Featured Spotlight on Strategy: PMI
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Trying to come to a decision isn’t always easy, especially when there is no clear answer. PMI is an effective brainstorming strategy that can be used to weigh the pros and cons of a decision. PMI stands for “Plus/Minus/Interesting,” and it’s a useful improvement to the “weighing the pros and cons” technique that people have used for centuries. As students are exploring options of a complex decision, using this strategy with digital media can help them organize their thoughts.
Example of how to use strategy
- Explain to students that they will be exploring a variety of STEM careers.
- Have students take out a blank piece of paper and draw two lines down the paper, dividing the page into three columns.
- At the top of each column, have them write “Plus,” “Minus,” and “Interesting.”
- Explain to students that they will need to take notes as they watch videos about various STEM careers. Anything they like about the career should go in the “Plus” column, anything they don’t like about it should go in the “Minus” column, and anything new they learned should go in the “Interesting” column.
- Have the students move around the room and view two to three of the videos from the series STEM Careers for Students: Volume 01 or STEM Careers for Students: Volume 02.
- While watching the Geneticist video, students might find answers such as:
- Plus: I get to help save lives. I like science.
- Minus: I don’t like the sight of blood. I don’t like the lab coats.
- Interesting: Geneticists also study corn genes; I thought they only studied human genes.
- Facilitate a whole group discussion about each of the careers. Ask students what they put in each column and why. Based on their PMI charts, ask students which career they feel would be a good fit for them and why.
Other articles you might be interested in:
Spotlight on Strategies: Pause and Play
Spotlight on Strategies: And the Question is
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