In all realms of human achievement, we celebrate the one individual, rising against the odds to save us/lead us/protect us. Some call it the "great man theory", college basketball fans call it the "Danny Manning factor", and previous generations celebrated those "titans of industry" who single-handedly forged America out of nothing. The truth about these myths and celebrations holds that it takes many more than the one individual to accomplish almost anything of value to us as a people. Especially as the scale and severity of our problems challenges our traditional beliefs in how to survive and thrive, we need to look not for that individual savior, but for more effective paths to solutions. It is the path of cooperative problem solving that we are investigating at IIT, experimenting with a cluster of student project teams working on related problems within a theme.
For the better part of two decades, IIT has had an interprofessional project program (IPRO) in which students across disciplines join together around a topic to solve a problem. This kind of interdisciplinary thinking already dodges the stoic "lone wolf problem solver" theme, promoting cooperation among a group to reach a goal normally unattainable by the individual. Sometimes, however, this format still promotes an atmosphere in which an individual or small band can drive a team toward a particular solution, even when faced with equally meritorious options. Additionally, the program associated with these teams had begun to focus on the competition among them, highlighting those judged to have accomplished the most or performed the best. Although competition for resources forms the basis for a modern working economy, competition in the idea setting sometimes led to more conservative solutions than innovative ones. With this in mind, we have set down a new path, and one that we hope will both promote innovation, and introduce the students to an arena more common in the marketplace of ideas.
By introducing a cluster model to problem solving, we hope to take advantage of a broader information and knowledge base to promote idea development and actualization at a faster pace and with greater efficacy. Traditionally, teams of five to fifteen would work with a faculty mentor (and sometimes an outside sponsor) to solve a problem posed by the mentor. In the cluster model, as many as fifty students will work in a themed area (our area focuses on solutions for community-level problems), divided into as many as five to ten teams. The students will receive problem "prompts" - broad ideas based upon previously known issues - then divide into these areas. Once divided, they will further develop the problem statement and eventually the solution within their smaller teams, but at the same time, they will remain connected to the larger cluster. Through project updates, team liaisons, and resource sharing (the resources not only include space and mentors, but presentations from outside experts and access to existing communities) the cluster will act as a loosely organized cooperative. In addition, the concept of community will extend beyond the borders of the country, with several teams establishing working relationships with experts and teams working in Turkey and Mexico.
There can be no doubt that one individual idea can change the world. We are banking on the concept that one individual idea - created in a setting where collaboration sparks ideas, and honed by effective challenging and questioning - holds even greater promise to accomplish that change. And that several ideas, all realized in concert, and examined together, can take us further.
We shall see, but the odds are in our favor.
No comments:
Post a Comment