Abstract:

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is widely used in higher education to promote experiential learning and the development of professional competences. Although its envisioned benefits, open-ended innovation projects often present challenges related to task ambiguity, coordination within teams, and difficulties in assessing students’ learning processes. This study evaluates the implementation of structured project templates as scaffolding tools to support student learning and competence development in a team-based innovation management course.

Using the perspective of competence development, the training experience was conducted in the setting of an elective course, offered to undergraduate students enrolled at the Faculty of Business and Economics, at the University of Girona (Catalonia, Spain). The “Innovation Strategies” course attracted 42 students, 15 of which foreign students (35%), coursing the spring semester (February to May 2026) abroad. The intervention reported in the current paper, lasted 13 weeks, and although it mainly refers to the academic year 2025/2026, it is fruit of an accumulated experience, summing more than 10 years.

The goal of the subject is double:
i) to train students, providing knowledge from the innovation management body of knowledge, and
ii) develop innovation project specific competences.

The overall training approach consists in simulating the innovation journey, from detecting a challenge, need or problem, generating the solution idea, conducting user validation, designing the prototype, framing the business model, and finally elaborating impactful communication.
During the reported experience students worked in teams to develop their innovation project. As part of the course design, students completed twelve structured templates corresponding to different class exercises helpful in the innovation journey. Some examples of the templates include:
i) the Why/How/What,
ii) SCAMPER or Mind mapping,
iii) Customer Empathy Map,
iv) CANVAS,
v) CANVAS with social, eco, or platform elements,
vi) tactics for diffusion of innovation,
vii) impactful pitching, among others.

The templates were designed to provide guidance for decision-making, improve task clarity, and facilitate iterative feedback throughout the project. They also provide the alternative of hands-on class activity with potential to interact and collaborate with colleagues, often coming from different cultures and contexts.

A mixed-methods single-cohort design was employed to assess the impact of template-guided PBL (Project-Based Learning) on students’ perceived competence. Data were collected from different sources: a pre-course survey administered in the first week of the semester, Moodle-based records of template submissions, rubric-based evaluation of final team projects, and a post-course survey administered at the end of the course.

Template engagement was operationalised through completion rates, submission timeliness, and process quality scores derived from milestone assessments. These indicators were combined into a Template Engagement Index (TEI) to examine associations between students’ use of scaffolding tools and perceived competence development, as well as project outcomes.

Findings are expected to provide insights into the role of structured scaffolding in improving the implementation of project-based learning in innovation-oriented courses, particularly in contexts characterised by high levels of task ambiguity and collaborative work.

Keywords:

Competence development, innovation management, project-based learning, template.