What's Next At Synthesis
This is the fourth and final blog post of our series. To wrap it up, I will walk you through what’s next at Synthesis. If you haven’t, check out my prior blog posts on the Synthesis community, what makes us unique, and the Synthesis Experience.
Our goal is for our students to become the best collaborative problem solvers in the world. As I shared last time, Synthesis’ recipe for learning is composed of six “ingredients.” The reason we are maniacal about mixing the right ingredients is that the resulting formula creates the best circumstances for teaching and learning the Synthesis way.
Under the right learning circumstances, special moments take place. A thoughtful argument by a teammate causes your child to change their mind. The right prompt by one of our facilitators gives your child the opportunity to assume responsibility for a mistake. A concept behind one of our simulations “clicks,” and your child starts to see the world through a new lens.
We live for these “clicks” or “aha moments” at Synthesis. We actively provoke them by setting up the right circumstances. What’s best, it all feels like a lot of fun for our students.
We are learning that our first simulation, constellation, is causing countless special moments, yet leaving students hungry for more. To us, this is the best signal that we are going in the right direction.
We are building other simulations (Art for All is now live!) to enable better circumstances that will spark more “clicks”. Our goal is not for students to master a particular simulation, but to discover concepts that change the way they see the world. Ultimately, we want students to master the metagame.
Simulations will get increasingly complex, and the role of our facilitators will become more important as your child moves through. We will add experimental simulations and tournaments to the mix, and your child will put on the Game Designer hat in our advanced sessions. We will also find ways of measuring and gathering data to provide you insights about your child’s learning.
It is our duty to continue to make the Synthesis Experience as fulfilling and engaging as possible. This includes innovating and tailoring Synthesis as we grow, so we appreciate your patience and feedback throughout this process.
I would like to leave you with the same “ask” and think of where your child is today and ask yourself over time whether your child is improving in the way they reason through problems or how they synthesize concepts.
Can your child explain how the network structures in Constellation are similar to the network effects that drive the growth of YouTube? Can they describe how the art market in Art for All is similar to the stock market, and use their knowledge to analyze the GameStop situation that has been in the news?
Probably not yet, but that is our goal. It should only take a few “clicks”.
Ms Fab.
Join the Synthesis Community.
You can apply for a cohort here!