Arctic Bliss Gelato: Protecting Quality When Conditions Change
Student struggle: Students may recognize operational risks but struggle to compare solutions and understand how decisions affect an interconnected system.
Thinking practiced: Judgment, thinking under uncertainty, and sensemaking through evaluating risks, comparing alternatives, and justifying recommendations.
Activity: Students examine a premium gelato company's temperature-sensitive supply chain and recommend improvements that balance product quality, delivery reliability, and cost.
Verde Pasta Co.: Planning for What Could Go Wrong
Student struggle: Students may understand individual business operations but struggle to anticipate how unexpected disruptions affect interconnected systems.
Thinking practiced: Thinking under uncertainty, judgment, and sensemaking through evaluating risks, examining dependencies, and considering trade-offs.
Activity: Students analyze a fresh pasta company's supply chain, anticipate possible disruptions, and recommend improvements that preserve freshness and delivery reliability.
Apex Mobile Fleet Detailing: Asking Questions Before Finding Solutions
Student struggle: Students often rush to solutions before fully understanding a problem or identifying what information is missing.
Thinking practiced: Curiosity, sensemaking, and judgment through generating questions, investigating possible explanations, and revising initial assumptions.
Activity: Students investigate unexplained service problems at a fictional mobile detailing company, developing questions and refining their understanding before recommending improvements.
EcoThread Denim: When Sustainability Comes with Trade-Offs
Student struggle: Students may recognize environmental concerns but struggle to evaluate decisions involving competing values, responsibilities, and practical constraints.
Thinking practiced: Ethical reasoning, judgment, and thinking under uncertainty through evaluating sustainability claims, considering stakeholders, and weighing trade-offs.
Activity: Students examine a fictional clothing company's international supply chain and recommend changes that balance sustainability, affordability, and business responsibilities.
Evaluating Data Collection: What Can We Really Conclude?
Student struggle: Students may accept datasets and research findings without questioning how information was collected or whether it represents the population being studied.
Thinking practiced: Judgment, intellectual humility, and sensemaking through evaluating data collection methods, identifying bias, and recognizing limitations.
Activity: Students investigate a publicly available dataset, evaluate potential sources of bias, and explain how those limitations affect the conclusions researchers can reasonably draw.
Reading Psychology Research Critically: Does the Evidence Support the Claim?
Student struggle: Students may accept published research conclusions without critically examining methods, evidence, or limitations.
Thinking practiced: Judgment, intellectual humility, and sensemaking through evaluating research claims, comparing findings, and recognizing uncertainty.
Activity: Students examine a psychology research study and a subsequent replication, evaluate the strength of the evidence, and develop a justified peer-review recommendation.
Choosing a Healthcare Career: Comparing Options and Making Recommendations
Student struggle: Students have difficulty comparing options, identifying relevant information, and supporting recommendations with evidence.
Thinking practiced: Judgment and transfer through researching alternatives, evaluating differences, and justifying decisions.
Activity: Students investigate three healthcare careers, compare their requirements and responsibilities, and recommend one based on evidence from their research.
Evaluating Supply Chain Decisions: Balancing Risk and Business Priorities
Student struggle: Students struggle to anticipate how interconnected systems respond to disruptions and to balance competing priorities when recommending solutions.
Thinking practiced: Thinking under uncertainty and judgment through risk analysis, evaluating trade-offs, and making justified recommendations.
Activity: Students examine a fictional custom-computer manufacturer's supply chain, identify operational risks, and recommend improvements while considering business constraints.
Planning for Learning: Building an Effective Study Schedule
Student struggle: Students have difficulty organizing their study time and identifying effective learning strategies.
Thinking practiced: Metacognition and judgment through realistic planning, prioritization, and reflection.
Activity: Students create a weekly study schedule that balances different learning strategies and personal responsibilities, then explain and evaluate their choices.
Does Coffee Improve Exam Scores? Evaluating Causal Claims
Student struggle: Students confuse correlation with causation and may accept conclusions without examining the evidence.
Thinking practiced: Evaluating claims, identifying alternative explanations, and recognizing missing information.
Activity: Students investigate a news-style claim about coffee consumption and exam performance, identify missing evidence, and explain whether the claim is justified.