Psychology
Problem Solving
Online students at Harrison College are unhappy because their books are not delivered promptly. What can we do to make the students happy?
W3 – Taking the Problem Apart
Our ideas about the problem
- Students need to order their books from the College
- Students should receive their books during the first day or week of classes
- Students need the required reading materials in order to keep pace with the lessons
- Our college professors should start on teaching the students while waiting for books to be delivered
- Our bookstore needs to order books from publishers
- Our College should speed up how students order their books
- Our College and publishers should agree formally when to deliver the books
- Our bookstore should follow up on the publishers when books are due for delivery
- Our reputable/trusted publishers should deliver the ordered books based on schedule
Categorizing what we came up
A. Our Ideas about the Problems
Our Ideas about the Problems with Our Students
- Students need to order their books from the College
- Students need the required reading materials in order to keep pace with the lessons
Our Ideas about the Problems with Our Professors
- Our college professors should start on teaching the students while waiting for books to be delivered
Our Ideas about the Problems with Our College
- Our bookstore needs to order books from publishers
- Our College and publishers should agree formally when to deliver the books
- Students should receive their books during the first day or week of classes
- Our College should speed up how students order their books
- Our bookstore should follow up on the publishers when books are due for delivery
Our Ideas about the Problems with Our Publishers
- Our reputable/trusted publishers should deliver the ordered books based on schedule
B. Our Ideas about the Problems
Things we can control:
- Students need to order their books from the College
- Students should receive their books during the first day or week of classes
- Our college professors should start on teaching the students while waiting for books to be delivered
- Our reputable/trusted publishers should deliver the ordered books based on schedule
- Our College and publishers should agree formally when to deliver the books
- Our College should speed up how students order their books
- Our bookstore should follow up on the publishers when books are due for delivery
Things we cannot control
- Students need the required reading materials in order to keep pace with the lessons
- Our bookstore needs to order books from publishers
W4 –Brainstorming and Choosing a Solution
Things we can control
- Students need to order their books from the College
- Yes, books that the students order underwent departmental- and committee-level evaluations
- Students should receive their books during the first day or week of classes
- Yes, our College should have a book ordering sub-system/hyperlink during the online enrolment / registration of students
- Our college professors should start on teaching the students while waiting for books to be delivered
- Yes, considering that the professors provide copies of their syllabus, handouts, exercises, etc. to their students
- Our reputable/trusted publishers should deliver the ordered books based on schedule
- Yes, because they agreed to deliver the books on/before the time and that they do not want to taint their reputation
- Our College and publishers should agree formally when to deliver the books
- Yes, to show the legal consent/agreement of both parties
- Our College should speed up how students order their books
- Yes, an online ordering system is a more efficient system
- Our bookstore should follow up on the publishers when books are due for delivery
- Yes, to ensure that books are delivered on time
Things we cannot control
- Students need the required reading materials in order to keep pace with the lessons
- Why should our College put up its own publishing house?
- Would that speed things up?
- Would that be too expensive?
- Our bookstore needs to order books from publishers
- We probably cannot control this one
Solution to the Problem
At the least, one month prior to the end of each school term, our College should have in its website:
- In the College website, there should be an online faculty, departmental- and committee-level book evaluation system located in the following portals:
- Departments/Committee(s) Portal: Librarians, deans, and other experts in their disciplines evaluate, cross-evaluate, revise and approve which books to order/purchase from the publishers
- A book ordering system in the students’ online registration/enrolment system
- Our reputable/trusted publishers are legally bound to deliver the books to our college bookstore two weeks prior to the start of the school term
References
Logsdon, Tom. Six Simple, Creative Solutions that Shook the World. Los Angeles, California: Seven Seas Publishing Company, 2005. Print.
