Diana Allison, PhD, ASID Darla Green, LEED AP Associate Professors – Interior Design Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS

 Who are you?  Where are you from?  What do you hope to come away with?

“ People that understand their most effective behaviors and talents are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families. ” Clifton, 2006

Wanting to connect with unique student process to form knowledge Our perspective

 Self-knowledge empowers students

 Return to basic educational principles  Alfred Binet- Enhancing skills & addressing deficits not just remediating problems (Binet & Simon, 1916)  Hurlock (1925) – Praise of student work is more powerful than criticism  Chickering (1969) – College student development theory: Development of student’s broad-based talents

 Positive Psychology  Bowers (2008) - Examining and promoting strengths and managing deficits  Csikszentmihalyi (1990) – Optimal experience called ‘flow’

 StrengthsQuest: Discover Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond (Clifton, Anderson, & Schreiner, 2006)  Donald Clifton – Father of Strengths Psychology; Grandfather of Positive Psychology ▪ Acquired Gallup in 1988

 1) identification of students’ strengths  2) personalizing the students’ learning experience based upon their strengths

 3) networking and communication of students’ strengths with those who will support and acknowledge strength-based success

 4) deliberately applying strengths inside and outside of the classroom  5) intentional development of the students’ strengths

 Now, Discover Your Strengths (Buckingham & Clifton, 2001)  StrengthsQuest: Discover Your Strengths in Academics, Career, and Beyond (Clifton, Anderson, & Schreiner, 2006)  StrengthsFinder 2.0 (Rath, 2007)

 StrengthsFinder 2.0 (Rath 2007) Conducted over 2 million interviews  34 themes developed ▪ Talent (innate) x Investment ( skills & knowledge ) = Strength ( ability to consistently provide near perfect performance ) (Rath, 2007)

 Top 5 of 34talent themes  Personalized explanation and suggestions based on each individual’s combination

Diana Allison 1. Achiever 2. Positivity 3. Individualization 4. Strategic 5. Learner Darla Green 1. Learner 2. Developer 3. Connectedness 4. Restorative 5. Relator

 What is your first reaction to these terms?  What do they mean to you at this point?  Does anything in the report surprise you?  How well do you feel your Signature Themes describe the ways in which you most naturally thing, feel, and behave as a unique individual?  With whom will you share your results?

 Signature theme and definition of this theme in your own words

 Sign your name 5 times  Switch hands, sign your name again 5 times with your non-dominant hand

What I Do BestWhat I Want Most in a Place I Work

10 Minute Break

The Four Domains of Leadership Strength ExecutingInfluencing Relationship Building Strategic Thinking Achiever Arranger Belief Consistency Deliberative Discipline Focus Responsibility Restorative Activator Command Communication Competition Maximizer Self-Assurance Significance Woo Adaptability Developer Connectedness Empathy Harmony Includer Individualization Positivity Relator Analytical Context Futuristic Ideation Input Intellection Learner Strategic

 From group projects to team projects  Implemented  Spring 2011 – 2 Capstone classes: total of 17 unique students  Fall 2011 – 1 Capstone class, 1 Residential Design class, 1 Space Planning class: total of 29 unique students  Spring 2012 – 1 Capstone class, 1 Residential Design class, 1 Space Planning class, 1 Introduction to Interior Design: total of 35 unique students

 Homework Assignment  Classroom Discussion & Activity  Weekly Exercises  Team Projects

Strengths Frequencies ExecutingInfluencingRelationship BuildingStrategic Thinking Achiever Arranger Belief Consistency Deliberative Discipline Focus Responsibility Restorative Activator Command Communication Competition Maximizer Self-Assurance Significance WOO Adaptability Developer Connectedness Empathy Harmony Includer Individualization Positivity Relator Analytical Context Futuristic Ideation Input Intellection Learner Strategic Classes: 2 Capstone Spring; N= Total: 24Total: 11Total: 26 3 Classes: 1Capstone; 1 Residential Design; 1 Space Planning Fall; N= Total: 33Total: 23Total: 53Total: 43 Totals for 2011: 5 classes Total 2011; N= Total: 57Total: 34Total: 79Total: Classes: 1 Capstone; 1 Residential Design; 1 Space Planning; 1 Introduction to Interior Design Spring; N= Total: 36Total: 19Total: 46Total: 76 Faculty N= Faculty Total: 4Total: 0Faculty Total: 6 Faculty Total: 10

