Creative Problem Solving

Processes and Perspectives. Design@USC.

[kjwilkes]

Process Journal: Reflection

This week we reached the final steps solidifying our initiative and discussing how to best articulate it in order to help others realize the value as well. Converging once more into a single, ten minute presentation again helped us sharpen our understanding of the exact needs and shortcomings of our proposed idea. I think these types of “tests” continuously helped us by forcing a realistic perspective and requiring realistic answers- rather than just tabling them for later.

That said, there were quite a few options and ideas that we “tabled”. I wish we had been more formal in recording those ideas, in case they became useful later on or perhaps in a different project. It also would have been helpful so that we could have ensured that we didn’t return to that tabled idea, perhaps in a different form, and re-evaluated it, only to table it again.

While on paper the process we followed for this assignment looked linnear, the structure allowed us to push forward at a steady rate while creating clear pathways to return to previous parts/outcomes of the process if needed. We certainly found ourselves returning to different parts of the Analysis stage. I think a more rigorous “test” or “check” on that stage would have been beneficial in recognizing the realistic limits of our ideas earlier on. But overall, I am satisfied with the level of depth and breadth we choose to take in developing, evaluating, and proposing this project.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Evaluation

From the beginning of this project, it was clear that each of us was uniquely invested in the topic of youth mentorship with a variety of personal experiences. Our diverse array of perspectives on the matter automatically allowed us to check each other throughout the creative process. My assumptions about areas I was not perfectly fluent in could be nicely covered by Alli, Ara, and Amy’s expertise.

More formally, we spent some time in our later meetings imagining real-life applications of our idea and how it might alleviate the situation but also how it might further burden the situation. Our primary concern was in refining a system that could best lead to successful gains for all student participants. But our secondary concern was in structuring our idealized system so that it could best adapt to different school and community types. Tempering each other’s excitement and investment in new ideas with a variety of experiences allowed us to both organically and systematically evaluate each iteration.

[kjwilkes]

Business Model Canvas

As we walked through the business model canvas, we were pleased to find that we felt that we had already imagined many of the scenarios and were able to fill it out quite easily.

[kjwilkes]

Conceptualize It

As we shared our personal findings of “the nitty gritty” details needed for this project to work, we began to finalize its structure, timeline, and impact. Here is a breakdown of our findings:

Research and development

Finalize best practices within structure

Business structure:

Sales partners

Reach out to potential school districts to forge partnership

Community lead

Helps deepen relationship with community and stakeholders (school board, like orgs)

First point of contact for schools in training and support

Works with up to five schools, spending time at each school on a different day

IT/content

App dev/maintenance

Design/develop app feed content

Student support

In-app chat support regarding tech difficulties

Mods

Freshman yr

Enroll in 1 semester course with Community lead or school-based teacher as prep for program; subject: emotional intelligence

Introduced to app

Sophomore yr

Using app matching, pair with Senior student as year-long mentor

Junior yr

Using app matching, pair with outside mentor as year-long digital mentor

College students, field experts, local support

Senior yr

Using app matching, pair with Sophomore student as year-long mentee

This is a required track, though specialized content feeds will be available to support all kinds of students

App

Robust pairing functionality

Moderated chat

Content feed (daily news on emotional intelligence, wellness, college/job prep, etc)

We then consolidated this skeleton into a series of visuals:

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Implementation

Even in the implementation phase, our team was excited with surges of ideas on how to actualize the product and could envision many successful scenarios. We discussed badges and partnering with LinkedIn to enhance and officiate this program’s value. We threw around ideas about growing into a life-long learning and support system. 

[kjwilkes]

Choosing a Solution

After sharing our findings, we essentially spent some time deliberating- weighing the pros and cons of each plan’s potential success. We identified overlapping themes and then decided we would break again, focusing more on the external needs required to put this system into place.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Selection

This week, we came together and shared more fleshed out ideas of how this system would unfold on a year by year basis, how it might integrate in different types of school systems, and be pedagogically supported by technology. Alli guided us is reasonable expectations, given that this is her field of expertise.

