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Element Overview: In this Course Element, you will work in groups to explore the value of failure. In our success-oriented culture, failure has typically been represented as something to be avoided at all costs. It has been associated with shame, embarrassment, weakness, and a host of other negative connotations. More recently, however, the value of failure as a necessary step on the road to progress, growth, evolution, or success is gaining greater currency. Your group will investigate the value of failure in three to four distinct academic and/or professional spheres of your choosing.
The goal of this Course Element is to provoke critical and creative thought around a ubiquitously stigmatized notion. How does trying to avoid failure impede progress or growth? Why is failing at something that is difficult or has pushed us outside our comfort more valuable, ultimately, than succeeding at something that involves no risk or stretch on our part? How can we learn to become comfortable with and even embrace failure as an integral aspect of success?
Element Time Frame: Weeks 5 – 9
Writing Tasks – Collaborative Inquiry Poster: Your group will develop a proposal that details the 3 academic and/or professional spheres you would like to focus on. You will complete a literature review of 12 sources that explore the value of failure in those areas. You will conduct your research collaboratively, using CI Docs to document your findings. Your group will design a poster that shares the results of your inquiry. You will produce a working draft of your poster for peer exchange and reflection and a complete draft for peer review before submitting a final, revised draft for evaluation.
Speaking Tasks – Collaborative Inquiry Poster Class Presentations: You will deliver several group presentations throughout this Course Element. These presentations should be prepared but have an “extemporaneous” tone. The first will ask your group to present your proposal to the class for feedback (10 minutes). You will then present your literature review to the class (10 minutes). You will then share the “Roses, Buds, and Thorns” from you complete poster draft (10 minutes). You will then present your final poster to the class (10 minutes). Lastly, you will reflect on your “Lasting Impression” from the work that went into your Collaborative Inquiry Poster (10 minutes).
Assessment: This Course Element will be evaluated holistically, taking into consideration the quality, thoroughness, and timeliness of your proposal and literature review, poster drafts, presentations, and feedback to your peers, as well as peer assessments of your work.
