Category Archives: Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovators

The Value of Surprise

March 11, 2014Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovators, Uncategorizedsandefer

What does this session’s exploration into the motivation of Scientific Creators – Explorers of Ideas, Inventors and Innovators – have to do with educational disruption? Perhaps quite a bit.

So much energy is put into standardizing schools – testing, segmenting and applauding assembly lines of students shaped and formed by teachers. What if this is exactly the wrong approach in the 21^st century?

Early in the electronic age, engineers believed that sending more energy through a noiseless conduit was best way to transmit data, much like shouting through a megaphone to be heard. Bell Labs paradigm buster Claude Shannon turned this idea on its head in 1948 with his classic paper “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” proposing that listening for “surprises” in a noisy communications channel was a better way to transmit information.

From Shannon’s single insight came all of modern communications, including the internet, digital encryption and the compression algorithms that allow us to watch YouTube videos for free.

Economist George Gilder has applied Shannon’s insights into the value of surprises to the Information Age. Gilder argues it is the surprises created and spread by entrepreneurial scientists and business leaders that add most of the value in the world, not the forces tending toward standardization and economic equilibrium studied by most economists.

The Explorer of Ideas, like Shannon, is someone who comes up with a novel concept, like throwing a rock into a still pond. The Inventor sculpts the rock. The Innovator throws the rock and sets in play ripples that spread across the pond. All of this energy comes from the surprises generated from the three Creators.

Standardization can be necessary at times, but its job is to minimize variability and surprise. Once all of the ripples have been quieted, the value added is nil as commoditization reigns.

Our Eagles are being inspired and equipped to become Surprising Forces in the world, creators of great value, daring to be different, never settling for a standardized or commoditized life.

How fitting our Eagles are delving deeply into what has motivated the great Scientific Creators of the past, as they prepare to be the Creators of the future.

What can I learn from Rube Goldberg?

March 6, 2014Art, Culture, Hero Story, Hero's Journey, Independent Learner, Quests, Rube Goldberg, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

Imagine this…. someone who knows nothing about Acton Academy wanders into the studio and notices all the students tinkering joyfully, building crazy-looking Rube Goldberg-like contraptions. The visitor is puzzled and possibly even indignant. “Looks like playtime to me,” she thinks. Aloud, she asks, “ Where is the value in this? Shouldn’t you be learning something? This is school, after all.”

Guides try to come up with challenges that hit the sweet spot where rigor intersects joy. The Rube Goldberg design-build project has many layers; “Games within games within games,” one Eagle noted. Not all elements are immediately visible to a random visitor, but most are easily teased out by asking a few good questions.

So, where is the value? According to the Eagles, the value lies in:

hands-on experimentation
letting their imaginations freely flow
nudging their creativity from “bud to blossom” (thank you, Anaya)
answering an open-ended question
working without instruction
problem solving
incorporating evidence of their biographical research into their designs
having FUN

When Eagles begin designing their own Quests from scratch, chances are very good they will do an even better job of hitting the right balance. They already do the best job of answering visitors’ questions!

What’s Different This Session?

February 28, 2014Consequences, Culture, Energy and flow, Quests, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

The high scores the new Creator Quest received on this week’s Fun/Important graph indicate that Eagles are finding the work both engaging and relevant to their Hero’s Journeys- for most of them, in stark contrast to last session’s Rocket Quest. Why?

Guides had theories, yet despite our “no experts” ethic, we suspected the best way to answer this particular question would be to take it to the ones in the know: the Eagles themselves. We asked: Why were you so focused this week? How is this project different for you? Eagles’ responses fell under four main headings.

1. Choice

High energy around getting to choose a hero who relates to their own gifts and passions. A dedicated violinist chose Stradivari, a budding filmmaker chose Walt Disney, a talented cinematographer chose the Lumiere brothers, and one Eagle with razor-sharp focus on becoming a future race car driver chose Karl Benz.

They appreciate the independent nature of this project, which provides the freedom to do research, write and draw mind maps during core skills, and conversely, to continue core skills work in the afternoons during “project time”.

And they love getting to design their Rube Goldberg device from scratch, with their own choice of materials.

