Today’s session (7 August 2017)

Hi everyone

Today we started with a Database Skills session in the library with Catherine Doughty.

Catherine showed us how to access some of the library’s online databases of articles and ebooks. These resources are a good way to access material that you can use for your assignments, in this and other papers. At tertiary level, there is a requirement for you to build an academic component into your work and these books and articles will be useful sources for you to use.

We then had a brief look at Assignment 2. The first part of this assignment is due at the end of September so it is important to start planning your work now. If you wait until (say) two weeks before it is due then you just won’t have enough time to do the research, analysis and reflection required in this sort of assignment.

Assignment 2 is the only major piece of academic writing that you will be doing for this paper. This means that you need to make sure that you show off your skills in this area and put in a really good result.

The assignment consists of two parts: A business proposal / report and a presentation to the class. You will need to find a common business problem, research it, apply a PSDM model, decide on solutions and recommend a course of action. This means finding sources, analysing different points-of-view and evaluating your findings. There is a Marking Schedule to help you (see the Course Outline), so make sure that you use it.

Don’t look for short-cuts. If you just try to give me your opinions (as opposed to facts and evidence-supported conclusions) then I won’t be able to see your use of source material.

As a class, we then brainstormed some common business problems. We found problems relating to customers, safety, employees, finance and many other issues. Your job will be to choose one business problem and to ‘drill down’ until you find a manageable problem that you can research and apply a PSDM model to.

In preparation for this, we looked briefly at some of the problems that last year’s class used for this assignment, including:

* Finding a solution for managing a difficult tenant

* Improving safety on theme park rides

* Managing customer complaints in a restaurant

* Fisheries management in the Pacific Islands

* Managing customer privacy and data collection

* Addressing obesity through healthy food options.

We discussed the pros and cons of these assignments and noted that some were really just too big in scope to work well for this assignment. You won’t be able to use last year’s topics in your assignment this year but you may be able to find similar topics, if you are interested in any of these areas.

Over the next week, you should start thinking about the problem that you will look at for Assignment 2 and then write it down so that you have a clear starting point. Discuss the problem with me before you begin so that I know that you are on the right track.

We then moved on to looking at various PSDM tests. These aren’t tests in the sense of ‘puzzles’, but rather ways that people have designed to help us understand what problem solving is. As you do each of these three test you should think about two things:

* What each test tells you about your own style and capabilities

* What each test is measuring and why it is important.

Our first test was based on Min Basadur’s eight step Simplex Model (http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_72.htm). This test asked you two questions relating to each of the eight steps in the model and you had to choose your response to each question on a five point scale. Your final total score was then compared to a chart which provided an interpretation of your score.

The second test was the Problem Solving Style Questionnaire (PSSQ). This was another test which asked you to score your response on a scale of 1 to 5. However, it differed from Basadur’s test in two very important ways. Basadur’s test was designed to show how closely you matched his Simplex model and it gave you a score that ranked your problem solving abilities on a high / medium / low scale.

The PSSQ test scored you on your problem solving style, over four dimensions (sensing, intuition, feeling and thinking). The four scores in the PSSQ test reflect your relative strengths over these four dimension, so you might be stronger in (say) thinking and feeling then intuition or sensing. The PSSQ doesn’t have a pass / fail approach.

The third test is similar to the PSSQ, as it ranks your relative scores over three dimensions:

A = Idealist interested in values

B = Activist interested in proposals and ideas

C = Realist interested in information and situations.

(You can find additional information about these three styles at http://www.creducation.org/resources/problem_solving_skills/problem_solving_style.html).

Taken together these three tests should help you to understand you own strengths as a problem solver. Remember that these results are indicative only and that some problem solvers may be more successful than others, depending on the situation and circumstance that you find yourself in.

Remember to make a start on Assignment 1 (due Friday 8 September 2017).

Cheers

Phil