Group dynamics and final projects#

What we did#

We each had to bring an object that could illustrate an issue we care about and relates to the theme “an object that connects”. We then walked around to share and discuss said object and the subject we chose. Groups of students with similar subjects were gradually formed where a brainstorming session would begin. The goal was to find problems/questions concerning our subject, and ultimately form groups for the final project.

My subject#

The object I chose was a pair of wired earphones. My subject was about how we could effectively recycle electronic waste. According to the W.H.O, E-waste is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world. Informal e-waste recycling activities may have several adverse health effects, children and pregnant women being particularly vulnerable. I chose earphones/headphones because they could more or less represent this kind of waste. There are obviously recycle points and re-use centres where you can discard E-waste, but the subject would dive deeper into the process and whether or not improvements can be made. Either socially (encouraging people to recyle more) or in the recycling process itself.

I think this subject works for me because I personally have multiple old electronic devices lying around my house. I also like the idea of using minimalistic “dumb phones” which also relates to social media addiction which I also have.

Problem tree :

Things we did in our group#

We first did a quick mindmap to connect each other’s subject together to find common ground. This was just to find new ideas and perspectives, but nothing was really fleshed out yet.

We wrote down each person’s subject to compare. Having it written down helped to see what was more appealing.

We finally decided to find a subject related to health care, concerning patients with Alzheimer’s forgetting to take their medication. This interested everyone and we thought the possible solutions were somewhat doable. Here’s our solution tree :

We also wrote down a set of rules for better teamwork.

For each meeting, roles with a specific task would be assigned: - Someone who writes down the key points of the meeting - Someone who keeps track of time - Someone who manages speaking turns - Someone who addresses tension should things get heated (like in a debate)