Okay, here’s a six-week short course syllabus based on the principles of Jane McGonigal’s “Imaginable” and emphasizing the “I-Search” process from Ken Macrorie’s work, designed to help students explore future possibilities through personal inquiry.
Course Title: “I-Search the Future: A Six-Week Journey into Personal Futurity”
Course Description: This course combines the practical techniques of future thinking from Jane McGonigal’s “Imaginable” with the personal inquiry approach of Ken Macrorie’s “The I-Search Paper.” Students will embark on a journey to explore potential futures through individual research, imaginative exercises, and reflective writing, focusing on their own interests, questions, and potential roles in shaping the future. The course is designed to encourage curiosity, develop critical thinking, and build confidence in navigating uncertainty.
**Course Goals:** Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
* Identify and analyze signals of change and future forces.
* Develop skills in episodic future thinking (EFT) through imaginative exercises.
* Apply the I-Search method to investigate personal questions about the future.
* Create plausible future scenarios and simulations.
* Enhance personal agency and a sense of purpose in relation to the future.
* Communicate their future visions effectively.
**Required Text:**
* McGonigal, Jane. *Imaginable: How to See the Future Coming and Feel Ready for Anything―Even Things That Seem Impossible Today*. Spiegel & Grau, 2022. (Specific chapters will be assigned each week.)
* Macrorie, Ken. *Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing, Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom: Bean, John C., Melzer, Dan: 9781119705406
**Course Structure:** Each week will combine readings, in-class activities, individual research, and reflective writing assignments. The “I-Search” process will guide students to develop their own questions, explore sources, and reflect on their learning journey.
**Weekly Breakdown**
* **Week 1: Unsticking the Mind – Discovering Your Future Self**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Introduction and Part 1: Chapters 1-5
* **I-Search Focus:** Identifying personal anxieties and hopes about the future; **reflecting on present identity, values, and goals, and their potential transformations**.
* **In-Class Activities:** *Warm-Up Games* (e.g. “When Does the Future Start?,” “Stump the Futurist,” and “One Hundred Ways Anything Can Be Different”); **introduce the concept of “micro-actions”**.
* **Individual Assignment:** Journaling on personal reactions to the future, identifying a personal “unchangeable fact” to investigate, and **developing an initial “I-Search” question**.
* **Week 2: Finding Clues to the Future – The “Why” of the I-Search**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Part 2: Chapters 6-9
* **I-Search Focus:** **Exploring personal motivations and interests related to the “I-Search” question.** Researching future forces, and “signals of change”.
* **In-Class Activities:** Practicing “strangesight”, identifying signals of change in the news and social media. Students share their signals with the class and **articulate their reasons for choosing their research questions**.
* **Individual Assignment:** Gathering clues related to the chosen “unchangeable fact,” refining the “I-Search” question, and starting an annotated bibliography.
* **Week 3: Thinking the Unthinkable – Hard Empathy in the “I-Search”**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Part 2: Chapters 6-9
* **I-Search Focus:** Practicing empathy toward the future and **exploring multiple perspectives**.
* **In-Class Activities**: Using the “clues” gathered, begin to construct future scenarios, considering multiple ways that the world can change based upon current trends. Begin to **explore different viewpoints on a personal “I-Search” question through hard empathy**.
* **Individual Assignment:** “Try out new behaviors” in the real world by doing something you’ve never done before and recording the experience. Collect a minimum of 3 new sources and add them to the annotated bibliography, showing how they relate to your “I-Search”.
* **Week 4: Imagining the Unimaginable – Social Simulation in the I-Search**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Part 3: Chapters 10-11
* **I-Search Focus:** Using the “I-Search” process to explore solutions or responses to future challenges, and beginning to **explore one’s own personal role in shaping the future**.
* **In-Class Activities:** Introduction to social simulations and their core mechanics, and applying this knowledge to their “I-Search” questions; group brainstorming sessions to explore actions and policies to help in a chosen future.
* **Individual Assignment:** Develop a mini “social simulation” based on a personal area of interest, using the future scenarios as inspiration and considering the question of their own personal agency in this context.
* **Week 5: Spending Ten Days in the Future – Synthesizing the I-Search**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Chapter 12
* **I-Search Focus:** Synthesizing research, personal experiences, and imaginative exercises to **articulate a personal vision of the future**.
* **In-Class Activities:** Begin to “Spend Ten Days in the Future” using one of the scenarios from the book; use the daily prompts to guide journal entries, and reflect upon how personal research informs the experience.
* **Individual Assignment:** Keep a “future journal” for ten days, responding to daily prompts provided in the book. Create a “bio or profile for future you”.
* **Week 6: Making the Future – Communicating the “I-Search”**
* **Readings:** *Imaginable*, Conclusion and Acknowledgements
* **I-Search Focus:** Communicating findings from the I-Search and the social simulations, **reflecting on the journey**.
* **In-Class Activities:** Students present their “I-Search” findings, mini-simulations, and reflections. Group discussions on the value of imaginative thinking and personal agency in shaping a better future.
* **Individual Assignment:** Write a final reflective essay that incorporates what was learned through the readings, research, and simulations, and share a personal vision of their role in the future.
**Assessment:**
* Weekly journal entries and reading responses.
* Annotated bibliography.
* Presentation of the “I-Search” process and findings.
* Final reflective essay.
* Active participation in class discussions and activities.
**Emphasis on Macrorie’s I-Search Principles:**
Throughout the course, the I-Search model will be emphasized:
* **Personal Voice:** Students will be encouraged to use their own voice and perspective in their writing and presentations.
* **Question-Driven Inquiry**: Each student will develop a research question that is based upon their own interests and concerns.
* **Exploration Over Argument:** The emphasis will be on exploring and understanding different perspectives rather than proving a point or defending a thesis.
* **Process Orientation:** Students will document and reflect upon their research and thinking process.
* **Learning Through Discovery:** The course will encourage learning through personal investigation and experience.
This syllabus integrates the practical tools of McGonigal with the personal inquiry process of Macrorie, to empower students to be active participants in shaping their futures. By combining imaginative exploration with rigorous investigation, students will develop a deeper understanding of themselves and the world around them.