JCERJournal of Contemporary Educational Research2208-84662208-8474Bio-Byword Scientific Publishing Pty. Ltd.10.26689/jcer.v10i2.13671ArticleCultivating Innovative Competency in Higher Education: Challenges and Pathways in the Era of Artificial Intelligencehttps://artdesignp.com/journal/JCER/10/2/10.26689/jcer.v10i2.13671PengHuan20261022026-03-09Innovative competence, as a key component of 21st-century core literacies, should be fully integrated into the entire process of disciplinary curriculum instruction in higher education. Current teaching practices in specialized courses are often constrained by several cognitive and practical misconceptions. These include viewing innovation as an “elite privilege,” over-reliance on knowledge transmission and competitive mechanisms, and neglecting the foundational role of core courses in holistic development. To address these challenges, this paper proposes a three-dimensional cultivation model encompassing “motivation–knowledge–innovation.” This model underpins a progressive instructional pathway centered on “problem-driven intrinsic motivation activation, technology-enhanced knowledge network expansion, and integrated output for practical transformation.” The framework is designed to facilitate a fundamental shift in student learning: from passive reception to active inquiry, from linear knowledge accumulation to dynamic network construction, and from memorization and replication to generative thinking. Consequently, it aims to effectively enhance students’ innovative awareness, cognitive quality, and practical capabilities. This study provides an actionable and replicable implementation framework for the systematic cultivation of innovative competence within disciplinary curricula in the era of artificial intelligence.

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