Well, I suppose sometimes you can only plan so far in advance. After some unforseen delays, we have finally come back to the design challenge.
Today, students were introduced to a simple design model, TMI, that is outlined in Invent To Learn (Martinez and Stager, 2013).
The TMI Model stands for Think, Make, Improve and is really just that simple. I could go on about the details but I have a feeling you can figure out the process!
The Challenge
After a quick discussion about the above model (focusing on the need to generate and develop ideas before selecting a tool that will be used to solve the problem), students were finally introduced to the challenge:
Design and create a system that:
Designed to build on their experiences and knowledge from throughout the year, the challenge was tweaked to be as open ended as possible while still tying into specific learning outcomes.
Students were then given a short time (approximately 25 minutes) to work start working through the Think stage. Keep in mind, I have yet to show them the tools that they will have available for use. I chose to restrict this because I didn't want the possible tools to influence their original brainstorming process.
Unexpected Lessons
I've got to say that this process did not go as smoothly I had planned. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, as we all often turn to familiar solutions when faced with a problem, when many groups started this process by picking tools and then trying to force their ideas into the tool they selected - MinecraftEdu, in particular, was a very popular. When questioned, however, many of these groups could not yet elaborate on their plans but KNEW that MinecraftEdu was the answer.
The second major challenge for some groups was developing an understanding of the difference between building off of previous knowledge and directly copying the work of others.
All of this in 25 minutes!
Needeless to say, their work was very stop and go as I engaged groups and the whole class in different short conversations to support their efforts. Eventually, I decided to end the session in order to give things a bit of time to 'sink in' before revisiting in the future. We shall see how tomorrow goes - what I think I'll do is pull exemplars or have a short sharing session in order to point out why it's vital to develop a basic idea before moving forward with choosing a tool.
Today, students were introduced to a simple design model, TMI, that is outlined in Invent To Learn (Martinez and Stager, 2013).
The TMI Model stands for Think, Make, Improve and is really just that simple. I could go on about the details but I have a feeling you can figure out the process!
The Challenge
After a quick discussion about the above model (focusing on the need to generate and develop ideas before selecting a tool that will be used to solve the problem), students were finally introduced to the challenge:
Design and create a system that:
- prevents flooding,
- cleans dirty water,
- or does both of the above.
Designed to build on their experiences and knowledge from throughout the year, the challenge was tweaked to be as open ended as possible while still tying into specific learning outcomes.
Students were then given a short time (approximately 25 minutes) to work start working through the Think stage. Keep in mind, I have yet to show them the tools that they will have available for use. I chose to restrict this because I didn't want the possible tools to influence their original brainstorming process.
Unexpected Lessons
I've got to say that this process did not go as smoothly I had planned. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised, as we all often turn to familiar solutions when faced with a problem, when many groups started this process by picking tools and then trying to force their ideas into the tool they selected - MinecraftEdu, in particular, was a very popular. When questioned, however, many of these groups could not yet elaborate on their plans but KNEW that MinecraftEdu was the answer.
The second major challenge for some groups was developing an understanding of the difference between building off of previous knowledge and directly copying the work of others.
All of this in 25 minutes!
Needeless to say, their work was very stop and go as I engaged groups and the whole class in different short conversations to support their efforts. Eventually, I decided to end the session in order to give things a bit of time to 'sink in' before revisiting in the future. We shall see how tomorrow goes - what I think I'll do is pull exemplars or have a short sharing session in order to point out why it's vital to develop a basic idea before moving forward with choosing a tool.