This is the 3rd post of my design thinking Problem of Practice (PoP). Let's recap! The goal of the first mode was empathizing with users and understanding their needs. This was a broad step where I engaged with the users and gathered useful research and information. In the second mode, I became more specific by defining an actionable problem statement using the valuable insights and understanding of the users.
The third mode, ideating is the most that is connected with creativity. This post focuses on generating a large diverse quantity of ideas including the wild and unattainable. This mindset is part of divergent thinking which allows you to broaden with your thoughts rather than focus on one right solution to your problem.
Ideation is most effective by considering the following two processes: active brainstorming & passive incubating. While experiencing these processes, ideas can combine, interact, and transform to make new ideas. This is my ideation session.
Problem of Practice:
Teachers are using instructional materials that impose a language barrier for ELLs, which encourages them to memorize rather than understand scientific concepts.
Brainstorming Records:
I asked a couple of colleagues to join me for a session of brainstorming to collect ideas from and spark a collaborative and diverse mindset of the problem at hand. Take a look at the Padlet below which I used to capture all the ideas that were generated.
Incubation Journal:
Over the past week, I kept an Incubation Journal using Notes on my phone. I added thoughts and ideas that struck me during my daily routines all while unconsciously thinking about my PoP. Take a look at a screenshot of my notes below.
I can definitely say that this was by far the most exciting mode so far in my journey on exploring my PoP using design thinking. While actively collaborating with others I realized the power of bringing together different perspectives. Even though we were all educators in the room we all came from different backgrounds and different classroom environments. This allowed us to build on each other's thoughts and transform ideas by breaking down and building them up so they reach their full capacity. On the other hand, I added many notes to my Incubation Journal on observations that were incubating in my mind and would pop into my consciousness while doing my everyday tasks. During the process of brainstorming and incubating, I learned first hand the importance of each and how they worked as a feedback cycle to generate imaginative and diverse ideas that were focused on the problem. I did a collaborative brainstorming session at first but later built on that after a week of incubating those ideas in my mind.
The best ideas for me came from asking good questions. That would spark new ideas in the minds of the participants in any session. It was helpful to learn about the stories and connections other teachers have made with their students. I learned about 'today's students' in terms of their likes and dislikes. It is true that the users of my PoP have a language barrier and their levels of motivation are not helping them overcome it. So, most of us agreed that in order to address the problem at hand the teacher must utilize new learning materials and or strategies to address the student's needs but also motivate them to learn. The most interesting idea that popped into my head was creating a universal language understood by all such as the one used by students using social media. This could be possible by combining this idea with others in my brainstorming session like incorporating technology and changing the methods of instruction to become more student-centered. Moving forward, I would like to create a learning experience where students are comfortable with the language used and motivated to understand.