Hothousing: Utilising industry collaborative problem solving practices for STEAM in schools

Abstract

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) has been widely used in both industry and in schools over at least the last twenty years. The Industry Hothousing variant of CPS in its adult format is an intensive, time-constrained workshop based process designed to build mutual trust between customers and industry experts in order to synergically develop creative solutions together. Its potential use in schools raises two important questions: Firstly, what degree of structure and support is required to unleash student creativity and enhance learning - as in industry or does the student need more structured methods including explicitly being taught collaborative problem solving skills? Secondly, is CPS an enrichment activity taking up additional teacher time or is it potentially cross-curricular and thus of wider benefit to teachers and students? The Hothousing CPS process for students is based on an intensive series of workshops based on trust including face-to-face and on-line collaboration supported by a facilitator. It is student-driven and addresses an open-ended challenge such as “ "How do I get my friends to LOVE STEAM?" or “Design the optimal solution to the city’s traffic problem.” or "How do I raise my friends’ interest toward learning?". Three case studies are introduced. From these it was found that student-led intensive collaboration within a trusted framework drives creativity, and is a good opportunity to experience real life challenges. Positive benefits to students and teachers are technology skills development, personal learning and thinking skills (PLTS) and enhanced perception of self and STEAM, and this benefit is cross curricular providing qualitative and efficiency gains.