Task 2 –Establish a critical thinking environment
| Task summary and instructions
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| What is this assessment task about? | You have been engaged as a consultant by MMI Professional Education to support the development of critical thinking skills in departmental managers. You are required to: 1. Analyse and evaluate critical and creative thinking in the organisation 2. Establish an environment that encourages critical and creative thinking in the organisation 3. Monitor and improve thinking practices Task 2 focuses on point 1 and 2. This task comprises of the following assessment methods: o Product-based o Direct observation of Role-Play o Case Study o Other (specify) It has been designed to evaluate your ability to/competency in: · Research models of critical and creative thinking · Develop questions to identify individual and team knowledge gaps · Facilitate formal and informal learning opportunities for addressing identified gaps · Articulate key features of critical and creative thinking concepts to relevant personnel · Analyse current organisational systems to identify gaps or barriers to critical thinking · Develop processes that create a safe environment for critical and creative thinking approaches · Facilitate opportunities for team members to apply critical thinking skills to workplace problems · Provide feedback to team members on performance of tasks Your assessor will be looking for demonstrated evidence of your competency in the above. You are required to address the following: ·Task 2.1 Establish an environment that encourages the application of critical and creative thinking
· Task 2.2 Facilitate critical and creative thinking opportunities
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| What do I need to do to complete this task satisfactorily? | · submit the completed assessment tasks, according to instructions, · complete the tasks with sufficient detail and present them in a professional manner, · use your own words and reference sources appropriately, · meet the word count where required, · use the scenario provided, · use the templates provided where required, · for your performance to be deemed satisfactory in this assessment task you must satisfactorily address all of the assessment criteria, · if part of this task is not satisfactorily completed you will be asked to complete further assessment to demonstrate satisfactory performance.
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| Specifications | You must deliver/participate in: · Brainstorming session (Role-Play) in week 4. You must submit to GOALS · Report · Survey · Action Plan · Social Media post · Newsletter article · Feedback/Consultation process · Strategy for cross-pollination of ideas · Feedback/advise to Role-Play participants · Reflection |
| Resources and equipment | • Computer with Internet access • Access to Microsoft Office suites or similar software • Learning material • Scenario for assessment as provided • Appendices as provided • Relevant policies and procedures as provided • Templates as provided
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| Re-submission opportunities | You will be provided feedback on your performance by the Assessor. The feedback will indicate if you have satisfactorily addressed the requirements of each part of this task. If any parts of the task are not satisfactorily completed, the assessor will explain why, and provide you written feedback along with guidance on what you must undertake to demonstrate satisfactory performance. Re-assessment attempt(s) will be arranged at a later time and date. You have the right to appeal the outcome of assessment decisions if you feel that you have been dealt with unfairly or have other appropriate grounds for an appeal. You are encouraged to consult with the assessor prior to attempting this task if you do not understand any part of this task or if you have any learning issues or needs that may hinder you when attempting any part of the assessment.
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CLICK HERE TO PLACE YOUR ORDERComplete the following activities:
Task 2.1 Establish an environment that encourages the application of critical and creative thinking
You have been engaged as a consultant by MMI Professional Education to support the development of critical thinking skills in departmental managers.
- Analysis and evaluation of the current organisational environment
Your first step is to review and evaluate the following:
- Current organisational procedures: review current organisational policies and procedures that may be used to maximise individual and team access to learning opportunities.
- What are they?
- How are they applied to the organisation?
- Is there any data on their effectiveness? If not, what should be done?
- Do they maximise individual and team access to learning opportunities? If not, what could be improved?
Please note: policies and procedures are provided in a separate folder.
- Current organisational systems: analyse the current organisational systems by reading Appendix 1 and identifying gaps or critical thinking barriers.
Although the existing organisational culture and systems may affect the workplace, you wish to establish a strong organisational culture that values learning and critical thinking.
- Describe the organisational culture.
- Is critical thinking applied to decision-making?
- Do you think that critical thinking is encouraged in the organisation?
- Can you determine any gap between what the organisation wants to be and what the organisation is when it comes to critical thinking?
- Can you identify any barrier to critical thinking in the organisation? What are they? Why are they there?
- What could be improved?
- Benchmarking: research, analyse, and report information about the learning organisation and models of critical and creative thinking. Consider:
- Models
- Best practice
- Innovative approaches
- Current trends
- Barriers and Gaps: identify current gaps or barriers to critical thinking in the organisation.
- Consultation: determine what consultation initiatives should be planned and implemented to identify individual and knowledge gaps in critical and creative thinking in the management team. Additionally, develop a ten (10) question survey to identify individual and team knowledge gaps (Template 2).
Once you have completed your analysis and evaluation, summarise it in a report using Template 1.
Template 1 -Report
- Current organisational procedures. (80-120 words)
- Current organisational systems. (100-150 words)
- Benchmarking. (100-150 words)
- Barriers and Gaps
- Consultation. (4-5 initiatives)
Template 2 -Survey
Create a ‘survey form’ to identify individual and team knowledge gaps regarding critical thinking and learning opportunities.
Develop ten (10) questions (a mix of closed and open-ended questions).
Record the questions in the template provided below.
Please note that under ‘Answer’ you can add a rating scale (example: very satisfied, satisfied…)
Survey Form
Thank you for taking the time to complete the Critical and Creative Thinking Survey Form.
The survey should take less than five (5) minutes to complete, and it will provide us with insights to improve our learning opportunities to develop critical thinking in individuals and teams.
Question
Answer
- Addressing identified needs
Assume that you received the following summary feedback report after delivering a survey to all staff:
- Most respondents felt unheard by their direct managers when proposing improvements.
- Staff believes that managers are very busy with their work, and they do not have time to consult with their team members.
- Most respondents could not articulate exactly what other teams in the organisation do and felt their team worked more than others.
- Most respondents did not know the difference between creativity and innovation.
- Staff believes that there is not a culture of problem-solving in the organisation.
- Staff felt that decision making is slow and, often, not as effective as it should be.
- Staff identified the following areas as learning priorities: effective communication, data analysis and evaluation, problem-solving, innovative and creative thinking.
- Based on your report and the summary of feedback outlined above, determine six (6) key initiatives (including 2-3 learning opportunities) to create a work environment that encourages critical and creative thinking in the organisation.
Record the selected initiatives in the action plan provided in Template 3. Complete all parts of the action plan.
Template 3 -Action Plan
Initiative Timeline for implementation Estimated cost Responsibility (Departmental Manager)
- Write a social media post to promote one of the learning opportunities identified in your action plan to departmental managers. The post can be as simple as the content + picture.
Document the social media post in the space provided below.
- Write a newsletter article for the monthly newsletter to articulate the key features of critical and creative thinking.
Content:
- Benefits of critical and creative thinking and why they matter
- Key features of critical and creative thinking
- Example of critical and creative thinking
The article must be:
- Informative
- Engaging
- Creative
(150-250 words)
Copy and paste your article in Template 4. Add pictures and/or links to external resources as needed.
