What do I do with 11 participants and one team?
The two system solution:
The ideal number for PTC is 7 and 8 or 9 people on a team works fine. But what if you have 10 or 11 participants. Too many for one team and not enough for two teams. If you want them to work as one team, then I would suggest having them build two systems. (BTW we don't charge per kit because we want you to feel free to base your decision on how many kits to use on what's best for your program and not have to take in the organization's budget.) Asking one team to make two systems does not double the work if they are working as one team as they can share design information and other resources. If you have them build two systems, ask them to build systems that will allow them to deliver fluid to any one of the 24 targets not just the 12 targets of their system. The task of connecting two systems seems daunting at first but it really is quite simple. All they have to do is put two extra y valves after the pump: one to receive fluid from the other system and one to send fluid to the other system. The receiving y valve is right side up (like a "y") and the y valve sending fluid to the other system is upside down (see diagram) .
If they find it difficult, you can help them with the above hint i.e., "maybe you should consider two extra y valves after the pump." Both systems make the same design.
The Make It more difficult Solution:
We prefer the two system solution because it doesn't require a lot of extra explanation and it involves all of the participants fully. But if you don't like that solution, another one is to make it harder. here are some suggestions:
1. Requiring that each structure be between 60 and 62 centimeters high and require that they incorporate at least 3 triangles in each of the two platforms -the platform that holds the fluid and the platform that holds the fluid delivery system. The triangles can not be ornamental but must contribute to the weight bearing strength of the platforms. This is difficult. The most important piece of information is knowing how long the arms of the triangle should be. Again, if they have difficulty with this, a person could be taken aside and told that legs of the triangle need to be 47 centimeters long. The problem with this approach is that it may be that one "whiz person" may take on this part of the project and not involve the others.
2 Structure their team. Instead of letting them organize any way they want. Make the inventory of materials they will use available to them and require that they divide into sub-teams of three or four and require each team spend 30 minutes of the second simulated day (or begin in the first if they get have had enough time planning) developing a rough design of the fluid delivery system , the platform that holds the source containers and a design of the platform that holds the fluid delivery system. Then require each sub-team to bring its three designs to the whole team ( no matter how much progress they've made) and get agreement on the final design, first from the team. and then approval from Zegra. Zegra would then require that they get approval team approval of any design changes after the design is approved. This is very difficult with a prototype project and where they are unfamiliar with the materials. But it will fully engage them and you can give them help along the way.
3. Assign three people to use their computers (ask them to bring their laptops ahead of time) to: (1) document in detail the decision making process of the team i.e., who proposes solutions, how the decision is made etc.(2) one person to document the patterns of communication who gives directions to whom, who asks questions of whom, and, (3) the third person develops instructions on a latptop to teach the customer how to operate the system during the demonstration. The customer would be required to learn from the computer and only ask three or four direct questions. This creates a typical "finish to start" conflict in that in order for the person to complete the training program, the others need to decide on the design.
The ideal number for PTC is 7 and 8 or 9 people on a team works fine. But what if you have 10 or 11 participants. Too many for one team and not enough for two teams. If you want them to work as one team, then I would suggest having them build two systems. (BTW we don't charge per kit because we want you to feel free to base your decision on how many kits to use on what's best for your program and not have to take in the organization's budget.) Asking one team to make two systems does not double the work if they are working as one team as they can share design information and other resources. If you have them build two systems, ask them to build systems that will allow them to deliver fluid to any one of the 24 targets not just the 12 targets of their system. The task of connecting two systems seems daunting at first but it really is quite simple. All they have to do is put two extra y valves after the pump: one to receive fluid from the other system and one to send fluid to the other system. The receiving y valve is right side up (like a "y") and the y valve sending fluid to the other system is upside down (see diagram) .
If they find it difficult, you can help them with the above hint i.e., "maybe you should consider two extra y valves after the pump." Both systems make the same design.
The Make It more difficult Solution:
We prefer the two system solution because it doesn't require a lot of extra explanation and it involves all of the participants fully. But if you don't like that solution, another one is to make it harder. here are some suggestions:
1. Requiring that each structure be between 60 and 62 centimeters high and require that they incorporate at least 3 triangles in each of the two platforms -the platform that holds the fluid and the platform that holds the fluid delivery system. The triangles can not be ornamental but must contribute to the weight bearing strength of the platforms. This is difficult. The most important piece of information is knowing how long the arms of the triangle should be. Again, if they have difficulty with this, a person could be taken aside and told that legs of the triangle need to be 47 centimeters long. The problem with this approach is that it may be that one "whiz person" may take on this part of the project and not involve the others.
2 Structure their team. Instead of letting them organize any way they want. Make the inventory of materials they will use available to them and require that they divide into sub-teams of three or four and require each team spend 30 minutes of the second simulated day (or begin in the first if they get have had enough time planning) developing a rough design of the fluid delivery system , the platform that holds the source containers and a design of the platform that holds the fluid delivery system. Then require each sub-team to bring its three designs to the whole team ( no matter how much progress they've made) and get agreement on the final design, first from the team. and then approval from Zegra. Zegra would then require that they get approval team approval of any design changes after the design is approved. This is very difficult with a prototype project and where they are unfamiliar with the materials. But it will fully engage them and you can give them help along the way.
3. Assign three people to use their computers (ask them to bring their laptops ahead of time) to: (1) document in detail the decision making process of the team i.e., who proposes solutions, how the decision is made etc.(2) one person to document the patterns of communication who gives directions to whom, who asks questions of whom, and, (3) the third person develops instructions on a latptop to teach the customer how to operate the system during the demonstration. The customer would be required to learn from the computer and only ask three or four direct questions. This creates a typical "finish to start" conflict in that in order for the person to complete the training program, the others need to decide on the design.
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10:22 AM
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