KATIE:

year to year model

emphasis is MANY mentors in students life

who is your mentor?  not just 1 but multiple touch points.  

FROSH yr - school staff mentor (counselor) meets once per quarter and is your contact point throughout high school year. and creates a familiarity with your counselor throughout high school experience

SOPH yr - upperclassman mentor: junior or senior, and beneficial for upperclassman because it is putting them in leadership

JUNIOR yr - outside mentor since there is a focus on what is next.  pooling kids based on their interest with mentors based on background, interest and choice-based

SENIOR yr - you're the mentor now... more of a senior reflect and guided leadership experience

ARA:

mentors aren't always "given" to you, but is more or less someone who is consistent and in your community.

college kid mentors can be paired with HS students based on common interests, major interests, skills, backgrounds, colleges

multi-mentor approach

App can be used to streamline communications if not always able to see

Classroom element - college students offering high school students tutoring

curated highschool news feed - group leader can focus lesson plans on current events for discussions

not one lead, but more of a resource available

can introduce collaborative projects

can invite community leaders into program

can still tie in the professional approach: counselors, mental health professionals, etc - based on if group leader sees a need for certain students

tech - an additional communication tool for resource sharing - not necessarily curriculum based

AMY:

Mentorship pairing for junior students paired with frosh or sophomores, seniors with college students

Matching based on gender, language, ethnicity, skills

Frosh yr - develop extracurricular skills, academic

Soph - choosing the right classes for jr yr

Jr - prep for college + stress management

Sr - graduating + next steps

Advice by mentor can be a wide range of topics: higher ed guidance, plan creation, extracurricular, stress mgmt, social development, not just academic - more social.  female students: beauty and confidence

very dynamic and engaging

App feature - chat room, matching system for mentor/mentee, comm tool, feature to disconnect and reconnect with a new mentor

ALLI:

Pulling from big brother big sister

1. Traditional: community-based. Mentors can be from any walk of life- but they have to want to be mentor and pass screening. Commit: 1 yr maybe 2 yr. 2 yrs = more impact. Ages 8-16. Goal: work through HS grad. Impact, relationship, consistency, 2-3x per month (can play out in various ways)

Mentee: also want to be a part of the program. Opt in model. Want a role model. = more responsive relationship.

2. Workplace mentoring. HS students, starting soph yr. Pair with company. Character building, college prep, career readiness. Partners pay BBBS. Employees volunteer, also good leadership op. Mentee: 1 yr. commitment (lots of parameters). Relationship building (3-5 mo. for match/impact for both). Moving forward: trust, college prep

3. HS Bigs. Jr. Sr. in HS- 1x week meet with grammar students. Learning how to share their perspective.

4. Resource Center: Destination Future (post-program resource for when mentees become adults)

[kjwilkes]

Group Brainstorming and Debriefing Session

With a revised statement now finalized, we had established the “WHO” and the “WHY”. However, we now needed to brainstorm on the “WHAT” and the “HOW”. During our meeting, we broke for five minutes to brainstorm options on our own (using journaling,  sketches, doodles, mind maps- whatever popped into our heads first). When then shared our ideas, noting trends and differences between each presentation.

We noticed three main themes in each ideation breakout: peer-to-peer growth, mentorship, and community engagement. We think this could be a potential three-step model that we could structure a flexible, in-class curriculum around. We’ll use this next week to build out potential designs that fit this model and share ideas during our next in-class meeting.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Ideation

We’ve spent a reasonable amount of time setting up proper parameters to best facilitate productive ideation. This was important, as it can be easy to get caught up in the excitement of one idea and imaging the possibilities of application without any real focus.

We had spent some time last week refining our problem statement. And while we felt we all mentally agreed on our general intent, we still needed to spend the first portion of our meeting this week to put that intend into words. We repeated the last week’s process, each writing down our version of the problem statement and presented/discussed each option as a team.

