About 20 years ago, automobile manufacturers went through a paradigm shift in car design. Instead of viewing themselves as possessing superior knowledge to their customers about the customers’ own likes and dislikes in a car, they began to bring the customers into the design phase. Challenged automotive engineers asked themselves, “What does the average person know about cars? By designing new features in cars, we are the ones who define what’s new and interesting and valued in automobiles.” However, over the years a partnership between the consumer and the designer has become de rigeur for successful auto manufacturers.
This story doesn’t apply to universities perfectly. In one sense, our customers are social and family networks, not merely the visible “customers” in classes, our students. In the most abstract sense, the consumer of the university is the full society in which the university operates, increasingly global in its extents. We are assisting our graduate and undergraduate students to contribute to the society’s welfare, armed with new knowledge, social networks, and skill sets.
But something about bringing the customer into the design studio of Ford evokes some resonance for Georgetown. Last Saturday, Georgetown held a hackathon for the skills that Georgetown students need to have as leaders in the 21st century. A hackathon is a high-energy focus on solving a problem, bringing multiple diverse groups to the problem. I had written on such issues earlier (see: Knowledge, For What?). Students throughout the university, joined by some faculty and alumni, gathered together to address the question of how best for Georgetown students to learn skills that are valuable in the world external to Georgetown. In a sense, the consumer was designing the product.
As I sat among the students, it was clear that they want to know more about the world of work. Many ideas involved new alliances among students, faculty, and alumni to illuminate the skills that are valuable in that world.
They knew they wanted more skills in software development. They wanted more knowledge of financial affairs in organizations. They knew they were not learning enough about self-presentation and oral skills. They wanted organizational and interpersonal skills to facilitate work in teams. They wanted more experience inside real work organizations.
At Georgetown, they wanted to be able to know which skills they could get from different courses. They suspected that they were ignorant of some of the opportunities that exist already on campus. They also suspected that there are some skills that aren’t being taught. They wanted to seek guidance from successful alumni regarding which skills are most valuable.
One idea forwarded was a first year experience for all programs that provide an overview of key tools of research that different fields use at Georgetown, with some connection to real world problems the research addresses.
Another idea was a tool to document for potential employers the skills that the student had acquired during his or her program. In essence, this tool would be a “skills transcript,” albeit one with a 21st century feel. This might be a web-based site that contains both listings of certified skill development and products of the students using those skills, which potential employers could inspect in the hiring process.
Another idea would be to bring the real world into Georgetown. Why not affiliate with ongoing businesses, non-governmental organizations, and government agencies in a more real way, locating them on campus, with students working hand-in-hand with employees? Why not set up real work experiences that bear academic course credit?
One group argued to involve students themselves as instructors in skill sets that they possess but other students lack. Indeed, each student might have an account, which is debited when the person is a student in a skills class and is credited when they are the instructor. Here the “others” in the women and men for others are fellow Georgetown students.
The ideas were all fleshed out in a high energy 10-12 hour period with teams of 3 to 5 people competing against one another. Next steps are evaluating the ideas and implementing those, continuing to use the energy of the students.
Based on last Saturday, in my belief, some of our “customers” have the right stuff to help design a better Georgetown.
The e-portfolio that Prof. Stephen has pioneered could easily be adapted to fill the need for a “skills portfolio.” STIA started to use this as a way to help students to integrate the rather sprawling STIA major. We hope next year to implement it at scale. It consists of reflections on courses, favorite term papers and (for honors students) a summary of the thesis, blogs on internships and overseas study, accounts of research and jobs, a final reflection on the Georgetown experience, and anything else the student wishes to add — a sort of extended and reflective resume of college years. Adding a folder on skill development would be straightforward.
Nice blog again and some great ideas from the students. In medicine they say ask the patient and THEY will tell you the diagnosis. See something similar here i think. Keep up the exploring. Great stuff.