Investigación Estudiantil

When to Use

• When a large group must develop ideas about several facets of a problem or project

Procedure

1. Before the meeting, determine how many people will be present and plan for breaking into small groups of five to eight people each. Appoint as many facilitators as there will be small groups.

2. Determine in advance, perhaps with a small planning group, what issues need to be brainstormed. Assign an issue to each facilitator. If there are more small groups than issues, some issues will be assigned to more than one facilitator. Do not assign more than one issue to a facilitator.

3. In the meeting, divide the participants into the small groups. Direct each group to sit together in a circle, with a facilitator and a flipchart. Announce a time limit for this activity.

4. Each group brainstorms ideas related to the facilitator’s topic, following the basic procedure above. The facilitator records all ideas on a flipchart.

5. When the allotted time is up, each facilitator rotates to another group, taking the flipchart with him or her.

6. Each facilitator reviews with the new group the topic and the ideas already generated. The group brainstorms on that topic, adding ideas to the flipchart.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until all groups have discussed every issue. If some groups discuss an issue more than once, that’s okay. The flipchart will contain additional ideas on which they can piggyback.

8. During the last rotation, the group should identify the most significant ideas.

9. Everyone comes back together in a large group. Each facilitator displays his or her flipchart and summarizes the ideas generated.

Example

The two dozen faculty members of a school met to plan a program to encourage parent participation. Four issues were identified for discussion:

What after-school activities can the faculty promote to get parents into the school?

How can the faculty seem more real and human to parents?

How can parents be involved in student projects and curriculum units?

What are the best ways to communicate with parents?

Four teachers had been designated facilitators. The rest of the faculty divided into four groups of five teachers each. Each group discussed each topic for 15 minutes. After an hour, the group reconvened to review all ideas and plan the next steps.

Considerations

• Judgment and creativity are two functions that cannot occur simultaneously.

That’s the reason for the rules about no criticism and no evaluation.

• Laughter and groans are criticism. When there is criticism, people begin to evaluate their ideas before stating them. Fewer ideas are generated and creative ideas are lost.

• Evaluation includes positive comments such as “Great idea!” That implies that another idea that did not receive praise was mediocre.

• The more the better. Studies have shown that there is a direct relationship between the total number of ideas and the number of good, creative ideas.

• The crazier the better. Be unconventional in your thinking. Don’t hold back any ideas. Crazy ideas are creative. They often come from a different perspective.

Crazy ideas often lead to wonderful, unique solutions, through modification or by sparking someone else’s imagination.

• Hitchhike. Piggyback. Build on someone else’s idea.

• Unless you’re using the round-robin variation, encourage people to rapidly speak whatever ideas pop into their heads. The recording of ideas must not slow down the idea-generation process. If ideas are coming too fast to keep up with, have several people record ideas.

• When brainstorming with a large group, someone other than the facilitator should be the recorder. The facilitator should act as a buffer between the group and the recorder(s), keeping the flow of ideas going and ensuring that no ideas get lost before being recorded.

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• The recorder should try not to rephrase ideas. If an idea is not clear, ask for a rephrasing that everyone can understand. If the idea is too long to record, work with the person who suggested the idea to come up with a concise rephrasing.

The person suggesting the idea must always approve what is recorded.

• Keep all ideas visible. When ideas overflow to additional flipchart pages, post previous pages around the room so all ideas are still visible to everyone.

• Brainstorming is not the only way to generate ideas. Many more creativity tools have been developed than can be squeezed into this book. For example, powerful tools called lateral thinking have been developed by Dr. Edward de Bono based on how the brain organizes information. These proven techniques do not depend on spontaneous inspiration but use specific methods to change concepts and per-ceptions and generate ideas. These tools have been used for purposes as varied as new product development and transforming the 1984 Olympic games. The Resources lists sources of creativity tools.

• See affinity diagram, list reduction, multivoting, and starbursting (above) for ways to work with ideas generated by brainstorming.

brainwriting

Variations: 6–3–5 method, Crawford slip method, pin cards technique, gallery method

Description

Brainwriting is a nonverbal form of brainstorming. Team members write down their ideas individually. Ideas are shared through an exchange of papers, then additional ideas are written down.

When to Use

Just as in brainstorming, brainwriting is used . . .

• When a broad range of options is desired, and . . .

• When creative, original ideas are desired, and . . .

• When participation of the entire group is desired

But try brainwriting instead of brainstorming if any of the following are true:

• When a topic is too controversial or emotionally charged for a verbal brainstorming session, or . . .

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• When participants might feel safer contributing ideas anonymously, or . . .

• To encourage equal participation, when verbal brainstorming sessions are typically dominated by a few members, or . . .

• When some group members think better in silence, or . . .

• When ideas are likely to be complex and require detailed explanation

Procedure

Materials needed: a sheet of paper and pen or pencil for each individual.

1. Team members sit around a table. The facilitator reviews the topic or problem to be discussed. Often it is best phrased as a why, how, or what question. Make sure everyone understands the topic.

2. Each team member writes up to four ideas on a sheet of paper. He or she places the paper in the center of the table and selects another sheet.

3. Up to four new ideas are added to the list already on the sheet. That sheet goes back in the center and another sheet is chosen.

4. Continue this way for a predetermined time (usually 15 to 30 minutes) or until no one is generating more ideas. The sheets are collected for consolidation and discussion.

6–3–5 method

1. Six people sit around a table. (That is the 6.) The facilitator reviews the topic or problem to be discussed. Often it is best phrased as a why, how, or what question.

Make sure everyone understands the topic.

2. Each person writes down three ideas. (That is the 3.)

3. After five minutes, sheets are passed to the left. (That is the 5.)

4. Continue the process in five-minute blocks until all participants have their own sheets back.

5. Collect sheets for consolidation and discussion.