the role of cognitive flexibility
Wednesday, November 17
Be open
Try different perspectives
Generate multiple solutions
Each group will get:
A pivot prompt
5 minutes to “own” the room: brainstorm how to adapt
Everyone else, please remain silent
When it is not your group’s turn, stretch your cognitive flexibility by listening in for different perspectives. Jot down thoughts and ideas, but please do not distract the group that is working.
Remember: It’s about your approach and stretching cognitive flexibility, not about finding the “right” solution.
Practice active listening.
Move from “It is” or “It must be” to “Could it be..?” or “Might it be…?”
Articulate your approach.
Explicitly name what’s difficult (maybe the activity itself).
(velostat) Pressure Sensor
Conductive Rubber Cord Stretch Sensor
Using the in-class chat on moodle, reflect on the activity:
What did you notice as you were observing a group's problem-solving process?
Does it make you think differently about how you would approach a problem in the future?
(Optional) Is there anything you would suggest for a particular group's pivot prompt?
i learned how different groups work together to solve issues that arise, especially from the group with the conductive sheet. i had no idea what i would have done to create pressure in their project, but the possible solution they came up with was super creative. i also enjoyed learning from my own group members and working with them on possible solutions to our problem of having a vibrating component to the robot.
There was a lot of trying to figure out how to add new components while still maintaining the decisions that had already been made previously. There wasn't any one group who abandoned their idea or seemed particularly discouraged, especially when their technical component didn't explicitly make sense for their project at first glance. Each team was flexible (some needing to be more flexible than others in terms of adjusting their user interaction design) when presented with their challenge and didn't turn down any new ideas for how it could be implemented.
I really appreciated the strong teamwork and collaboration within teams. Even when a person's idea deviated from the original intent of the project, every team was receptive and followed that logic all the way through. That seemed to be productive as it made everyone feel like their feedback was heard; and even if the idea was ultimately scraped, it made everyone feel like their input was valid and important. --for group 2 i thought good use of the pressure sensor would be the option for someone to manually press the sensor to indicate they thought the noise level to be too high.
I found that as different groups spoke the different groups had similar starts as to how they problem solved; they discussed possible ideas together as a group before settling on one and from there planning on how they would impliment it into their projects. From there approaches seemed to differ as some groups physically demonstrated how they thought their ideas would work, some groups continued with a more conceptual speaking about it, and some groups ended up sketching out what this new idea would change. All groups showed good active listening skills.
Something I noticed is that it's interesting the way that ideas can be exchanged among different members, like when one person is talking and the other is silent for a while just taking things in, and then they sometimes have gathered their thoughts and can add on insightful input. Similarly, that person might also ask an insightful question.
I just observed that all the students are doing active listening when other people were talking about their pivot, also, I found some of us were struggling to fulfill the whole 5 minutes, and for the pivot that is seems unrelated to the project, students still can find some ways to put it into the project, which is cool.
When I was listening to other groups, I think I also joined in their brainstorming in mind to think about the solution. When they were exploring different solutions, sometimes it popped up in my mind, "Oh right! That might be a great idea". It also came into mind, "They might think this way as well what I am thinking". Observing their new ideas was really exciting to follow, and specially the way the conversation went on even while the solution was not feasible was interesting!
I think everyone did great conversations and problems are mostly solved. To start with, we typically focus on the new prompt and think about conceptual ideas. Then, ways of connection and ways of testing.
I noticed that some people focused more on understanding how their pivot component works, while others first thought about how the component should be added in. It was easier for groups that had a more flexible concept to add a new component in. I noticed that we all eventually got to a point where we realized we'd have to ask for help about how to include it in the wiring because we were all unsure about that.
When I listened to other groups, the first thing that was most noticeable for me was that people came up with ideas quickly and listened while the other was speaking
During the listening mode, I observed that it requires a high level of mental concentration to connect parts of what the individuals are speaking. It's easier to reference back to a speaker's point whenever it is in a written format, but when it is in a verbal format, it becomes more important for us to constantly keep connecting the dots. Sometimes, it's natural to lose track of what the speaker is saying because our minds switch quickly from one idea to another, that is why it is important to constantly ask questions when the speaker has finished speaking.