What a terrific first day at the IDEA Program. In the morning, all students (850!) participated in the Marshmallow Challenge and watched Tom Wujec's terrific TED talk about that design challenge. Then the students participated in Myers-Briggs workshops and learned how to work on a team with people of different cognitive styles. Next, the students participated in a workshop to learn how to conduct user research, specifically field observations. After a dinner break, students stacked, arranged, and decorated canned goods (to be donated to the RI Food Bank) to build cohort mascots. The evening ended with a great brainstorming workshop throughout all the halls of the Unistructure, followed by our "Giant Reveal" when all groups learned the design challenges on which they will work for the next two days. Thanks to all the first years for your hard work throughout the day, and thanks to all the mentors!
