From innovative idea to start-up: during new workshops psychology students learn about doing business
Entrepeneurship image: Hannah Jacobs
In the ‘Educatips’ column, psychology lecturers share their valuable insights about lecturing. This month: Franz Wurm is developing entrepreneurship workshops together with PLNT for master’s students of Clinical Psychology. ‘We want to teach students to develop from passive consumers to become active contributors.’
It’s not that the ideas they have lack potential, yet none of the innovative projects thought up by master’s students in the Innovations in Neuropsychology programme have so far seen the light of day. This observation and a chance discussion with a colleague brought Franz Wurm to his new project. In the programme, developed by Ineke van der Ham, students not only learn about new trends and techniques, in small groups they also develop an innovative idea, such as a diagnostic tool or an intervention.
In the past year, students came up with a virtual reality version of prisma glasses for people with spatial neglect, a neuropsychological disorder where damage to one half of the brain causes the person to neglect signals from the opposite side. Patients with damage to the right hemisphere neglect the left-hand half of their spatial environment. The use of software and VR glasses as a treatment offer a less expensive and more flexible alternative for the current costly glasses.
Another idea that Wurm would like to see becoming a reality, inspired by the personal experience of a student with her grandmother, is an app for people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). ‘What patients with MCI currently hear all too often is: “Come back if it gets worse,”’ Wurm explains. ‘This app offers support and monitoring in the early stage of cognitive impairment.’
Great potential, but so far not implemented
After seven weeks, at the end of the course, there is a theoretically sound idea that has the potential to have impact in practice. But somehow it doesn’t come to fruition. ‘The ideas are often very strong in terms of their subject matter, but there is a lack of a concrete plan to really implement them. Students don’t get past the threshold of implementation.’
Wurm believes that both the lecturers and the students lack the knowledge needed to take the next steps in the process. The students are trained to gather and process theory and methodology, but the practical execution and the entrepreneurship needed are outside the expertise of the lecturers.
That’s a great pity, say both Wurm and his students. ‘Some students write in their evaluation: “Why don’t we go further with this?” That’s what we now want to do.’
Collaboration with PLNT
To guide the students better in achieving their innovations, Wurm will be working in the coming academic year with Christian Ramakers and Sander Kuin of the Leiden start-up incubator PLNT to improve the design of the course programme. Students will be able to learn how to analyse stakeholders, prepare a pitch and overcome other practical obstacles. ‘At PLNT they know what you are up against if you want to turn an idea into reality. That’s something we can’t teach students.’
Wurm is hopeful that with the extra knowledge about entrepreneurship from PLNT, students will in future find their way as entrepreneurs so that after the course has ended, their ideas will no longer gather dust in a drawer somewhere. The project isn’t about better grades, but about motivating students to go further than just the idea. His greatest wish? ‘It would be really good to see a student project develop into a true innovation that has impact in practice.’
Share your educa-tip?
Are you a lecturer at the Institute of Psychology and do you want to tell colleagues about how you teach? Or would you like to nominate an inspiring colleague for the next column? You can send a mail to news.psy@fsw.leidenuniv.nl putting ‘Educatip’ in the subject field.
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