So earlier last week during PDD class, we did some activities. But the one that stood out to me the most was the paper folding one. So basically what we did was first we all folded a piece of paper in half. Oh and before I say anything else, I should mention that we had to go through this whole process with our eyes closed. So after we folded the paper in half, we had to fold it in half again. Then she told us to make a triangle with the paper. After that, we had to tear apart the lower right corner of the paper. Once we did all those steps, we were allowed to open our eyes and compare our paper with everyone else's.
My first impression was that most of our papers, if not, all were different. This had everyone really confused because we were all given the same instructions, but we all got different results. I was also confused, but I wasn't really surprised. I actually kind of expected this because the instructions our teacher gave us weren't really specific. She didn't say which way to fold the paper in half, or exactly how to make the triangle. The part about the triangle really got to me because I didn't really know how to make the triangle. I ended up with a triangle that had a brim and I basically just folded the corners over. The teacher commented on this because I guess by making a triangle with a brim I was going off on my own a bit and not completely following the instructions.
I think the purpose of the activity was to show that everyone has different ways of thinking. Also if one person has a different thinking process than you, that doesn't necessarily mean that they have the "right" way of thinking and that you have to change your thinking process to match theirs. I think that was the reason why we had our eyes closed. We couldn't see what everyone else was doing to check if ours was same or different from other people's.
Personally, I liked the activity and found it a pretty cool one too. Later on we eventually put ours all up on the wall.. sorry for not having a visual of that. I was going to take a picture with the iPads we had in our class, but just that's me being clumsy and forgetting to do stuff. If you would like a picture, click the link on the right of my page under "useful links" that says "Jarrod's Blog". So that's basically all I have to say for this post. Thanks for reading!
I like this reflection even better than your last one on the "Crash Course in Design Thinking" as you explain but then go right to what surprised you, and what you learned from the experience. Understanding that there isn't always a "right" way of thinking can be a big step to acknowledging and appreciating your own talents as well as the talents of your peers.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention - Hyun you were the only one so far to comment on the natural inclination we all have to look around us to see if we are doing something "right" by confirming with our neighbours actions - hence the reason to close our eyes. Partly this was to instill in the class a recognition that there isn't always one way to do things. You also mention that I commented on your "hat" when you were to be making a triangle - my question to you is was your intention to deter from the instructions or did you feel you were still meeting the expectations of the instructions, but adding something more? Your answer will reveal more about you than the original observation. For example - if you intended to deter from the task outlined - why? If you felt you were still meeting the expectations, what made you add detail (the brim to it)? (There were no bonus marks, were there?) Both these questions go to your motivation - hmmm... a particular video we watched in the first week might be good to review (Daniel Pink's Drive - the surprising truth about motivation).
ReplyDeleteI bet you never thought there could be so much thinking is such a small task/reflection. Hopefully, these questions will encourage you to elaborate further in your reflections. Interested in the answers.