Original: The disappearance of an education system that included life skills on the core curriculum has students struggling with their emotional ability to act with reason which limits their preparation for higher education.

Alli: American teens psychopathology is increasing at alarming rates, which is due to the lack of investment in children’s “non-cognitive” skills by the American education system, which is problematic because a society’s economy is related to how people manage their emotions. We are here to discuss the importance of emotional intelligence/resiliency education in the American education system, specifically in grades 9 through 12 when students begin to apply logic and reason, think abstractly and futuristically.  This is an age range when students begin thinking more of how the world works, their role, and less about themselves.  

Katie: Previous definitions of “life skills classes” in core curriculum have become outdated in the US education system by failing to keep up with the evolving modern expectation of life readiness and preparation for success. The remnants of this model are often described as antiquated, un-helpful, or are disregarded all together. This has resulted in both a self-reported and externally-reported need for instruction in emotional intelligence in order to best equip students for their post-high school lives.

Ara: The absence of life skills and emotional intelligence in core curriculum has students feeling under-prepared for higher education.

Amy: Less than half of high school graduates are ready for what's next. How can we provide development and empowerment for success using tech platform to teach emotional intelligence to high school students?

We then rehashed and refined it until we arrived on this final version:

American teens psychopathology is increasing at alarming rates- a problematic indicator, as a society’s economy is directly related to how people manage their emotions. This is primarily due to the historically declining investment in children’s “non-cognitive” skills by the US education system, i.e. “life skills classes”. How might we provide social and emotional learning using a tech platform to teach emotional intelligence to high school students?

[kjwilkes]

Conjunction Junction

My mug is ceramic and glazed. It has iron speckles and a glossy finish. It is sturdy and kitchen appropriate. // My mug is made of rough stoneware clay, but has a glossy finish. It was thrown with elegant lines, but also made to be sturdy and functional.

My three paintings of pigeons are uniform in size and color scheme. They were made using smooth wood and oil paint. They remind me of my childhood and love of art. // My three paintings of pigeons are uniform in size and color, but each unique in their own way. They are flawed, but personal.

My cardigan is a dull red wine color and has gold buttons. It was on sale and has the hems sewn inside out. // My cardigan is improperly constructed, but comfortable and easy to wear. It is an expensive brand, but was affordable due to the construction errors.

My desk is made of wood and metal. The legs are metal, and I am satisfied with that because my rabbits would chew on wooden legs as they live in my office area. It has a clean finish and modern aesthetic. It arrived with a slight nick in the woods and a slightly uneven surface due to swelling. // My desk has imperfections, but was handmade- making it a desirable purchase. It did not match the exact design I originally envisioned, but I am happy with it because it still fits my specific needs.

My metrocard is bent and dirty. It is thin and I can keep it in my phone case for easy access. It has scuff marks on its face and slightly worn edges from use. // My metrocard is unappealing to handle, but small and light enough for easy access and use. It is an unattractive yellow and black, but visually stark enough to quickly locate.

[kjwilkes]

Problem Definition

Revise your team’s problem definition on your own, adding it to your Process Book. Then get together and explain from your perspective the path you took to arrive at your definition and your rationale for its development. Discuss, critique, compare and contrast your definitions and make notes on what your group members have to say about your definition. How similar were all the definitions? How different were they? What were the patterns and what were the outliers?

I discussed mediated experiences- pin-pointing unencouraged, but beneficial connections with others in the school whom the students might not interact with on a day to day basis. All of this could be set-up and managed with with an online system, finding and matching “distant” students.

Ara focused on lack on the lack counseling in specialized curriculums, possibly hindering student engagement in their future. He proposed modified LMSs that are geared toward building and evaluating character development courses.

Amy discussed student dropout rates alongside proposed resilience programs. She also advised against the possible drawbacks of unhelpful technology- don’t use tech for tech’s sake.

