analysis

  • Can analysis and critical thinking be taught online in the humanitarian context?

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    This is my presentation at the First International Forum on Humanitarian Online Training (IFHOLT) organized by the University of Geneva on 12 June 2015. I describe some early findings from research and practice that aim to go beyond “click-through” e-learning that stops at knowledge transmission. Such transmissive approaches replicate traditional training methods prevalent in the humanitarian context, but are…

    All the way down (Amancay Maahs/flickr.com)
  • What is a wicked problem?

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    In 1973, Horst W.J. Rittel and Melvin M. Webber, two Berkeley professors, published an article in Policy Sciences introducing the notion of “wicked” social problems. The article, “Dilemmas in a General Theory of Planning,” named 10 properties that distinguished wicked problems from hard but ordinary problems. There is no definitive formulation of a wicked problem.…

    Wicked signs (Aukje Dekker/Flickr)
  • How to Solve It

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    Understanding the problem First. You have to understand the problem. Devising a plan Second. Find the connection between the data and the unknown. You may be obliged to consider auxiliary problems if an immediate connection cannot be found. You should obtain eventually a plan of the solution. Carrying out the plan Third. Carry out your…

    How to solve it