Designing Safe Learning Environments for Discovery, Empathy, Failure, and Igniting Impact in Latin America

• In Event: 43.011 - Designing and Supporting Innovative Learning Environments Across Contexts and Disciplines: International Perspectives

Abstract

Objectives
Innovation performance is commonly understood as resulting from strategy, process and decision-making under uncertainty. We analyze the significance of procedural and behavioral factors in shaping learning environments for innovation in Chile. We study the learning traces linking emotional, cognitive, and technical performance in learning environments under uncertainty and perceived risk.

Perspectives
A systemic approach is needed in order to generate a rich and efficient learning experience on innovation. We combine multiple perspectives for enabling meaningful innovation learning (Ausubel, Novak, & Hanesian, 1968; Diaz Barriga & Hernández, 2002) through a process-oriented approach (Vermunt, 1995) by including self-regulation and external regulation, sense-making and sense-giving (Albon & Jewels, 2007; Gioia & Chittipeddi, 1991) led mostly by team members. We explore how mediated sense-making (Strike & Rerup, 2016), situated cognition (Brown, Collins, & Duguid, 1989), creativity (Sawyer, 2006, 2012), contextual inquiry (Holtzblatt and Beyer, 2017), and trans-disciplinary processes (Vilsmaier et al., 2015) affect learning environments.

Methods of inquiry
For the learning environment, we designed a meta-process and curricula for one-week, full-immersion innovation workshops. Teams were formed based on diversity instead of familiarity. Time was divided among (i) presenting methods to participants, (ii) accomplishing development milestones, and (iii) showcasing final prototypes. We used a rubric (Le Boterf 2011, Renard 2014) for assessing skills mobilization along the process, as well as frustration, sense of security, and mistakes (Osorio & Renard, 2018). We created a mixed-methods approach based on action research (Schmuck, 2006), ethnography and participatory observation (Atkinson & Hammersley, 1994) and experimentation (Langley, 1999). We used econometric, content analysis and grounded theory for data analysis.

Data sources
We analyzed 28 development processes and synthesized them into the meta-process1 used in workshops. We collected data from 1,320 participants considering gender, technical and psychological diversity during 20 workshops in seven countries between 2015 and 2017. Data includes (i) technical mistakes, (ii) attitudinal mistakes, (iii) skill mobilization, (iv) milestones’ achievement, (v) personality tests before, and (vi) self-assessments through the workshop about ambiguity, frustration, and respect and acceptance within teams along the process.

Results
Our results show that mediated sense-making focusing on solving individual and collective cognitive and emotional challenges positively affect teams’ technical performance. Embedding cognitive “debiasing” in (defi)2 diminished behavioral mistakes in teams, decreasing their technical mistakes. We identified mediation techniques that, while focusing on behavior under perceived high risk and uncertainty, enhanced individual and social cognitive and emotional resilience.

Significance
Research on innovation learning has focused mostly on processes and techniques (Dym, Agogino, Eris, Frey, & Leifer, 2005; Fixson, 2009; Seidel & Fixson, 2013; Zhang, Liang, & Ma, 2012). Our findings suggest that process is secondary to the learning environment created by (i) contextual variables affecting participants’ perceptions of risk, uncertainty, (ii) team dynamics of sense-making, sense-giving, situated cognition, respect and security, and emotional management (iii) and a mediator’s approach to guide, but not solve, through a noisy, high-paced and iterative learning environment.


Endnote:
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We named it (defi)2 because it’s driven by discovery, enabled by empathy, fueled by failure and focuses on igniting impact.

Authors

• Maria Renard, Yuken Impact Research Lab, Chile

• Carlos Osorio, Yuken Impact Research Lab, Chile