SCALING ASHESI UNIVERSITY PROJECT REPORT
September 7, 2017
by Cybil Tinemiishe Mupazviriwo
INTRODUCTION
The aim of this project was to scale up a non-profit organisation with the case study of Ashesi University. Using Design Thinking methods, this study will prove if Ashesi can thrive in other parts of Africa outside Ghana.
RESEARCH PLAN
To achieve the aim of this project as outlined in the introduction, a research was conducted to find out people’s thoughts on an institution like Ashesi.
Target Population
The research was conducted in the following African countries; Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe. African students studying in China and United States of America were also interviewed.
In the selected population, the target population were mainly students in universities.
Research Methods
Cognitive Walk through
In depth Interviews
Research questions
The research was aimed at finding out what kind of university students preferred in terms of living conditions, curriculum, locations, size and campus life. In the end, these responses were to be compared against the Ashesi standards.
Using a cognitive walkthrough, students were asked to map out how they chose the school they were currently enrolled in, what they considered and what informed their decisions.
In-depth Interviews were also conducted where students interviewed on what they thought was an ideal college in terms of size, curriculum, location, campus life, costs and any other factors they considered.
RESULTS
The following are some of the quotes that came out in the research
“Breadth in study is very vital to me “
“ Education offered must meet the needs of the society practically”
“ I chose a place I could grow socially, intellectually and emotionally.”
“ A good university must be prestigious”
“ I want to learn across all disciplines and be in charge of my college life”
Results in summary
Almost 81% of the interviewees preferred small colleges where they could get enough attention. They also believed smaller institutions were more efficient
The majority felt that the liberal Arts system was better during undergraduate studies then specialisation for graduate studies.
Some felt that the best colleges were the ones that were specialised eg technical colleges or business colleges.
Almost all interviewees wanted to be met half way in the payment of fees through financial aid
A wide curriculum where students can choose from came about in almost all of the interviewees’ preferences.
Many also felt that study abroad programs, travel opportunities and programs with worldwide connections would make college life more fun.
ANALYSIS
After sensemaking and visualisation, the data obtained was analysed using a journey map and a persona. The POVs that resulted are:
Persona
Chingwa, ( a college student), needs an institution where she can pursue neuroscience, music and dance altogether, where she has a chance to travel, have fun and meet new people so that she can have a successful college life.
Journey Map
A college student needs a prestigious, accessible and reasonably small college with reasonable fees or financial aid and a live campus so that he/she can grow socially, emotionally and intellectually in college.
Mega POV
Students need prestigious and accessible institutions with affordable fees or financial aid and a liberal arts system supporting worldwide programs so that they can have a vibrant college experience.
CONCLUSION
Ashesi University is a liberal Arts College in Ghana that is small, private and non-profit. It is defined by three pillars which are
Scholarship
Leadership
Citizenship
It is a 4-year undergraduate college with 6 bachelor degree programs since its inception in 2002. It is the first institution to establish an honour system in Africa. It has small class sizes and a small but vibrant campus situated on a hill in Berekuso Accra. Ashesi has many study-abroad partners and also supports worldwide programs such as the Melton fellowships and the Dalai Lama Fellowship. 22% of the students are fully funded while 29 % are partially funded. See also https://www.ashesi.edu.gh/about/ashesi-at-a-glance.html
Ashesi is almost what most students are looking for in many parts of Africa in terms of class size, population, liberal arts system, study abroad, international opportunities and financial aid. Other conditions that might have to improve to make Ashesi the ideal college everyone is looking for are accessibility, (road networks to town as students enjoy hanging out away from school) and broadness in the curriculum. Considering that the college is still new, there is room for a broad curriculum with time but also the population size must be maintained.
Considering all the conditions that Ashesi offers, in comparison to what students really look for in colleges, it is therefore to a greater extent that Ashesi would thrive in the parts of Africa where this research was conducted.
ADEPT SUMMER 2017 SUMMARY
August 29, 2017
The ADEPT team, using a human-centred approach, worked on the development of an electronic device that aids in the diagnosis of lower respiratory tract infections in rural health clinics in Ghana through accurately monitoring a patient’s breathing rate. The team went through stages of problem identification, user research, development and discussing potential ways of implementing the product.
