End of Fall 2009 (Inaugural) Course

This is the final post for the Fall 2009 HUM 246: Creating Thinking class.

Daniel Pink's A Whole New Mind served as the core text for the course, and exercises from the book comprised a "Pink Portfolio" of creative explorations submitted by students at semester's end.  Students were also evaluated on a 20% Project, a self-motivated creative endeavor to be presented to the class during exam week, as well as in-class participation in discussions.

Projects from the semester remain linked to in the Online Course Materials at left.

If you have any questions about this course, you can reach me at bencapozzi at mac dot com.

~mrc

Statistics for the course:

• 21 students
• 10 As
• 9 Bs
• 2 Incompletes (ultimately a C and an F, respectively)

What's It All About?

Estudiantes,

As you begin to think about the Meaning Project and your Ten Things inspired by Google, I thought you might like to see other corporate philosophies. I came across this from the Toyota Corporation while reading over the holiday:

The Toyoda Precepts
1. Be contributive to the development and welfare of the
country by working together, regardless of position, in
faithfully fulfilling your duties.
2. Be ahead of the times through endless creativity,

inquisitiveness and pursuit of improvement.
3. Be practical and avoid frivolity.
4. Be kind and generous; strive to create a warm,
homelike atmosphere.
5. Be reverent, and show gratitude for things great and small
in thought and deed.

In these general rules, Sakichi Toyoda sought to clarify the fundamental business principles of his company for each of its employees. The Toyoda Precepts were first introduced on October 30, 1935, the fifth anniversary of Sakichi Toyoda’s death.

While you are of course creating your OWN list or personal things you know to be true, it never hurts to look around.

~mrc

THE List

Students,

Below is THE DEFINITIVE list of items for your Pink Portfolio due at the end of the semester. keep in mind your Pink Portfolio isn't everything you'll be graded on, but it is a big chunk of your grade. There are a few extra credit opportunities out there –chip kidd field trip, threadless entry, successfully-protected eggs– and there's of course attendance, debono's for in-class participation, cartoon captions on the weblog, and your 20% Project.

From the DESIGN Chapter

• Assignment #1 - Channel Your Annoyance
• Project: Music Event Poster (I have these!)

From the STORY Chapter

• Assignment #2 - Riff on Opening Lines
• Project: StoryCorps Interview

From the SYMPHONY Chapter

• Assignment #1 - Metaphor Log
• Assignment #2 - 5-line Self Portraits
• Project: Creativity Map

From the EMPATHY Chapter

• Project: Don't Outsource Your Empathy Card

From the PLAY Chapter

• Assignment #2 Dissect a Joke

From the MEANING Chapter

• Project: Ten Things

Descriptions for these are posted in the online resources at left. Ask questions if anything's unclear. Take note that writing assignments should be nicely formatted with your name, course number and prefix, and assignment title for me to put in your folder.

~mrc

Egg Drop, Tuesday 11/24!

Remember that next Tuesday –the last day before Thanksgiving holiday– we will have our egg drop competition (weather permitting)! I will be releasing your eggs in their custom epds from the top of the SVHEC! You bring the epd , I will supply the eggs.

We plan to record the event with the help of some of my Multimedia students in ART 130. Should be fun!

~mrc

Thursday Assignment, 11/19

Students,

As our penultimate "Play" section activity, please take this short survey from Pink's "Step on the Humor Scale" assignment in AWNM, pg 211. Post your score in the comments section below for an attendance grade for today, even though we don't have class. And be sure to say whether not you think your results are accurate. When you read the score details, there're some interesting insights into how we use humor to deflect criticism, deal with stress, and otherwise get things done.

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/newsh/items/selftest/item_8508.html

~mrc

Art + Design Table Friday

Just a reminder:

Art + Design Table meets this afternoon at 4PM at Caffe Peroni's in downtown SoBo. This is an informal social event for all students in Art & Design courses at the SVHEC - adult and high school. The more the merrier, and all are welcome.

~mrc

Chipp Kidd @ Longwood University

Thank you to those brave souls who ventured all the way to nearby Longwood University to meet Chip Kidd Wednesday night. Mr Kidd was very entertaining and the insights into the design process - especially what gets rejected - were very informative. Personally, my favorite part was, when speaking of his design school experience as a student, he wryly said, "I think they taught me how to think effectively. I think."

