Learning from Project Pros

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Permalink Reply by Sue Boudreau on March 20, 2010 at 12:30pm

Particularly liked "Make rules for better brainstorming". Will use these with my department as well as with students.

As for 'strategies from the pros' I love to chat with friends in different professions - doctors, ministers, business owners etc. and see what is it they want in employees, and how do they manage projects. Then I translate their ideas into stories for students and sometimes into new twists to make projects flow more smoothly. Got a great speaker from chatting with a friend who works as a political consultant for "How to get heard" - a lunch talk for students wanting to "Take Action" by writing to elected representatives and from a business executive for how to get heard by CEOs. I'm always on the look out, beware!

Permalink Reply by Kevin Gant on April 5, 2010 at 6:44am

Jan Morrison really likes to talk about the Design Process, and its iterative approach. During the process, an engineer, or artist may come up with several ideas for a solution, and then weigh the merits of each. In the classroom, we often let students forge ahead with the first idea or solution that comes to them, without allowing or pushing them to come up with alternatives first. Further, I know that I have let students carry out their work, and while they get feedback on scaffolding activities, they may not get feedback on their final product until the due date. In the world of design, the product constantly receives feedback, so that the designers can continually refine and improve. To distill into a couple of ideas:
1) Build in a process where several solutions are not just generated, but considered
2) Build in a process where the solution can be scrutinized by others, and refined periodically

Here is word I learned from my pal who is an architect: Charrette. Perhaps this can give some of you some ideas.