2. Diversity

The combination of specific, individualized work that must still fit into the broader goals of a team resonates with the Eagles’ powerful commitment to both their own Hero’s Journeys and to their learning community. The diversity of hands-on drawing/design/building, along with deep research and multi-draft writing, keeps them energized.

In the words of one Eagle: “This project has everything: drawing, writing, research, history and even public speaking.”

3. Games

“This project has games within games,” one Eagle noted, mentioning the Cornucopia, the pitches, and the final exhibition/competition.

While much of the work is independent, small groups come together for critiques, and larger groups form for pitches.

There’s nowhere to hide, and while no one wants to lose, if they don’t ace one game they know there will be another they can try to beat. “Some of us will be motivated more by the Rube Goldberg presentation, some of us by the speech.” And Eagles with the highest standards are in the powerful position of inspiring and lifting up the rest.

4. High Stakes

The Eagles crave meaningful experiences and real-life lessons. When stakes feel high to them, they soar. The word “pressure!” came up quite a bit in our discussion, but in the context of a challenge to be met rather then a negative to be avoided. The space hums with excitement. Speeches, pitches, a public display of a giant Eagle-crafted Rube Goldberg chain reaction… AND a very special reward for the team with the highest average scores as rated by the Acton community.

Nikita’s slogan for this session best sums up the enthusiasm and focus in the studio:

It’s ON!

Gamifying motivation.

February 26, 2014Collaboration, Consequences, Critiques, Culture, Energy and flow, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Feedback, Guides, Quests, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

What do Guides at Acton Academy actually do, if we never teach or respond to questions?

The answer – we’re Game Makers. We describe an exciting end goal, design the incentives, suggest a few boundaries or rules, provide a list of tools and process — and then get out of the way. Our goal is to inspire Eagles to pack as much learning into the day as possible.

Take for example, this session’s Creator Speech Quest. First, each Eagle chooses a Scientific Explorer of Ideas (a paradigm buster); Innovator or Inventor. Five weeks from now, at the public exhibition, each will deliver an original four minute “hero’s journey” speech from the shoes of their Creator and unveil a Rube Goldberg device that celebrates the scientific contributions of their hero.

Here’s the catch – a maximum of eight Creators per category will be allowed to speak. So who determines which Eagle qualifies for which spot? The Eagles themselves.

1. First, all Eagles in a category deliver a two minute pitch displaying their research and mind map, asking to be “green lighted” (approved.) Everyone in the group rates each pitch and provides warm and cool critiques.

2. The top rated 2/3 of the group (a maximum of five) are elected to be the Excellence Committee for that group. The Excellence Committee decides whether those receiving a lower rating should be admitted immediately (up to a maximum of eight) or asked to do more research and polishing and then pitch again.

3. What keeps the Excellence Committee from quickly approving more members and filling the group? The final ratings, from customers at the exhibition, will be based on the average rating per person. So you do not want any slackers on the team to bring down your average score.

Today was pitch day. Nine Eagles pitched for Inventors; nine for Innovators; three for Creators. Five were admitted to the first and second groups; two to the third group. Standards were high. Many Eagles were asked to do additional work and pitch again.

The result:

1. A high level of energy and enthusiasm, because each Eagle chose a hero who appealed to his or her calling.

2. Standards were set by Eagles and kept high. If you hadn’t turned in first rate work, there was no shame, but you got the chance to try again. Plus you received a great deal of encouragement and coaching.

3. Along the way, there was much work and learning around the processes for research, mind mapping, pitching and how to compete for scarce resources – all with an eye toward rigor.

4. Eagles learned a lot about the lives of twenty four different scientific heroes, and what motivated them.

Examples of the criteria Eagles developed to judge “productive research:”

Quality and credibility of sources;
Number and variety of sources;
At least one serious biography selected.
Facts; opinions and stories.
Clearly organized and present with enthusiasm.
Tells a Hero’s Story.

Some of the questions asked during grilling:

How much time will you be able to work on this? What will you sacrifice to make room for this effort?
What progress have you made so far on your Rube Goldberg device?
How will your Rube Goldberg device reflect your hero’s contributions?
Are you going to spend more time or less time and effort on this project than you did on the rocket project? Do you promise?
Will you spend more time and effort on your hero’s speech or your Rube Goldberg device?
How much research have you done and how much more will you promise to do?