“I wish we had done this in our first class in the program”

“I wish all our instructors knew what our strengths were before they put us on teams”

“Now I understand why they [team members] are approaching parts of the project as they are and it makes it easier to work with them”

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Lunch

 Perception  Concrete  Abstract  Ordering  Sequential  Random

CONCRETE: “It is what it is”, you deal with the here and now and process information based on what you see, hear, and think. ABSTRACT: “Things aren’t always what they appear”, you look for patterns using your intuition and imagination.

RANDOM: You hop around from thought to thought and process information in chunks SEQUENTIAL: You plan a very linear way of solving problems. You are an step 1 to step 2 person.

CS = Concrete Sequential CR = Concrete Random AS = Abstract Sequential AR = Abstract Random

 Abilities  Remember details  Separate facts  Apply literal meaning to verbal statements  Plan time and Activities Well  Dislikes  Sharing  Disorderly conditions  Discussing philosophically or emotionally  Too many options to choose from

 Provide concrete examples  Present information sequentially – linear  Maintain teacher-learner roles  Offer respect, support, and protection

 Abilities  Use insight and intuition to see big picture  Create new ideas, approaches, & products  Function well in unstructured, open-ended activities  Dislikes  Step-by-step instruction  Details or routine procedures  Communal teamwork

 Provide concrete examples and abstract ideas  Guide their work  Promote and reward natural curiosity  Be ethical, genuine, and flexible  Provide stimulus rich environments

 Abilities  See forest and the trees  Transcend details to see patterns and the “big picture”  Analyze, compare, contrast, evaluate & judge with ease  Dislikes  Step-by-step, touchy-feely & brainstorming activities  Considering ideas and claims they don’t feel are valid  Having to state how the feel rather than what they think

 Encourage solitary work and personal effort  Provide abstractions via ideas, models, theories, & concepts  Use sequential, substantive, logical, rational, and structured techniques  Be subject matter-oriented, masters of content  Be strong classroom disciplinarians

 Abilities  Read body language and assess emotional states  View and relate parts and their relations with the whole  Accept criticism if it is kindly expressed  See beauty in the darkest of events  Dislikes  Dogmatic & strictly logical people & materials  Conservative, restrictive, and antiseptic environments  Receiving continual criticism, unkind remarks & sarcasm

 Provide activities that promote the subjective, affective, & abstract  Be a facilitator providing opportunities for students to talk, work, and learn with each other  Vary ways of learning instead of 1 or 2  Provide colorful, stimulus-rich environments  Be accessible before and after class

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5 Minute Break

 HOW we learn: Gregorc Learning Style Delineator  Cognitive Instrument  WHY we learn: StrengthsFinder 2.0  Strengths-based instrument

 Communication  Self-discovery  Awareness and acceptance  Empathy for others

 Communication  Approach to lessons/pedagogy  Ability to see the roadblocks to learning

Students Learning StyleCS AS AR CR CS CR AR CRCSASCR CS CRCS Leadership DomainsSESERSIISESSSRISRRERSSSSRS Learning Styles: CS: Concrete Sequential = 9, AS: Abstract Sequential = 3 CR: Concrete Random = 9, AR: Abstract Random = 5 Leadership Domains: E: Executing = 4, I: Influencing = 3 R: Relationship Building, S: Strategic = 13

“It helps me when it comes to team projects – I now understand the difference in peoples approach…It also helps me outside the classroom understand people’s motivation.”

“I now understand my thought process and it’s a little easier to understand why I think the way that I think and the order that I think in.”