Speed Dating Questions
Deniz, Noah and I are getting together this morning in Studio to figure out what questions we’d like to ask our classmates. Speed dating is a great way to collect information in a short period of time. And it is a more immersive approach than using surveys.
Questions for ourselves:
What are mediums that work together well? We have a myriad of options from apps, websites, etc. But what works best together? We haven’t thought too deeply yet about the medium but it’s good to start asking people about their thoughts on that.
In terms of websites, we could build something out of HTML or JavaScript.
Either way, we want to think of some sort of digital and physical hybrid. All of this has to live within the environment of the school. So how do we decide what’s the best environment?
Who should the audience be?
Does showing people the conditions of a school system that has less resources and financial support encourage them to do better?
If someone were to motivate you to take advantage of your learning, how do you think they’d do that?
In the past, how has someone made you appreciate the act of learning more in any way shape or form? Ex: experiencing an event, hearing a story, watching a film, etc.
What are words you associate with the act of learning?
Describe a moment in your life when you really loved what you were learning about? Describe the environment you were in, the atmosphere and who you were with.
Bettina:
What comes to mind when you hear the words, “The Act of Learning?” It’s something you can do by yourself with/without guidance. Austin said before that “Teaching is what they do to you, but learning is what you do to yourself”. You can take a really great class but you can also not learn anything.
What’s been a really great experience? Watching the Documentary Helvetica — was really nice to learn about the thinking behind sans-serif typefaces. Learning about the repetition that we often don’t notice.
Another story about self-learning, I appreciate when I read about philosophy and ethic theories. Also learning about fallacies and applying that to discussions with people so that I can have valid arguments.
What’s a great class you’ve taken that encapsulates a great experience when it comes to learning? Studio! I always appreciate deconstructing the things and figuring out why we find something looks good or doesn’t look good. Most people can tell you what looks good but can’t explain it.
What are emotions you associate with act of learning? Invigoration and trepidation.
How has assessments affected how you learn? A lot of times learning is associated with assessments and we worry too much about failing the assessments vs. coming out of the experience as a different person.
Who is someone who made learning fun? Learn a lot from my boyfriend — he talks about a multitude of topics. His excitement seeps into me. Combination of his excitement but also his expertise. Not empty ramblings they’re words with substance and motivating.
Does it matter how much they mean to you? What if it they were a stranger? He wasn’t my boyfriend when his words motivated me. My appreciation of someone’s knowledge will make me want to learn and talk to them more.
Would you get anything out of seeing a school system with a lack of resources? Putting into perspective how many resources I have is important. But there are positives and negatives. Emphasizing the positive is better as Stacie has said.
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What do you think of when you hear: “The Act of Learning”?
Lily: That sounds like being engaged and less passive — learning sounds like something that happens to you but act of learning puts more of the impetus on you.
Faith: Means to enjoy it. Active learning and act of learning are similar. Coming to class and making your full time there worth it — not falling asleep.
How has Carnegie Mellon changed the way you think about learning?
Faith: I like learning here because I can talk about something very specific that most people aren’t interested in (type) and I know that other people actually care about it. Common interests are important. Going home — makes me sad I can’t talk about that stuff.
What’s a class you’ve taken that made you really like learning?
Lily: Semantics + Aesthetics (Matt Zywica) Really different than other classes. Didn’t have goals in mind of where we needed to get to. It was very open ended. Encouraged us to consider what we care about and explore things in really great depth. So I was able to do a lot of reading and self-reflection on what I care about as a designer. That felt really good because it was a time to slow down vs here, there are deadlines and expectations. You do so much work and not realize why you’re doing the work.
How do you think assessments impact the act of learning?
Faith: I like the way they’re handled in the School of Design. I’m always stressed out by any form of assessment where it’s hindering. Once I fell asleep in the middle of a Psych exam cause I stayed up studying. Here there are certain things that push me in assessments — Got a C in freshman studio, realized I wasn’t being productive enough. Worked hard the entire semester and I couldn’t slack off.
Lily: Personally don’t think about grades until the end. In middle and high school, I wanted to keep a 4.0. But it didn’t cause me distress I wanted to keep going. My parents didn’t care. My parents had high standards as a kid and it’s gone down now.
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Anqi + Raph
What comes to mind when you hear the act of learning?
Raph: Austin loves this quote — same one mentioned by Bettina. Also, finding/relating to a project based on your current interests is great. It’s about finding an intersection between what the project is asking and what you want to explore/grown and learn.
Anqi: I think about Matt Zywica a lot in this context. I think he’s one of those people who’s really into connecting your own interests and internal feelings into what you’re making and experiencing to relate your prior experiences to what your’e doing right now.