In this class, I hope you're learning how to think effectively, and differently.

~mrc

Brain Food

Nom nom nom...DEE-lish!

~mrc

minilogue - hitchhiker's choice from ljudbilden on Vimeo.

Good Advice + Homework

This is a good idea.

Also a good idea:

• adding some heading info to any assignments you submit to me for grading or revie

For instance, MANY of you have submitted papers to me on the Crowdsourcing assignment with nothing more than your answers; there's no mention of your name, that this is for HUM 246, the title of the assignment ("Crowdsourcing Article Response" would work), the date, etc.

It's a small point, but this information makes it MUCH easier for me to keep track of your assignments and make sure you're getting proper credit where credit's due.

'Little help, please!

~mrc

Extended Hours in the Earp Lab

Crowdsourcing, Homework for 10/27

I mentioned Crowdsourcing in Tuesday's class and suggested that it represents a very fundamental change - and a creative one - in the ways business is changing across a WIDE range of industries from the sciences to social sectors, just as we're reading in A Whole New Mind how the rise of the right brain is doing the same. Something this big demands more space in your brain, so for Tuesday please read this 4-page article from Wired Magazine's June 2006 issue on Crowdsourcing by Jeff Howe. Answer the questions below and email them to me in a Word (or similar) doc.

~mrc

• Explain crowdsourcing in your own words.
• What role has the internet and web technology played in the rise of crowdsourcing? Could the businesses cited in the article (iStockPhoto, Threadless, Innocentive, et al) exist without the web? How are businesses reacting to the crowdsourcing phenomenon?
• In the section on TV 2.0, the article asks "Can the crowd produce enough content to support an array of shows over many years?" Which of the shows mentioned are still on the air and which, if any, have you seen? Is that significant?
• According "The Tinkerer" page of the article, how many "solvers" (as of the article's publication date) are part of the network of scientists on InnoCentive? What is the appeal of a service like this for both corporate and individual participants? Why does each party come to the table? What do they get out of participation?
• According to MIT's Karim Lakhani, why does InnoCentive work?
• How is crowdsourcing different from outsourcing?
• What is Amazon's Mechanical Turk?
• What could you, your business, or your employer crowdsource?
• What could the government crowdsource?
• What's the relationship between what you've read in A Whole New Mind and the crowdsourcing trend?

Is This Creative?

What do you all think of this advertisement? Stupid? Brilliant? Compelling and rich? What's a typical ad for a mobile home liquidator look like? Post your response in the comments section below.

~mrc

The Death of Email?

Students,

Last week, I received a communication from a colleague who is charged with developing an alumni tracking service for her college -- essentially a way to stay in touch, update, and yes, even solicit funds from, the many students who've passed through those hallowed halls.

She'd read an article I've linked to here which suggests that email may be going away, or at the least evolving, and that will challenge the way traditional "development" offices (the term often given to University departments in charge of fundraising from the community of former students) do business.

Please read the article and post a response in the comments section below. Do you agree with the predictions? Do they really reflect your web and email habits? Do you primarily use your DCC or Southside email address? Do you use different email accounts for school versus, say, social business? What sites do you frequent most? What digital assets or online content do you "take with you" wherever you spend time online (eg Facebook, MySpace, news RSS)?

~mrc

Homework Due Thursday, 10/15

Class,

I was incorrect when I last wrote you on Tuesday regarding the schedule for next week.

DCC is on holiday (Teacher Workday, officially) next Tuesday, 10/13, so there will be no classes, which means there will be no drawing activities with guest instructor Kevin Chrystie! We'll have to have him back another day.

So we will not meet officially again for a whole week! Therefore, due when we return next week:

1) Write a mini-saga about the picture above answering the question, "What's their story?" Answer in 50 words, no more no less; as usual, post your response in the comments section below.

2) Make sure you have finished A Whole New Mind, Chapter 6, "Symphony" and do the following activities:

• "Draw" activity on page 151: Only do the 5-line self-portrait activity, but do it 5 times. Try different poses or expressions if you need to mix it up. Bring your self-portraits to class.
• "Keep a Metaphor Log" activity on page 152: Compile a list of at least 10 metaphors, 2 of which you must invent yourself. Email me the list.

