1. Look at the following diagram. The gymnastics of thinking up, working out and testing designs overlap. Let this fact register itself in some corner of your mind.
The diagram will remind you that because of this overlap, increasing your skill in any one of the processes will increase your skill in the other two.
2. As a trouble-shooter of designs, it’s good to remember a line from Simon (1966) on the subject of problem-solving: ‘Small hints can have dramatic effects on the ease of solution of a problem.’
3. Find the date of your birthday in your diary. Give yourself an advance present by writing this English translation of an old Oriental thought:
If you give someone a fish
He can only feed himself once
If you teach him how to fish
He will always be able to feed himself.
It will remind you that, as a designer or designer-teacher or trouble-shooter you must always want to teach your students how to fish!
4. Next time you eat a tomato, think about the phenomenon of apical dominance in plants. Tomato plants exhibit apical dominance. At the same time think -about the steps in the scientific method of enquiry. Disciplined thinking is as much a sine qua non for course and lesson design decision-making as it is for effective application of the scientific method.
5. As an idea for a design goes rocking and vibrating its way through your mind, keep your decision-making clean, clear and uncluttered. Stay objective in the excitement of your creativity!