Assignment:
After you introduce ideation in class, ask your students to spend a few days brainstorming problems and possible solutions. Then, ask them to post one of their ideas along with details about that idea to your hub. Give them a due date that leaves at least one day between the post and the next time the class meets. For the second part of the assignment, ask your students to post responses (either brainstorms or questions) to at least three of their peers’ ideas.
To support this process, ask students to follow the steps in the Bad Ideas Book, which include:
- Step 1 (Meet Your Inner Innovator): Students should complete this independently by brainstorming problems and solutions they want to work on.
- Step 2 (Define Your Drive): Students should complete this independently by going through the exercise and each choosing at least one idea that excites them.
- Step 3 (Clash and Collab): Students should organize a session with a partner (assigned in class) to work together to flesh out their ideas.
- Step 4 (Short and Sweet): Students should answer the questions in the exercise and write short descriptions of their ideas. They should post this to the hub activity feed.
- Step 5 (Tell It Like It Is): Students should respond to at least three of their peers' ideas. For this step, they shouldn’t follow the instructions in the Bad Ideas Book.
The assignment here is the same as the previous ideation assignment, except that in this case, students have access to a method that will add structure to their ideation process and help them produce stronger ideas. To ensure smooth execution of this assignment, be sure to ask students to partner up in class so that they can effectively complete step 3.
Summary:
- All students use the Bad Ideas Book to come up with an idea
- All students post that idea to the hub
- All students respond to at least three of their peers’ posts
Note: Deadlines for the assignment should be structured such that all ideas are posted by a date that allows students to enough time to respond before the next meeting.
Objective(s):
- Push all students to brainstorm and articulate their ideas while applying more thought and rigor than they might if they were giving an off-the-cuff oral presentation
- Give students additional support and to set a structured and collaborative tone for the class.
- Bring more voices into the conversation than might be possible if the discussion were limited to class time alone
- Provide instructors with the opportunity to review students’ ideas ahead of class time, giving them a chance to tailor the class according to what they see