Reflection#3 Marshmallow Challenge

This reflection follows the Ranning model of reflection.

What Happened?

The class split into two groups and competed to come up with the tallest free-standing spaghetti tower with a marshmallow on top. Both teams were given 20 spaghetti sticks, some tape, some string, and a marshmallow. 

Think and feel - What were you thinking and feeling?

I was thinking that it was going to be easy because (I initially thought) all we had to do was tape the sticks up in a structural fashion and the building would be tall. Instead, the spaghetti sticks were way more fragile than I originally expected. It felt like one small mistaken move will destroy the entire structure that we were working on and we had to be very careful.

Evaluate - what was good and bad about the experience?
This experience was good in that we were forced to cooperate, even though we all had difference ideas for the building. We couldn't argue about the best idea/concept forever because of limited time and competition from the other team, we were forced to build whatever we could build, regardless of which idea is the best. The bad part was that our table surface was tilted and the table was shaky, so we felt like we could've done a lot better.

Envision - what else could you have done?

We could've come up with a methodology while building that would expedite the building process. There were some things that could have been done simultaneously if we were more coordinated. 4 people don't have to work on a single task. They can each work on a small part individually and combine it together for increased efficiency.

Plan - What would you do differently next time?
Next time, we will come up with a plan and we will build in a choreographed manner if a similar activity comes up. We should also spend less time arguing, it took up over half the time we were given.