12 April Reflections: Cycle III "The Problem" is Not the Only Problem

Transcribed from hand-written notes-

12 April Reflections-

Training trip II:

(While on plane headed out) -  I’m concerned that cycle III problem(s) and focus will be overcome by outside influences (specifically, I think that competing agendas may force students’ attention away from solution development).

Specific considerations – students are affected by a large number of outside influences- people, schedule, cost, technology, etc.  Most specifically, students are affected by competing agendas of those working above them.  Often student’s work or learning is put on hold in order to fulfill what they are asked to do by others.  Since this cycle largely takes place at their work/office it can be difficult to acquire the time that this level of training/instruction requires.  In addition to ‘time’ as a factor- the learning methods introduced (PBL & IBL) are complex enough that they require tiers of experts (from various disciplines) to work collaboratively with target (subject) students.  It has been hard at times to get the right 'expert' with the right level of knowledge to answer complex questions.

Positive by-product: All parties mentioned above (various SME’s, engineers, etc.) learn through this endeavor, as long as we have the time to work through it.