The teams worked virtually using social media platforms and collaborative web tools such as Google Drive, RealTime Board and Skype to work from two different locations.
The ADEPT team developed some prototypes which were then taken to potential users at the health facilities in Ghana. From feedback they got from their tests, they were able to gather information on the necessary improvements to the product and how they can scale up and roll it out to the communities in need.
GN PROJECT – ITERATION REPORT
August 21, 2017
The electronics team led by Nichola Tali, Engineering Lab Coordinator at Ashesi University College worked on the creating a working prototype for one of the product solutions that were settled on-the vein finder.
The vein finder prototype was done with red LEDs and tested. The team recorded success in seeing veins when a palm is placed over the lights. However, when the arm is moved further over the lights, veins become less and close to unseen. This is attributed to the increased thickness of muscles. For fair/light skinned people, veins were much more easily seen than when the vein finder was used on dark skinned people. Following this:
The vein finder prototype was done with red LEDs and tested. The team recorded success in seeing veins when a palm is placed over the lights. However, when the arm is moved further over the lights, veins become less and close to unseen. This is attributed to the increased thickness of muscles. For fair/light skinned people, veins were much more easily seen than when the vein finder was used on dark skinned people. Following this:
For fair/light skinned people, veins were much more easily seen than when the vein finder was used on dark skinned people. Following this insight, we changed the light source from red LEDs to infrared light. Infrared light has a greater ability to penetrate the skin and will make viewing veins easier regardless of skin colour. Replacing the red LEDs with infrared LEDs and using a different approach to circuitry, we will explore how efficient we can create a sustainable device.
SECONDARY RESEARCH ON THE APPLICATION OF BLOCKCHAIN IN AGRICULTURE
July 20, 2017
As a follow-up project from the exploratory workshop on the use of the blockchain technology outside the domain of cryptocurrency, this project focused on the idea of its application in the Ghanaian agriculture sector. During the summer break, secondary research was carried out, with the aim of locating and identifying working instances and potential areas of using blockchain systems in agriculture.
The following mind map lays out the structure of the secondary research conducted:
It was discovered that a few start-ups, (FarmShare, Filament, Skuchain & Provenance) have started to use Blockchain technology to create systems that document the supply chain progress of farm produce.
Given that our goal was to narrow down on locally-beneficial systems, we narrowed our focus on the application of block chain systems in the tracking/management of the various links in the typical Ghanaian agriculture supply chain.
Our next point of call was to identify the stakeholders that determined the nature of the supply chain flow in the local industry.
From an understanding of the players involved, we attempted to create an extensive relationship map/ flowchart of our assumptions of how the supply chain system typically works for farm produce in major communities in ghana.
Next Steps:
the assumed supply chain process needs to be validated and tested
a problem statement/ challenge needs to be identified and analysed to determine whether block chain solutions is essential or not in improving or developing and advanced supply chain system
a system needs to be explored or created which effectively brings an improvement in the flow of information or produce in the supply chain
BIOMIMICRY: A WAY OF GENERATING NEW AND SUSTAINABLE IDEAS BY GENESIS NCHOPEREU
May 1, 2017
This is a project that seeks to explore diverse ways of idea generation for innovative outcomes using biomimicry as inspiration. The following is an abstract of a research paper that is being written by Genesis Nchopereu ’19 and Dr Gordon Adomdza, the lead of the Ashesi Design Lab.
The answers to all questions around sustainability in our social, economic, environmental and scientific spaces lie in nature. Biomimicry is a way of replicating nature’s ecosystem, materials and processes into sustainable solutions that solve complex human challenges. This paper explores the meaning of biomimicry and examples of nature-inspired designs. It explores how biomimicry can be used to generate the next big idea and the implications of the biomimicry approach for sustainability in designing post-modern solutions. This paper will also cover how the Ashesi Design lab (D:lab) plans on using biomimicry to generate high impact ideas. Considering the fact that nature solves every problem, understanding how it does it sustainably is the first clue that this paper provides. How we seek inspiration from nature and transform the inspiration into feasible, working models with extensive applications are the ultimate goals of this paper. Therefore, it will conclude with how Ashesi D:Lab is building a design model for biomimicry to facilitate easy application of biomimicry in generating new ideas.
Keywords: Biomimicry, Sustainability, Nature—inspired, Implications, Postmodern, Nature
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