Course Content
Introduction
Activities and exercises developed within this methodology aim to increase fundamental soft skills in female students who are currently attending STEM university courses. Following the introduction of "Arts" in STEM - i.e. implementation of creative and artistic thinking - we developed a methodology that helps mentoring students while elaborating different types of projects with the aim to empower their skills through an art thinking process. The proposed methodology follows an input-output process that leads students through the development of a project, where each output activity represents the input of the following activity.
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Technology & STEM
The methodology
WeSTEAM methodology
Useful links
Incubation
In the Incubation Phase the participants carry out research in relation to the topic of their interest and begin to put the foundations for a more concrete and precise idea.
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Creative visualisation
Connections and analogies
Conceptual reworking through photography
Learning questionnaire
Imagination
In the Imagination Phase participants begin to idealize and define the key steps for the development of the project. During this development phase, the first goals and objectives are set.
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Interactive mind map
Your project storyboard
Visual storytelling
Learning questionnaire
Creation
During the Creation Phase, participants begin to concretely develop their product, project, or idea. After a prototyping step, this phase is accompanied by testing moments, where participants begin to understand what works and what should be changed. The testing phase is accompanied by the collection of external feedback, crucial to implement transversal points of view useful for the finalization of the project.
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Shape your prototype
Collecting feedback
Art data visualization
Learning questionnaire
Evolution
During the last Evolution phase participants aim to complete the project and present it to the audience of experts and external auditors. The Evolution Phase is a finalization phase but also a phase that looks to the future, as participants can take the key decisions on what should be changed in order to make the project more successful and to plan potential follow up.
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Strengths and weaknesses towards the finalization
Pitch your project creatively
Wind and anchors of your project
WeSTEAM Methodology
About Lesson

ACTIONS

Reviewing: collecting feedback through informal or semi-structured methods of discussion (dialogues with stakeholders, questionnaires, focus groups, trial exhibitions or presentations)

 

SHORT DESCRIPTION

The objective of this activity is to gather external feedback on the prototype project which participants are trying to develop. External feedback is always very useful because it broadens perspectives on the analysis and vision of a product.

Participants should work on creating a series of questions to ask the participants of their focus groups. The questions that are asked of the focus group are of fundamental importance for the analysis of the participants. Participants will need to take the time to formulate the questions, paying close attention to the wording. They should be careful to avoid leading questions, which may influence the answers. 

In this case, the topic of analysis and research on which participants will have to construct their questions will have to be their virtual game prototype. Participants will have to decide on the most advantageous sampling method to help them recruit and select participants in order to interview them for feedback. Some sampling methods are: voluntary response sampling, such as posting a flyer on campus and searching for participants based on their responses; convenience sampling of those who are most easily accessible, such as fellow students; stratified sampling of a particular age, race, ethnicity, gender identity or other characteristics of interest to you; or judgment sampling of a specific set of participants you already know you want to include. Once the focus group has been created, participants will set a time and place. After the focus group has concluded, participants will debrief, recording their initial impressions of the discussion and any highlights, problems or immediate conclusions they drew. The next final step will be to transcribe and clean the collected data in order to make it presentable and useful for reading and analysis.

 

TOOLS

computer, pen, pencil, posters, post-it

 

DURATION

1 hour

 

SKILLS

Teamworking: even if it is led by one person, this phase of a creative process always involves other people (e.g., clients and collaborators): this means accepting the sharing of tasks and responsibilities, having respect for each person’s role, and being willing to mediate to facilitate conflict resolution.

Listening: to value the feedback that other people offer about your work you need to really listen to what they are saying: this means putting yourself aside to give space to the other, having trust and respect for their opinions, and trying not to judge the message before it is delivered.

Tolerance for failure: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.”, says a famous aphorism by Samuel Beckett: this means being able to cope with failures, both on an emotional level, focusing on your sense of purpose, and on a rational level, using failures as a lesson to understand what to improve.

 

USEFUL LINKS

https://universityplanning.wp.olemiss.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/98/2016/05/Trinity_Duke_How_to_Conduct_a_Focus_Group.pdf


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