We are about to celebrate the success of our DaVinci graduates on 28 and 29 May 2025, witnessing the applied academic achievements of individuals who have completed their learning journeys at either the undergraduate or postgraduate level.
The Journey Was Never Easy
Did this happen with ease? Most probably not, as journeys into the unknown are often characterised by challenge, commitment, experimentation, the consideration of alternative options, endurance, and a great sense of being all on your own at times.
Challenging the Status Quo
Graduating from our own journey of 20 years, the process has not been different. The challenge to embed an alternative education methodology, accompanied by different product offerings within a traditional and structured environment, has provided for continuous interrogation by peers:
Questions That Shaped Our Identity
- Why do you want to offer a PhD with coursework?
- Why do you want to allocate varying credit weightings to different modules?
- Why do you want to include a credit-bearing reflective exit-level assignment in concluding a programme?
- Why do you want to allow students to consider compiling a critical review of a summative assessment if the modular content doesn’t align with their reality?
- Why do you think technology management and innovation management are disciplinary fields of study?
- Why are textbooks not considered to be the only reference?
- Why don’t you institute examinations?
- Why do you rely so strongly on industry specialists and their experience?
Yet, since the inception of DaVinci, many individuals and corporations (both public and private) have signed up to become participants in this self-directed learning journey, even though it is still a work in progress.
Building a Community of Co-Creators
A total of 3,376 graduates completed their programmes at DaVinci over the past 20 years, of whom 612 completed postgraduate programmes, whilst 2,764 completed undergraduate programmes.
As expected, being novel and new, DaVinci also drew the attention of typical Trojan horses, disguised as individuals or groups of individuals who were, and still are, interested in how we operate: unexpected visits from strangers seemingly interested in how our business model works; critics who complained to regulators, urging them to inspect our offerings; individuals (both staff and students) who signed up without the necessary commitment to co-create; and people singing DaVinci’s praises, hoping someone will pose a dark question.
Measuring Two Decades of Impact
As part of the Trojan analogy and the 20-year celebration of DaVinci’s success, DaVinci also needed to revisit who is on her side and whom she needs to keep on her side. In this regard, the role of our fellow DaVincian staff, students, alumni, and business associates is critical. We are, therefore, revisiting and realigning our engagements with each of you and are looking forward to the future with you on our side. The ultimate dream has not been achieved yet…
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