Our newly formed group, Cole, Ysabel, Jamile, and Stephen all sat down and looked at the 10 common problems we identified from the previous day and focused on 3 we felt that captured the essence of our experiences in practicum to begin to approach a root problem. This follows the second step of the double diamond model, where first “Designers often start by questioning the problem given to them: they expand the scope of the problem, diverging to examine all the fundamental issues that underlie it. Then they converge upon a single problem statement" (Norman, 2013, p. 220). Some of the 10 problems we had previously identified were well-connected, so we picked out 3 problems that seemed different enough from each other to identify a strong root problem.

We felt that the 3 most viable problems of practice were:

1. Appropriate use of cell phones during class-time

   • This problem is realizable within the K-12 contexts in Alberta for 2 reasons: 1) 92% of students use their phones to text message during class time (Tindell, Deborah, Bohlander, 2012). 2) The working memory capacity of students drops, on average, by 33% when students are in the presence of cell phones (Watson, 2017).

   • This problem serves the needs of the people we are designing for, specifically students, for 2 reasons: 1)  50% of teens feel they are addicted to their smartphones and feel they could benefit from interventions to help with their focus, specifically when doing schoolwork (Wallace, 2016). 2) Increased leisure time outside of school has shown increased productivity and focus (Havziu, Rasimi, 2015) and by helping students use their cellphones appropriately during class, we can increase productivity in the classroom. This will reduce the amount of time students have to spend on homework outside of school.

   • This problem aligns with educational plans and mandates for 2 reasons: 1) Policy direction 5 of Alberta Education's (2013) The Learning and Technology Policy Framework states that "In Alberta’s education system appropriate technology is available and supported...[for] students, teachers, teachers, administrators and other education professionals" (p. 6). 2) The Technology and Education Long-Range Policy of the Alberta's Teacher's Association (2019) states that "The supervision of student use of the Internet within the school setting is a responsibility of teachers" and "the effective use of technology in instruction requires evidence that the student’s learning needs are appropriately met in this way" (para. 8).

2. Motivation/apathy for formative assessment or personal growth

   • This problem is realizable within the K-12 contexts in Alberta for 2 reasons: 1) research suggests that "numerous high school students find themselves in a state in which they do not have the desire to carry out the academic tasks required of them" (Legault, Green-Demers, 2006, p. 567). 2) two out of three high-school students find they are bored in class daily, with 75% reporting that the material being taught is uninteresting (Bryner, 2007).

   • This problem serves the needs of the people we designing for, specifically students, for 2 reasons: 1) research suggests that when students are interested in curricular content, students retention and academic achievement improves and behavioral issues decrease (Alberta Education, 2019). 2) increased engagement leads to students developing the skills to become effective participating citizens (Alberta Education, 2019)

   • This problem aligns with educational plans and mandates for 2 reasons: 1) The Alberta Government (2013) states: "The goal of this Student Learning Ministerial Order for an inclusive Kindergarten to Grade 12 education is to enable all students to achieve the following outcomes" (p. 2) specifically "striv[ing] for engagement and personal excellence in their learning journey" (p. 2) 2) Alberta Education's (2014) vision states that: "all students are inspired to achieve success and fulfillment as engaged thinkers and ethical citizens with an entrepreneurial spirit" (p. 6).

3. Balancing social-emotional issues and resiliency

   • This problem is realizable within the K-12 contexts in Alberta for 2 reasons: 1) The in-patient admissions for adolescents struggling with mental-health issues has increased by 50% over the past decade in Alberta hospitals (Ferguson, 2018). 2) 93.3% of new Canadian teachers did not feel their training prepared them to deal with student mental health problems and only 55% felt confident after spending time in the field (Boesveld, 2013).

   • This problem serves the needs of the people we designing for, specifically students, for 2 reasons: 1) improving the mental health of students increases attendance, perceived competence, concentration, and academic achievement and reduces risky behavior, self-harm, and suicide (Hoover, Mayworm, 2017). 2) When schools promote mental health, it builds resilience into adulthood and improves communities (Public Health England, 2014).

   • This problem aligns with educational plans and mandates for 2 reasons: 1) Alberta Education's (n.d.) Inclusive Education Policy states that "all education partners work together to identify and reduce barriers within the curriculum, the learning environment and/or instruction that are interfering with students' ability to be successful learners and to participate in the school community" (para. 4). This includes mental health barriers. 2) Alberta Education's (2009) vision for wellness is for "students to be educated, informed and contributing members of society and to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to be well in every sense of the word—emotionally, intellectually, physically, socially and spiritually" (p. 1).

After we decided to ask an expert, Laurie Tuck, the premier expert in our class (no offense Phil) on the issues we identified. Her specific advice and feedback was around the underlying issues of all these problems and discussed how there was a common thread of engagement between all the problems. She asked us to think about what we can realistically control in our classroom, as we could take away cell phones and ask students to be more resilient and motivated, but that isn't going to make them change. She asked us to consider how we could be the class that students were excited to come to, as that is something we can control. All those other issues will resolve when students are engaged with your class. She additionally mentioned how it is important for us to consider what makes students engaged, such as power, choice, options, and movement.

This led us to reconsider and modify our thinking around our problems of practice. We originally felt those three issues we identified were separate issues, when in reality, they were all part of the same root problem: engagement. When students are disengaged, they will turn to their cellphone to stimulate them, when students are disengaged they will be apathetic and unmotivated to do anything asked of them, and when students are disengaged, their social-emotional and mental health issues become their top priority. We also started to think about what we had control over as new teachers: we can't change the curriculum and many of the district policies and school education plans dictate practices in the school we can't fundamentally change. We do have control over our classroom though and can eventually involve the rest of the school when we decide how to engage with curricular content, social and emotional remedies and connections to students. This led us to start discussing strategies around engagement which we began to think about creating our design statement.

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