellow students.
Think of two or three key take-aways from each book chapter and discuss them with your fellow students.

Lecture Study Materials

Some of the lectures also comprises of additional study materials in form of videos, articles and book chapters of other books. Please follow the abovementioned process while reading the articles and book chapters of other books. For videos, please follow the below mentioned process that is suggested for watching the lectures. In particular, please draw connections of video content with the reading materials (book chapters and lecture study materials) and other lecture contents,

➔ Lectures

Lectures 1 to 7 introduce key terms, theories, and frameworks associated with product innovation process through prerecorded videos. The major objective of the lectures is to provide examples and to discuss, reflect on, and add to some of the theory presented in books and scientific articles and not to present the content of books and scientific articles. Therefore, preparatory self-study before lectures is required to achieve the learning goals 1 and 2.

The details of preparatory study materials for each lecture is mentioned on each lecture's page in the module LECTURE STUDY MATERIALS AND PRERECORDED VIDEOS . The prerecorded video lectures will be released at the beginning of the week (Monday 0900 hrs) during which the lecture is supposed to take place as mentioned in the course schedule.

Before watching the lecture videos, please read and watch the lecture study materials to be prepared for the content provided in the videos.

For watching the lecture videos, please take the following advice into account:

Please pick a quiet moment and environment for watching the videos, so that you can understand and fully focus on the information provided.
Please take (small) breaks in-between watching the different videos.
Please take handwritten notes while watching the lecture videos, to facilitate the learning process, and draw connections with the reading materials (book chapters and lecture study materials) from this and other lectures, just as for the book reading (as described above).
Write down questions and post them to respective CANVAS discussion forums for various lectures and/or discuss them with fellow students.

Again, similar to book reading process, in preparing for the exam you could additionally:

Think of at least three multiple-choice questions based on each lecture video in the style of the example exam and discuss them with fellow students.
Think of two or three key take-aways from each lecture video and discuss them with your fellow students.

➔ Discussion Sessions

During the course, we will organize several discussion sessions. These sessions will provide you the opportunity to ask questions on content related to different lectures and team assignments. Please actively participate in the discussion sessions for various lectures planned during the course to resolve your questions/queries that came to your mind while reading the study materials and watching the prerecorded lecture videos. Discussion sessions will not be recorded as we want you to attend these lectures on-campus. The dates and timeslots for discussion sessions can be found in course schedule.