Ideas

IDEA #12: Pitch & Pivot

“Expose students to new perspectives on projects that frequently result in dramatic improvements to the original ideas!”¹

Learning Intention

Pitch & Pivot assists students in thinking more critically about their own ideas. This presentation-based peer review tool can be used to generate feedback about a thesis for an argumentation paper, strategies for solving a problem, experiment designs or hypotheses, case study decisions or conclusions, or project planning. Rather than judging end-results, this activity helps students assess their ideas while they are still in process.

Overview

Based on an exercise used by Ed Love in his marketing course on Innovation, this peer-review tool uses presentation “pitches” to share ideas and solicit questions from the audience. Rather than focusing on compliment or critique feedback, this activity aims to provide feedback that encourages deeper thinking and decision making about whether to proceed with the current course or change direction with a project. Instead of using writing to convey ideas, students are given practice with articulating their ideas orally.

Options

1. Identify: Present students with (or let them generate on their own) a problem to be solved, an argument to make, a project to complete, a decision to be made, etc. For example, if students are required to deliver a persuasive speech in a public speaking class, the thesis and major arguments for the speech are the focus of the activity. Students in an engineering class might be assigned to develop a project in a robotics design, marketing students could develop a new product or service, philosophy students might be asked to articulate a decision on an ethical dilemma, or education students could be charged with solving a problem with classroom management.
2. Pitch: Students are given 3-5 minutes to make their pitch (the solution or design they created, the decision they are proposing, or the argument they want to make). Limiting the time frame for this pitch forces students to focus in on only the most important aspects of the project design, proposal details, decision considerations, or arguments.
3. Q&A: Classmates are given 5 minutes to ask questions of the presenter, either to clear up confusion, raise issues for consideration, generate new ideas, or present new angles. Questions might start with phrases like, "What about…" or "Could you also...:" or "What would happen if…"
4. Pivot or Proceed: The class then votes on a recommendation to the presenter to either proceed with the plan as presented, or pivot in a new direction. You could identify degrees of pivot: pivoting 90 degrees might imply moving in generally the same direction with some important modification, while pivoting 180 degrees would mean moving in a completely new direction.

Considerations

• Timing is key. While students need to have completed some planning and research beforehand, be sure to conduct this activity early enough in the planning process that students have time to shift their focus to fit the feedback they receive.
• Consider smaller groups. In larger classes, or where time is limited, have students present to smaller focus groups rather than the class as a whole.
• Incorporate audience response systems. To generate anonymous feedback and/or faster voting results, consider using an audience response tool (either a web-based polling tool or paper-based ABCD voting cards) to solicit feedback during the Q&A round or to conduct the Pivot or Proceed poll.

References