Mapping a Path to Change Making Choices, Tinkering with Ideas & Building New “Courses” of Action
Power Up - Women in the Trades
Vancouver, BC February 27, 2014
A definition of course
• moving in a path from point to point
• a pathway• an accustomed
procedure• an ordered process or
succession• part of a meal
• succession - as in lessons
But, how to change course?
Cognitive Maps: Visualizing Our Stories
• Linear paths• Emotional detours• Significant sign posts• Professional / personal
symbols
Design for Extreme Simplicity
Michael Calcagno http://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/New_York_City_Subway_Route_Map_by_Michael_Calcagno)
… and fill our cognitive maps with our own markers of meaning (Aris Venetikidis http://www.ted.com/speakers/aris_venetikidis.html)
Some facts … 90% of Canadians aged 25 - 64 have completed at least high school v 75% across OECD
BC has highest graduation rate in Canada 92% v rest of OECD
64% of Canadians graduate from post secondary programs
27% Bachelor - PhD programs
37% College, Vocational, Trade, Certificates
Some more facts …
•Employment rate w/o degree 55%•Employment rate with degree 82%
These figures have held true since 1998
… but
Fewer than 11% of engineers in the US are women
Less than 20% of degrees in STEM fields go to women
By age 6, girls start losing interest in STEM topics
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS
… AND THEN THERE IS THAT PINK AILSE
“Just because this is the way things are doesn’t
mean this is how they have to be,” Debbie Sterling -
CEO Goldiblocks
Design a different way …
Add design to STEM = STEMx
Embrace potential of Advanced Manufacturing - Use of technology to improve products and/or processes, with the relevant technology being described as “advanced,” “innovative,” or “cutting edge”
Maybe the Maker Movement?
Movement officially started 2006 in Menlo Park, CA
Tech Shop – Mark Hatch
Collective experience – sharing tools, tips, & technologies
Access to information – Internet
Access to expertise & tools – MakerSpaces
Increasingly important as 1 in 9 of us live in condos
But, the usual suspects appears to be there as well
A definition - Making• To use our hands and imaginations together • To engage in creative play – Frank Lloyd Wright
• To make things and then make those things better
So, what will change this
time?
14
Seeing a different way on our journeys to make a difference
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57612678/the-recyclers-from-trash-comes-triumph/
The landfill philharmonichttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fejU3E0I-vE
Making requires design, empathy, & imagination Stanford d.School https://dschool.stanford.edu/
Think about William Kamkwamba’s journey …http://www.ted.com/talks/william_kamkwamba_on_building_a_windmill.html
Seeing possibilities in trashhttp://gizmodo.com/335979/15-below-a-transfoming-all+weather-jacket-for-the-homeless
https://www.innocentive.com/innovation-solutions/products-services-overview
Traits of a Design ThinkerEmpathy – Ability to image the world from multiple perspectives
Integrative thinking - Exploit opposing ideas & opposing constraints to create new solutions
Optimism – Assume no matter how challenging the constraints of a given problem, at least one potential solution is better than the existing alternatives
Experientialism - Pose questions & explore constraints in creative ways that proceed in entirely new directions
Collaboration - Complex problems require an enthusiastic interdisciplinary collaborator
Thanks Shane Austin & d.School
GARY MASONOct. 18, 2013
Where did all our skilled workers go?
Once upon a time, shop class was mandatory in most high schools. There was a belief that even if a student wasn’t intent on becoming a mechanic or carpenter, having some basic life skills in these areas wasn’t a bad thing.
Over time, however, shop began to look dated and irrelevant and was given less status. Somewhere along the way, it was drilled into students that the only way to get ahead in life was to go to university and earn a degree.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/where-did-all-our-skilled-workers-go/article14909494/
They are in kindergarten+ … just waiting for us!
• Core references
• Plus the wonderful design thinking workshop guides from Stanford’s d.School
• … and Maker Day toolkit http://blogs.ubc.ca/centre/category/maker/
Work with colleagues …
Talk with ITA for potential support
Connect w/ local colleges (Okanagan College – Women in Trades)
Use the UBC Okanagan / ITA resources
Invite good people to a good day
It’s all about process …
Collaboration
Empathy
Need
Design
Prototype
… and then a bit of magic might happen
“ … collectively use our goodness & opportunity to address issues in our civil society & make the world just that little bit better.”
Hatch (2014) The Maker Movement Manifesto