In this continuation of our previous reports on the FELDA students in London, we see them taking an unusual creative workshop.
This is the fifth part of our multi-part report on the FELDA Global Generation students’ activities in Limkokwing University’s Global Classroom initiative. Read the first, second, third and fourth part here.
The group of one hundred students from Limkokwing‘s FELDA programme arrived at the university’s London Campus for an unusual creative workshop today. The workshop was led by University Academic coordinator, Mehrdad Borna and Creative Thinker/Artist Educator Illugi Eysteinsson.
For this workshop, students were divided into groups of five or six and allocated a table to work on. So what’s unusual about this workshop?
Well, the workshop involved twenty pieces of spaghetti, one marshmallow, and a yard of tape and string. The tutors set students to the task of using these unusual materials to create the tallest freestanding structure possible in only eighteen minutes. This is a well-known workshop that has been tackled by various groups, including CEO’s, architects, and schoolchildren. With this in mind it was interesting to see how the students would fare in their own multidisciplinary teams.
Students practised their team-building skills, against the clock, to discover the best way of working with the materials. The groups took a variety of approaches, some immediately experimenting with the materials, and others spending more time planning their strategy step by step and sketching designs. In the end, the structures that were able to stand independently were those that had been strengthened by grouping sticks of spaghetti to produce a stronger material, instead of using a single stick.
The most important aspect of course, was not the fact that some structures stood, and others collapsed, but the process itself. This was during the feedback and reflection session, in which students re-examined their methods, and identified the skills and personal qualities they had utilised, including: team-work, time-management, communication, collaboration, planning, creativity, patience, and co-operation.
The importance of experimentation, and ‘failing’ in order to learn and ultimately succeed, was especially underpinned, and many students commented on their enjoyment of the activity. Ahmad Hazim Bin Ahmad Fuad, taking the Diploma in Creative Multimedia, asked a particularly pertinent question, “Bosses don’t like failing, they only care about the final product, so when we are employed in industry, how will apply this knowledge? Essentially, where does this fit in a profit-driven world?”
This led to a discussion about taking responsibility for your own working process, and applying this practice within a larger system, which may not always accommodate a process-driven approach.
Overall the session was challenging and enjoyable. Ending the session, there was a feeling that there are always more questions to ask, and ways to develop felt both positive, and appropriate methods.
You too could get to experience London like these FELDA students. To know more about Limkokwing University Global Classroom initiative, visit www.limkokwing.net/malaysia/academic/global_classroom.
