Brainstorming

Blue Sky Idea Generation

The Brainstorming Committee

Pictured above is the team that I leveraged for a blue sky idea generation brainstorming session.  As a group, they represent a relatively diverse combination of academic backgrounds.  From left to right:

• Sophomore - Architecture (CDES)
• Junior - Finance (CSOM)
• Sophomore (arrived late to the session) - Kinesiology (CEHD)
• Junior - Industrial Systems Engineering (CSE)
• Freshman - Undecided (CLA)
• Sophomore - Economics (CLA)
• Junior - Mechanical Engineering (CSE)

Pre-Session

Environment:

• Sitting in a circular formation so that everyone participating can see every idea.  I verbally explained the importance of this for our exercise.
• Chocolate covered almonds were provided to promote dopamine increases.
• Markers and post-its were distributed to each participant.  I explained that a sketch is required for each idea.

Warm-up:

To warm up, we played three games.  Two were from class, but the third was new.   

1. Word association.  The set of rules for this game were to start with the word "water" and then distinctly look someone in the eyes and state a relating word (i.e. lakes, bottles, bath, etc.).  Then, pass the new word on to a new person where they have to state a relating word.  The flow of words ran smoothly and quickly.  We played this for about 2 minutes and then switched things up.

2. Word non-association.  This game is basically the same as the first, but instead of saying a related word, the response has to be a word that has nothing to do with the proposed word.  I explained that the way to cheat at this game was to have a pre-loaded word, and from what I can tell, the group used this advice. It took the players a bit longer to generate response words in this game.  After 2 minutes we moved to the next game.

3. Hey George.  This is a great game to have everyone in the group learn each other's name.  The rules:

One person (Sam) designates themselves as George, everyone else uses their actual name

The game starts by a Player A stating "Hey George!"
George responds with "What?"
Player A responds with "Who?"
George responds with "Player B"

Player B responds with "What?"
George responds with  "Who?"
Player B responds with "Player C"

Player C responds with "What?"
Player B responds with "Who?"
Player C responds with "Player D"

The process repeats until someone says an incorrect response or hesitates to respond.  This signifies the end of a round. At the conclusion of a round players pass their name one person to the right, but cannot speak to each other to establish who is who.  This game requires mental alertness and attention to detail, it is similar to the "up, down, in, out, diagonal" game played at Huge Theater.

Brainstorming

HMW Statement 1: How might we help students practice class material to prepare them for classes?

Ideas: 78
People: 6
Minutes: 20
Ideas per person per minute: .65

Gallery for HMW Statement 1:

Creating ideas

Presenting ideas

Presenting ideas

Silent observer

Sorting ideas

The categories that emerged from silent sorting include: Punishment/Reward Mechanisms, Networking/Collaboration, Phone Applications, Note Taking Tools, and Food.

Voting for creative and marketable ideas

Top five ides:

1. Detachable poster board so that students can write material from each chapter on a quadrant of the poster board and then put it together to see connections between chapters.  This will allow students to practice class material by making connections to concepts that they otherwise wouldn't have noticed.

2. A highlighter that scans and uploads what you highlight so that you can create your own flashcards.  How it works is you first highlight the key term and press capture, then highlight the definition and press capture.  This information is sent to a database that creates electronic flashcards for you.

3. An electronic notebook that is synced to your phone an laptop so that you can have easy access to electronic notes.  While in class you can capture pages from your notebook that are important for later.  This will be especially useful if you think of practice questions or problems in class, and don't want to forget them later.

4. Light and sound alarm clock that is synced with your schedule.  It will not turn off until you check in (via GPS) in your classroom.  This will make sure that you are in class and adding to class discussions.  Discussing is a powerful way to practice class material.

5. Screen sharing application to practice written problems with the TA during their office hour, without having to physically attend their office hours.  This will allow you to connect with you TA and get real-time help on practice problems without having to go to class.  Think of it as Skype, but for notebooks only.

HMW Statement 2: How might we help students prioritize their tasks to better manage their schedules and prepare them for class?

Ideas: 63
People: 7
Minutes: 20
Ideas per minute: .45

Gallery for HMW Statement 2:

Creating ideas

Presenting ideas (some were funnier than others)

Having fun, getting messy (marker on cheek)

Sorting ideas

The categories that emerged as a result of silent sorting include: Schedule Management, Technology, Organization, Collaboration, and Phone Applications

Voting for creative and marketable ideas

Top five ides:

1. Wristband application that determines how many hours of sleep you should be getting for optimal rest in busy times of the semester.  This will be useful for students during the times where they are so focused on prioritizing and completing their tasks that they forget to sleep.  Getting enough sleep contributes to productivity, so sleep management is an important element in task prioritization.  The wristband can tell when you are sleeping based on heart rate and movement.

2. Electronic planner or schedule that will alert you if you have double-booked yourself.  It will give recommendations on when to meet with others.  This could link your group project schedules with your work or student group schedules.  It will give you a heads up if you are too busy during a time where you have many class assignments due.

3. Dorm refrigerator with your schedule electronically displayed on it.  Whiteboards on fridges are a thing of the past.  The idea here is to get an automatically scheduled display that lets you know what you need to do each day.  This will be synced with your classes, work, and other activities to give you a good picture of whats on your agenda as you reach for the Orange Juice in the morning.

4. Electronic whiteboard that captures screenshots of group project work, practice material, or notes and sends it to your UMN email.  This will help groups connect from afar and tackle group projects in an efficient manner, leaving each group member with more time to focus on other tasks.  It will also allow groups to connect at their convenience.  Finding a common meeting time may not need to happen anymore.

5. Application that uses your class dates, class deliverable (exams/assignments/projects) weights, class credit load, and real-time class performance to recommend which assignments you should prioritize first, and how many hours you should be investing to each task.  This will essentially work as a life coach to recommend which tasks you should be doing based on their importance to your success.  It is a quantifiable way to prioritize your tasks, but it is only useful to students if technology can be leveraged to deliver the solution.  It would be rare to find a student that has the drive to work these decisions out themselves without using their "gut" feeling.

Honorable Mention: Subsidized University food prices for on-campus restaurants for students with good grades (Dean's list Discount, 15% off all on-campus dining or meal plans)

Bonus Round

I divided the group into two teams.  Their mission was to take 5 minutes to develop the ultimate idea based on all that they had thought about during the brainstorming session.

Team 1

Team 2

Presenting Team 1 Ultimate Idea

Build an application that uses crowd sourced practice materials.  Essentially everyone in every class contributes practice quiz questions or flashcards and then students can practice material for requested classes.  This application can merge with your task prioritization and recommend which classes your practice for next.

Presenting Team 2 Ultimate Idea

BookBook: it is like Facebook, but for classes.  You become networked with everyone in your class automatically and can be paired with other smart students for group project.  BookBook also uses a Tinder like function where you can find a study buddy based on the classes that you are in and your Cumulative GPA.

It was a tough choice, but I decided that Team 1 had the better idea.

Do you agree?