3) Do a DeBono! This week's activity is this:

• MULTIPLE CONNECTIONS

1. Obtain Two Random Words.
2. See how many ways you can make a connection between the two random words.
3. Define clearly the basis for each connection.
4. Do this on your own, individually.
5. Email me the list.

eg DESK; SHORTS

...both are functional and aid a type of activity, such as business or sports

...both should be designed for freedom of activity

...desks have "knee holes" and shorts expose the knees

Do NOT invent a story about the items to make a connection. Dig deep to really think about a connection of purpose, function, value, utility, etc that already exists.

Your random words are: TAPESTRY; DOUGHNUT

4) Send me a note about which of the Longwood University art workshops you plan to attend this month. As was mentioned last class, there will be 4 Saturday morning workshops at the SVHEC this month, October 17th - printmaking and tshirt-making workshop; October 24th - bookmaking, printmaking and tshirt workshop. All workshops are FREE. You only need to attend ONE. Each workshop is an hour long and they run from 10-12 each weekend. Send me notes now if you have conflicts.

That's all! I'll see you next Thursday, at which time I'll also have mid-term grades to hand out. Remember, you can always redo an assignment for re-grading if you show improvement.

~mrc

Out of Class Today

Class,

I am having car trouble and will not be able to make it to class this afternoon! I am sorry for this and I know that you are as crestfallen as I am; however, there is still much to do!

There is a picture caption assignment on the blog right now (see below this post) which you should complete TODAY (in class before you leave preferably).

I am missing MANY of the StoryCorps assignments as of this writing, and expect them tonight as they are due today. If you are having trouble with the assignment, 1) this will be the first I've heard of it since no one's said anything yet, and 2) you should contact me ASAP.

I will be out of town both this Thursday and next Tuesday, 10/8 and 10/13, but we are STILL having class. This Thursday you will have a proctor for the class to take roll and perform other duties. It will be a working day with an assignment on the blog, a deBono exercise, and there will be a preliminary list of assignments I have or am missing from each of you. Keep in mind that I will be posting Mid-term grades next Friday.

Next Tuesday Kevin Chrystie will be filling in for me guiding you through a series of drawing exercises, so DO NOT miss that. It will be awesome.

Lastly, there will be a special interest class Saturday morning, October 17th, and again on the 24th, with visiting art professors from Longwood college. The instructors will be conducting hands on workshops in bookmaking, printmaking, and tshirt-making. The cost to you is FREE. I would like for each of you to attend at least one of these workshops on either day. They make for an excellent addition to your Pink Portfolio. Start letting me know now why you can't make it (I assume there will be some conflicts), but also let me know which one(s) you are interested in so I can start putting together attendance.

Questions, concerns or complants? 540.227.0221 or bencapozzi@mac.com

Best

~mrc

Who ARE These People? (Continued)

Time for another mini-saga! What's this guy's story? Post your answer in 50 words - no more, no less - below in the comments section.

Best

~mrc

Who ARE These People?

Class,

This is a short assignment based on the the Pink activity on page 126 of A Whole New Mind. Make up a short story about the person in the photo below. Post your answer, no more than a paragraph, in the comments section below. As you make up his story, consider how he got to where he is, what he's doing and why, or what he may be doing next? What's unspoken?

What's this guy writing about?

Homework for Thursday 9/29

Class,

Your homework due next Tuesday, 9/29, is to write a short story (no more than a page and a half) riffing on one of the opening lines below. Start with one of the lines given and carry your story on from there. Come to class prepared to share (and also email me a copy.)

"Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." - Charles Dickens, David Copperfield (1850)

"This is the saddest story I have ever heard." - Ford Madox Ford, The Good Soldier (1915)

"A screaming comes across the sky." - Thomas Pynchon, Gravity's Rainbow (1973)

"I am an invisible man." - Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)

Can't wait to hear these!

~mrc

Caption Game Again!

Yayyy!

Time to play the caption game again!

Post your caption idea in the comments below! (I do grade these, btw.)

~mrc

Homework for Thursday 9/24

Estudiantes,

In addition to continuing to zero in on what your creativity research project is going to be (see previous post), please read Chapter Five, Story, in A Whole New Mind. Come to class prepared to discuss.

Best

~mrc