Learning the “Double Diamond”
Enrolling in a collaborative class is always a risk. If you’re the one willing to accept the challenge then we applaud you for your courage, but for some it is too much. There are internet memes describing group work that state, “When I die I want my group to bury me so they can let me down one last time”. However, Landmine Detection was not going to let this happen.
Our group is passionate about our cause even though we all come from different backgrounds of study. The Writing, Rhetoric and Technical Communication discipline never touches on the same subjects that Physics students would, and Physics would never study some Industrial Design topics. Patrick joked that he could go to writing class and not risk his life but here in the workshop with the Physics and Industrial Design majors, he might not make it out alive!
Teaching the writing major how to build things
Hope and Patrick are the WRTC majors in this group. Kelsey, Drew, and Niklavs are the Industrial Designers. Josiah is the Physics student. Instead of letting our backgrounds create a divide in the group mentality we decided to let our differences work to our advantage. Now I know what you’re thinking: Patrick and Hope will be the scribes, Josiah will be the brains behind the operation, and Kelsey, Niklavs, and Drew will build the drone. Well, that’s wrong, and it’s actually the exact fate our group is trying to avoid.
The members of Landmine Detection have all pledged to share the work equally, collaborate ideas, and learn from each other’s unique educational backgrounds. The group dynamic is positive and we continue to meet weekly outside of class. Whether it is over beers, or over
the design table, we are confident that we are well on our way to success.
With help from Raytheon Solipsys, the industry leader in the development of technology to aid Homeland Security, our professors, our classroom resources, and our own research we will find a better way to detect landmines in a timely and cost efficient way.
The studio: our second home
Authors:
Hope Ucciardi & Patrick Murphy