Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice - MA
Currently viewing course to start in 2023/24 Entry.
MA Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice is a creative, future-thinking Masters course. It is designed as a multi-disciplinary practice-based programme that combines creativity, innovation, technology and enterprise. Addressing challenges on a range of societal issues, you will research and develop concepts and prototypes....
- Level Postgraduate Taught
- Study mode Full Time
- Location City Centre
- Award MA
- Start date September 2023
- Fees View course fees
- School School of Games, Film and Animation
- Faculty Faculty of Arts, Design and Media
Overview
MA Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice is a creative, future-thinking Masters course. It is designed as a multi-disciplinary practice-based programme that combines creativity, innovation, technology and enterprise.
Addressing challenges on a range of societal issues, you will research and develop concepts and prototypes. Working collaboratively, in an open lab environment, you will be supported by technical and innovation experts.
Students on the course will apply their previous experience in creative, artistic, design, making, engineering or computing backgrounds.
What's covered in this course?
The emphasis in this course is on the application of creative thinking to technology in the development of innovation concepts. You will work collaboratively across disciplines, supported by lecturers, technical and enterprise specialists to develop working prototypes, service designs and business concepts.
Teaching will be through workshops, masterclasses from subject experts, tutorials and technical instruction. During the course you may, depending upon your project and availability be given access to facilities at BCU’s innovation space, STEAMhouse. These include rapid prototyping and manufacturing such as CNC, laser cutting, 3D printing, metal work and print technologies
At the end of the course, participating teams will produce working protoypes and demonstrate how these will be taken to market.
The Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice Masters will bring opportunities for employment in innovation in areas that include; technology start-ups, the creative industries, innovation teams in global businesses and governments or NGOs.
This is an exciting new course, in which you will apply your creativity to generate big ideas. It is highly rewarding, hands-on experience supported by passionate and expert tutors.
Mark Brill, Course Leader
Why Choose Us?
- As a multi-disciplinary programme you can bring your existing skills and develop new ones - it is an ideal programme for curious people who are keen to take creative risks.
- You’ll have the opportunity to take part in two one-week Open Innovation Labs focussed on innovation practice.
- Become part of a wider community of makers, creatives and innovators.
- Our course will provide you with the skills, qualities and a portfolio of work that leads to employment in a range of innovation roles – from start-ups to large businesses or governments.
OPEN DAY
Join us for an on-campus Open Day where you'll be able to meet us in person. You'll get the chance to learn about courses in subject talks, chat to tutors and explore our campus. We'll post you a detailed event programme to help plan your day and find your way.
Next Event: Saturday 24 June
Entry Requirements
Essential Requirements
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MA Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice is open to all applicants who hold an Undergraduate Degree or equivalent. |
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IELTS 6.0 overall with 5.5 minimum in all bands. |
Fees & How to Apply
UK students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £10,000 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement - see below*)
- £11,000 in 2023/24
International students
Annual and modular tuition fees shown are applicable to the first year of study. The University reserves the right to increase fees for subsequent years of study in line with increases in inflation (capped at 5%) or to reflect changes in Government funding policies or changes agreed by Parliament. View fees for continuing students.
Award: MA
Starting: Sep 2023
- Mode
- Duration
- Fees
- Full Time
- 1 year
- £16,870 in 2023/24
- Full Time
- 18 months (including Professional Placement - see below*)
- £18,557 in 2023/24
*Professional Placement option
The Professional Placement version of the course is optional and is offered as an alternative to the standard version of the course.
This will allow you to complete a credit bearing, 20 week Professional Placement as an integral part of your Master’s Degree. The purpose of the Professional Placement is to improve your employability skills which will, through the placement experience, allow you to evidence your professional skills, attitudes and behaviours at the point of entry to the postgraduate job market. Furthermore, by completing the Professional Placement, you will be able to develop and enhance your understanding of the professional work environment, relevant to your chosen field of study, and reflect critically on your own professional skills development within the workplace.
You will be responsible for finding and securing your own placement. The University, however, will draw on its extensive network of local, regional and national employers to support you in finding a suitable placement to complement your chosen area of study. You will also benefit from support sessions delivered by Careers+ as well as advice and guidance from your School.
Placements will only be confirmed following a competitive, employer-led selection process, therefore the University will not be able to guarantee placements for students who have registered for the ‘with Professional Placement’ course. All students who do not find a suitable placement or do not pass the competitive selection process will be automatically transferred back to the standard, non-placement version of the course.
Personal statement
You’ll need to submit a personal statement as part of your application for this course. This will need to highlight your passion for postgraduate study – and your chosen course – as well as your personal skills and experience, academic success, and any other factors that will support your application for further study.
Not sure what to include? We’re here to help – take a look at our top tips for writing personal statements and download our free postgraduate personal statement guide for further advice and examples from real students.
Course in Depth
Modules
In order to complete this course a student must successfully complete all the following CORE modules:
Comfort is your Enemy!
This module provides an introduction to the Masters course and develops techniques in creative thinking. These will be used as a foundation for the development and application of innovation concepts and prototypes. The ability to develop creative ideas also means taking creative risks, in which you are encouraged to explore and expand your thinking, moving out of your comfort zone. This approach is integral to the very concept of innovation. The module will introduce you to a variety of creative thinking models. Through these, you will explore and use divergent and convergent thinking to develop your concepts. By gaining familiarity with the creative thinking models, they will become tools that you will apply throughout the programme in the process of innovation.
