...many times issues are blurred by prejudice and preconceptions...
...key themes may be obscured and the way ahead might be controversial...
Catch-22
...software to make you think...
...to prepare students and trainees for the 'real world' of work...
...it can be useful to stimulate discussion and the ability to weigh controversial 'arguments'...
Page
contents
...a
few of the options from which you can choose...
History
and Rationale, acknowledgements
History
and Rationale,
why catch-22
Uses,
warm-up
and focus
Uses,
encourage
discussion
Uses,
generate feedback
Uses,
a
tool for project work
Facilities,
viewer
Facilities,
author
History and Rationale
Catch-22 started life as a project, submitted as part of a Master's degree course in Artificial Intelligence at Kingston University in 1989. Development was continued in 1990, with funds obtained by Richard Ennals, then staff development officer at Kingston College of Further Education, now professor at Kingston University Business School.
Final development of Version 16/3 has been made possible by support from The College of St Mark & St John, in association with EU initiative ADAPTthroughRATIO.
The rationale behind the development of Catch-22 is that there are many aspects of life which are complex and controversial.
In an educational environment, simplistic exercises are not the best way in which to get people to learn how to cope with complexity and controversy. Rather, group discussion encourages us to think through our attitudes and beliefs when we are given the opportunity to compare and contrast our thought and feelings with those of our peers.
In a business environment, the value of focused thinking techniques, such as scenario planning, are lost if upper management are unable to engage with the reports which their analysts submit.
Catch-22, therefore, provides a medium in which trainers, teachers, educators and analysts can present scenarios that challenge and engage a target audience.
The audience is challenged, in that they have to decide how to react to specific role-play scenarios. The audience is engaged because they are provided with focused thinking techniques to help them decide how to react to the scenario presented. The audience is also engaged by having to rate a range of possible responses. These responses may include those that play devil's advocate, in order to draw out a knee-jerk reaction from the users of the system.
(Certainly in education, the best Catch-22 scenarios are 'no-win'. No win scenarios and Devil's Advocate questioning forces users to examine their attitudes and the attitudes of others).
Given a complex and/or controversial subject, a teacher might ask students to complete a set of Catch-22 role-play scenarios, prior to a more wide ranging class discussion. The scenarios orient the user towards the different viewpoints which exist in the subject area. Such orientation enables learners to develop their thinking, which in turn gives students more to contribute in class discussion.
Given an appropriate sized display, Catch-22 can be used to focus class or small group discussion. If well written, role-play scenarios drip feed information into the group and encourage learners to engage with that information.
It is possible to generate a report, which details how learners have responded to the dilemmas presented to them. The report can be used by learners to identify points of weakness, or by teachers to gauge learners' attitudes and ability to engage with the subject matter.
Project work, especially group project work, is enhanced if there is a focus, towards which the individual or group can work. If students are IT literate, the format of a Catch-22 file provides an ideal vehicle for project work. To create a Catch-22 file, learners need not only to engage with the available information, but they also have to relate that information to the 'real world'.
At viewer level, the user opens a ready made Catch-22 file.
Then, by pressing a set of buttons, the user is able to work their way through a series of dilemmas.
Each dilemma consists of a scenario screen, three ideas screens and a resolution screen.
The dilemma is presented on a scenario screen. On that screen, text and graphics combine to focus the mind.
After the scenario screen, three ideas' screens provide space in which the user can brainstorm ideas.
Finally, the user is presented with a resolution screen. On the resolution screen, comments and resolutions are presented and the user is asked to rate them on a scale of 1-5.
The
main differences between viewer and author levels are that authors are
able to paste in resources from other applications
(text from word processors and graphics from clip art collections),
and that some limited formatting tools are made available.
The main difficulty at author level is not the technology, but the conceptualisation of the subject matter, and the phrasing of the dilemma.
The creation of a Catch-22 file requires a level of focus which often teaches the teacher! The best files are those with no easy resolution - hence the name of the software, based on the popular book by Joseph Heller.
(Catch-22 refers to the rule, in the Second World War, whereby American bomber crews could request to be sent home if they were insane - however, since requesting to go home is a sensible thing to do in a war, anyone requesting to be sent home must be sane, and therefore fails to qualify for repatriation).
...of course there is also a business application...
...if you want to focus discussion, as part of the process of planning new strategies...