Alli’s focus was resilliency, emotional intelligence, leadership, and problem solving. How are these characteristics taught? And taught well? She offered some digital platform ideas, merged with Montessori pedagogy.

We came together this week and shared our revision problem statements and then proceeded to discuss and compare. Our main objective is to utilize available technology in a way that can measurably guide and encourage character development in youth. Many of our problem statements reflected this sentiment, only focusing on different audiences and methodologies.

We weighed the pros and cons in terms of information available and feasibility. Moving forward, our focus will be on high-school aged students and we will evaluate different curriculum systems to design something that is complementary. This narrowing of focus will allow us to better research and progress in our project work.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Definition

In order to better envision creative implementation processes, we needed to narrow our audience and specific need. We’ve brainstormed multiple “soft” goals and outcomes, based off of anecdotal and light research information. But in order to solidify these aspirations into a concrete plan, we needed to take these expansive ideas and converge on a problem that struck us as “ripe for solving”. We used that phrase as a necessary element for each of our pitches. It helped guide our thinking and bring us all on a similar, feasible level where we could identify our commonalities and finalize our problem statement.

[kjwilkes]

Morphological Analysis

We spent a long time figuring out how to best structure our morphological analysis. I feel that our discussion around how to best structure it might have been more helpful than actually filling it out. It allowed us to identify trending values between our different ideas and create barriers between them. We identified resiliency, emotional intelligence, integrity, and ownership as key items worth exploring and spent time extrapolating on how they might be taught in the following genres: physical, mental, emotional, and social.

This is my section of our Morphological Analysis and the compete version can be found here.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Week 9

Our team has cast a large research net in the days building up to the Analysis phase. Our various findings tend to reflect our personal interests (Gen Z, disaster recovery, success after and out of school, teaching practices). We’ve been “thinking big”. And through our conversation we can intuitively identify overlapping themes and outcomes. But in order to solidify a path towards an idea that we can actually put into practice, we need to spend time putting together internal research to back up the intuitions.

[kjwilkes]

Process Book: Week 8

We spent our first meetings establishing familiarity with each other’s interests, work styles, and limitations. In sharing stories and passions, we quickly identified youth development as a common theme. Ideas and supporting knowledge came naturally to all four of us in this topic, making for productive and exciting conversations. Sifting through excitement and learning how to manage lofty goals are both great skills, and I look forward to working on them with this team.

[kjwilkes]

Success at First

Success in this project would benefit myself, my teammates, and our intended audience. We have already taken time to share the valuable skills and insights we can each bring to the table. We also identified our weak points. We shared which part of the idea → creation process inspires us the most and which parts make us the most uncomfortable.

Have established a basic understanding of our strengths and weaknesses, we are better set up to strategically help and support one another. This ensures that we all have personal developmental takeaways from this project as well a focus on good teamwork and communication.

As we continue to collaborate and maybe butt heads on our project, I hope we challenge each other, learn how to efficiently identify and support good ideas, refine our knowledge-sharing capabilities, build a real sense of team confidence, and ultimately create a clean project we can all take a sense of ownership and pride in.

[kjwilkes]

Contingency Management

With a cross-continental team, we understand that we will have to be very intentional with our planning. We established a clear and consistent schedule as well as a go-to path for managing conflicts. We created a basic checklist of simple items to accomplish during our meeting hours (set-up basics, recording reminders, stating our goals). We also intend to do informal check-ins at the end of each meeting. How are folks doing this week? This might feel like a part of conversation that should happen organically, but it’s an item that can easily get lost in the cracks when deadlines are looming.

We also set up consistent forms of conversation. Everybody agreed that masses of emails, texts, messages, and group notifications gets so dizzying that it becomes unproductive :) Texting is our main form of communication, email is for archiveable documents, and Facebook is for positive, constructive feedback. Ara suggested the Facebook group, since it automatically feels like a more informal setting and sets the tone for friendly feedback.

We established best practices to ensure that all voices are heard during decision making, collaboration and delegation is used properly, and ownership is key.