Self organizing learning; making research fun; adding a competitive edge to encourage rigor and excellence – not a bad day’s work for a Guide, especially since we didn’t do much at all.

Session Five: Creative Motivation and a Rube Goldberg Celebration

February 22, 2014Culture, Guides, Hero's Journey, Journey maps, Launches, Quests, Rube Goldberg, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

What inspired Einstein to imagine himself straddling a beam of light? Why did Edison toil night after night in his Menlo Park lab? What led Ford to pay the highest wages in the land?

For the next five weeks our Eagles will dig deeply into what motivated the creative geniuses who changed the world through ideas, inventions and innovations.

Then on Thursday, March 27th, each Eagle will stand before an audience and deliver a four minute “Hero’s Journey” speech as a famous Creator, exploring this year’s Overarching Question: “What motivates a hero?”

Once the speeches are finished, guests will be able to roam the studio and investigate twenty four different Rube Goldberg devices, each handmade by an Eagle to honor the contributions of their Creator, and each with a thirty second video introduction. (If you are interested in clearing your home of unused electricity and chemistry kits, just send them to the studio and we promise not to return them!)

Finally, after a suitable build up, the first Rube Goldberg contraption will be launched, leading to twenty four sequential celebrations of creation, as one Rube Goldberg device after another is triggered.

During the session we’ll continue to forge ahead on Khan and Learning Badges while engulfed in this frenzy of scientific and economic creation. And in Civilization, Eagles will watch college level DVD lectures on the Science of Innovation, followed each week by student designed and led Socratic Discussions.

Stay tuned for a lot of creative grit and sweat these next five weeks!

“Best Work” in Science

January 15, 2014Culture, Energy and flow, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Quests, Rocket Olympics, Science, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

What does it mean to do your “best work” in science?

Is it diligently repeating ancient experiments? Carefully watching a few simple demonstrations? Neat and tidy documentation? Or simply open ended inquiries?

Which is more likely to spark a love of discovery? Which will develop the grit and perseverance required of world changing scientists? Which will better prepare Heroes for the 21st century?

Here’s a page from one of Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks:

Here’s a collection of our Eagles scientific output, as they struggle to document their findings in hands-on experiments involving gravity and projectiles. Is this a mess or an example of genius at work?

Today we discussed the criteria for best scientific work, by comparing the output from the Eagles with da Vinci’s work. The Eagles’ criteria for “best work” in science:

Curiosity: The question must be interesting.
Clarity: Ten out of ten people must be able to understand the results.
Beauty: The notes should be organized and presented in a visually pleasing way.

So what do you believe defines “best work” in science? An interesting question.

Calling Google, Amazon and Apple

January 12, 2014Core Skills, Culture, Excellence-Best You Can Do, Math, Quests, Science, Scientific Creators Inventors and Innovatorssandefer

Eagles seeking an apprenticeship with Google , Amazon or Apple likely will be given a difficult, open ended problem, like: “How many cows are in Canada?”

It’s not the answer that matters, but the quality of the thinking.

On Friday Eagles were challenged with a difficult physics problem. If given the experimental set up above, and d2 (the distance of the cup), can you solve for h1, the height from which to drop the ball?

No trial and error experiments were allowed. No equations or cookbook theories were offered. Eagles had only four tries at three different d2 distances, and each try was expensive (25 pts) relative to the payoff (100 pts.)

All week we worked on physics experiments that involved Newton’s Laws of Motion, the Four Fundamental Forces and the Scientific Method. Careful observation and a lot of thought might have led one college student out of a hundred to the right approach for Friday’s competition, and an equation to solve this problem, using theory alone.

Can you solve it? (Hint – consider horizontal velocity and gravity separately.)

No Eagle came up with the perfect solution. But many theories were proposed and tested. Lots of frustration. Human error turned out to be important. So did working effectively as a team. Two teams came close enough that their theories helped predict h1 during the competition.

In other words, our Eagles learned a lot about how science really works, not how it works in textbook experiments. When you become a hero charged with launching real rockets, in the real world, this distinction will make all the difference.

Who knows, it might even land an apprenticeship with a private space entrepreneur like Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson or Elon Musk.

Our Hero's Journey

Acton Academy Middle School and Launchpad (High School)