This module will introduce you to the theories that will help you to enable the process of innovation. Examples may include STEAM Thinking, Design Thinking, Action Research and project management approaches such as Agile/Scrum. Based on a broad set of challenges, you will apply these methodologies to evaluate specific narrower problems. Through a user-empathy approach you will demonstrate how you have understood the challenges and begin to apply the creative thinking models from Module 1 to identify solutions.
This module will build on your previous learning to further develop your practice of innovation. This module will provide you with a range of options to explore innovation within different settings. This may take the form of, but is not exclusive to Open Innovation Labs, work placements, master classes, and field trips. You will take a constructed learning approach to identify and agree your own Learning Plan with reference to suggested learning pathways. At the end of this module there will be a second Open Innovation Lab that will focus on the development of prototypes. Assessment for this module will be a portfolio that demonstrates the learning achieved and a reflection on this, and the team working process.
The purpose of the module is to enable you to undertake a sustained, in-depth and theoretically informed research project exploring an area that is of personal interest to you. It is important that we can support you appropriately, so you will be guided towards choosing a research topic which is relevant to your discipline and in which your lecturers have expertise. The outcome may take the form of a written dissertation or a practical outcome with accompanying reflective, critical and contextual material. The main consideration when choosing your topic is that it must be relevant to your programme and you should consider the relevance of this topic to your future academic or professional development.
Download course specification
Download nowUnderpinning this course is an aim to create prototypes and concepts that address key societal issues in areas such as health, sustainability and urban development. Taking these as broad challenges, you will identify specific problems and apply creative thinking to find solutions.
You will participate in workshops, tutorials and master classes on themes covering creative thinking, problem framing, user empathy, rapid prototyping, innovation and enterprise. Additionally, through a self-directed study programme, there will be opportunities to develop specific skills in technology and making, supported by technical experts.
At the end of the course, you will have developed a prototype of your concept and will demonstrate how it can be taken to market.
STEAMhouse
You’ll have the opportunity to make use of our exciting innovation space, STEAMhouse. It is aimed at encouraging the collaboration of the arts, science, technology, engineering and maths (STEAM) sectors, and is generating incredible opportunities for the West Midlands.
STEAMhouse helps businesses, start-ups and sole-traders to develop new ideas, skills, products and services by providing free business support, access to makerspace workshops and co-working space, and a programme of STEAMlabs and events led by industry experts from many different sectors.
Employability
Enhancing your employability skills
Courses within the School of Games, Film and Animation are built upon workplace simulation and industry-standard work, ensuring you behave less like a student and more as a professional, gaining the workplace experience and attributes you need. The aim is to produce confident, work-ready graduates.
At the end of your studies you’ll complete a Major Project. This project may lead you to working directly with a client depending on individual aspirations. This direct contact will give you the experience, confidence and freedom to put into action all you’ve learned on your studies. Aligned with this course-specific experience, you will also have access to a range of support staff and services from the University’s Careers Service, who can help with:
- Reviewing CVs, covering letters and application forms
- Career planning and decision making
- Preparing for interviews and assessment centres
- Developing portfolios
- Networking with employers
- Advice about self-employment and entrepreneurship
Links to Industry
The course connects with a number of organisations in the creative industries including local and national companies.
Placements
Whilst there is no formal programme, students will be able to undertake short placements in companies developing innovation during the second and final semesters.
The course enhances employability by developing a broad set of creative, technical and enterprise skills, or T-skills, in addition to specific knowledge in innovation, technology and enterprise. This will be shown through your own portfolio of work that will create demonstrable skills.
International
Birmingham City University is a vibrant and multicultural university in the heart of a modern and diverse city. We welcome many international students every year – there are currently students from more than 80 countries among our student community.
The University is conveniently placed, with Birmingham International Airport nearby and first-rate transport connections to London and the rest of the UK.
Our international pages contain a wealth of information for international students who are considering applying to study here, including:
- Explore some of the good reasons why you should study here.
- Find out how to improve your language skills before starting your studies.
- Find all the information relevant to applicants from your country.
- Learn where to find financial support for your studies.
As a creatively-driven course, we positively encourage students to bring their direct experience from their own countries and cultures to their creative thinking, problem framing and innovation solutions.
Facilities & Staff
Our School of Games, Film and Animation is based in the Curzon Building, a £63 million development, located on our City Centre campus.
We help you learn a specific discipline such as digital marketing, programming or art and put that discipline into practice by offering flexible teaching space, dedicated development studios and open access work areas for group projects, as well as course-specific facilities.
Our staff
Mark Brill
MA Creativity, Making and Innovation Practice Course Leader, MA/MSc Future Media, BA Digital Marketing Senior Lecturer
Mark Brill brings over 25 years experience in digital channels, creative innovation and emerging technologies. He is a leading innovation strategist working with global brands, start-ups and third sector organisations. Mark’s focus is on the creative application of technology, in which he is researching and developing concepts for the Internet of...
More about Mark