Capture, Cluster, Connect

Process

Mindwarmer

Step 1:
Have students pair up with the person next to them and begin a discussion based on these questions:

• What does it mean to dig deeper into an issue or story? 
• What is the danger of telling a story without understanding the systems at play?

Step 2:
Have pairs volunteer to share their thoughts with the class.

Step 3:
Share the Systems Thinking slide deck with the class. Use the iceberg model to explain what systems thinking is, and how it might help us tell more complete stories.

Exercise

Step 4:
Explain what the activity will be about: students will use systems thinking tools to sift through complex issues. The tools are called “Capture and Cluster” and “Chaos Mapping.”

Step 5:
Present a focusing question to the class. This should be a question that gets them thinking about the different forces and effects of a larger system. Sample questions:

• Why is the public’s trust in the media declining?
• Why is public transportation so bad?
• Why is student debt so high?

Step 6:
Give the class several examples of forces and effects that relate to the question. These can be one or two words, or a short description. For example, you might say that fake news or increasing political polarization are forces that contribute to the public’s declining trust in the media. 

Step 7:
Give students five minutes to brainstorm different forces that relate to the focusing question, and write them down on sticky notes (one force per sticky note). Encourage them to write down everything that comes to mind, so long as they write it in a way that others can read.

Step 8: 
Have everyone put their sticky notes on the board. 

Step 9:
Ask the class if anything is missing. As students respond with additional forces, write them onto sticky notes and add them to the board.

Step 10:
Now ask the class if they see any themes among the forces. For example, if you are focusing on the public’s declining trust in the media, you may see several forces that relate to social media and fake news, or that relate to the consolidation of media companies and the closure of local newspapers. 

Step 11:
As students identify themes, begin clustering the similar forces together. Let students suggest which forces belong in which theme. 

Step 12:
Once all of the forces have been moved into clusters, circle the clusters and give them a title (e.g., social media, failing business models, political tribalism, death of local news, etc).

Step 13:
Ask students to look at the clusters and call out connections they see. As the class calls them out, draw lines between the clusters.

Step 14:
Explain what they are looking at: this is called a “chaos map.” It is a diagram that shows clusters of ideas, with lines connecting each cluster to another, related one.

Step 15:
Discuss and reflect: Are there any surprising connections that emerged? What assumptions did you make when connecting forces? Anything that seems counterintuitive?

Step 16:
As a class, brainstorm three ideas from the chaos map that might lead to a compelling new angle on the issue.

Possible Alternative

• Break into groups:
  • Create groups of four to six students at the beginning of class. 
  • Assign one student in each group to be the facilitator. That person will be responsible for clustering the sticky notes and drawing the connections between clusters as the rest of the group makes suggestions. 
  • At the end of the exercise, have the class do a “gallery walk,” touring from group to group and stopping to look at and discuss each group’s chaos map.

Have questions? Feedback?

We’d love to hear about your experience using these activities in your classroom, get your thoughts on what we could improve. Email us at resources@journalismdesign.com or fill out this form.