Adapt, Invent, Iterate
A pivot point
Over the summer, our capstone project will focus on the learner experience design (LXD) of two curriculum modules, which are learning to learn (L2L) and career development. However, after extensive literature research, our team found that module might not be the best way to teach L2L skills. Should we continue the original plan, which is to design an independent module about L2L skills, or should we explore other options?
We believe that design is an iterative process that welcomes changes, so we came up with four different options, with each has its own pros and cons:
Option one: “Plug in” the L2L training modules to a specific domain course. Use activities within the similar domain context.
Option two: “Plug in” the L2L training modules to a specific domain course. BUT, use activities that are different with domain contexts and not domain specific.
Option three: “Plug in” L2L tools into any courses rather than the module. Use tools to scaffold L2L not the activities.
Option four: develop an independent module to teach L2L skills
After hours of discussion within team and with our client, we chose option three, which is to design tools to scaffold L2L skills to WGU students.
Ideation — Brainstorming Session
In order to quickly define the problems and come up with as many ideas as possible,we conducted a brainstorming session. Below is our simplified brainstorming plan:
10min — work independently to brainstorm and write down some ideas
10min — share our ideas in the group (others can provide light feedback with no more than three sentences. It should not turn into a discussion.)
30min — we discuss all the ideas one by one, based on the evaluation criteria
10min — refine the final idea
The brainstorming session was structured in a way that everybody had a chance to think independently while at the same time we could share our ideas and build on others.
There was an evaluation criteria that we could use to evaluate each idea. For example, we had four criteria for good problem statements. We believe that the problem statement should:
Address both the learning needs and user experience needs
Within the scope of L2L
Worth solving (can bring value to WGU and their students)
Not too broad or narrow
When we got out of the brainstorming session, we had the first draft of problem statement, which is “WGU students have trouble understanding where they are in their learning process because the learning environment does not support self-reflection and peer benchmarking.”
We also came up with several solution ideas, which we’re going to iterate on during the weekend.
