Side Trips

Imagine that you are on your way somewhere… You decide to take a side trip to a place that sounds interesting. Imagine that that side trip turns out to be the highlight of your travels. On any journey, a side trip is an extra adventure that adds spice to the overall experience. DI Side Trips work the same way: A team adds a little something to their solution that expresses who they are, shows off their specialties, and lets them strut their stuff – and their two Side Trips are the highlights of their creative problem solving travels!

All DI Challenges have some required elements that teams must create. But we know that team members may have interests, abilities, and skills – which we call “specialties” – that might not be spotlighted as part of those requirements. To provide a way for teams to bring their specialties forward, we ask them to create two Side Trips – two additional elements that can be anything they wish – and incorporate them into their Presentation. Side Trips allow teams to add their own brand of spice to their Challenge solutions.

Why Side Trips? The idea of Side Trips is based on the educational theory of multiple intelligences, which in part emphasizes the importance of allowing participants to find their own best ways to process and present what they have learned. Side Trips allow teams total freedom to develop elements of their own choosing. In the process, teams recognize and make the most of each individual’s abilities, skills, and interests.

Check out some examples of things teams can create for Side Trips. Click here.