Teaching students to analyze issues from different perspectives through constructing narratives of electron micrographs

Looking at things from a different perspective opens up hitherto blind spots and yields new understanding. As the global economy transitions from the industrial age where tasks can be compartmentalized and routinized, to one where knowledge is used in synthesis of new ideas, creative thinking and the ability to take a multi-faceted approach in problem analysis are critical skills that educators should imbue in their students. A story or narrative is an amalgamation of different ideas synthesized into a coherent whole. Using construction of narratives as a pedagogical tool, the accompanying short write-up attempts to illustrate the utility of story-telling (or narrative construction) in highlighting the possibility and mental processes involved in taking a different perspective in viewing an otherwise ordinary electron micrograph depicting objects not related to elements described in the story. Specifically, a scanning electron microscope image of electronic scrap materials in particulate forms of different sizes conjured images of looking down on a clear stream and seeing pebbles on the stream bed (i.e., “Pebbles on a river bed”) – a scenario that many children experienced in their childhood. Unrelated to the subject matter depicted in the micrograph, the exercise of narrative construction helps open up students’ minds to the possibilities of creative and lateral thinking in unlocking problems thought to be intractable or where a solution is thought not to exist. Using medical diagnosis as a case example, the write-up seeks to illustrate, briefly, how taking a different perspective to problems may find utility in helping diagnose medical conditions or diseases where multiple etiologies or contributory factors often confound clinical presentation and obscure the underlying condition. Collectively, the short write-up hopes to introduce the approach of narrative construction in teaching students to examine issues/problems from multiple perspectives through the simple and fun activity of developing story-lines out of ordinary optical and electron micrographs. The pedagogical tool may even be incorporated into a fun classroom competition where students attempt to develop different narratives to the same image, which would be a useful side activity to afford students some relaxation time as they try to absorb more intellectually taxing subject matter in class.