Process improvement in the collection and analysis of plant growth
Plant Biology
Brittany Willbrand
HNu Photonics
The Akamai intern will develop scripts (utilizing the ImageJ Macro Language or an alternative that the intern is comfortable with) to support image analysis for a plant science experiment. The intern will assist with weekly sampling and imaging from field trials, tissue culture, or cell suspension cultures. Response variables of interest may include root surface area, ratio of healthy to unhealthy shoot tissue, plant growth over time, and/or cell growth or division over time. Applying best practices for business analysis, the intern will interview key stakeholders, prepare a project plan, and identify metrics for success. Collaborating with the HNu team, the intern will deliver a working script that will improve efficiency in the analysis of plant tissue. Once the script is finalized, the intern will quantify the labor reduction and present results to the HNu team.Tasks / Milestones
Task/Milestone
Deliverable
Meet with stakeholders to discuss plant science research vision, learn objectives and response variables of interest, and help elicit requirements
- Meet with stakeholders to discuss plant science research vision, learn objectives and response variables of interest, and help elicit requirements
Collaborate with biology team to collect fresh tissue samples from the field, initiate and maintain plant tissue cultures in the lab, image and analyze data, and identify areas for improvement
Brainstorm potential solutions for plant science data collection and analysis
Intern will submit a project plan
Work with software engineering team to develop the script and ensure that all requirements have been met or addressed
Work with HNu team to identify and resolve bugs, updating the requirements document as needed
Intern will submit revised script(s), detailing changes
Evaluate project results
Intern will create a PowerPoint and present results to key stakeholders
STEM Practice
Dimension
Possible Mistakes
Proficiency
Understand the rigidity of solution requirements, some are more concrete, others more flexible and can be revised
- Begin designing toward vague or ill-defined requirements
- Not realizing there is no actual problem, perhaps just an optimization exercise
- Know precisely what problem or need is being addressed and what solution must do to satisfy requirements
- If there is no real problem or need, acknowledging it is a case of solution optimization
- EXAMPLES: I will work closely with the intern to elicit requirements from key stakeholders, possibly both within and outside of the company. I’m going to give the intern advice about elicitation, but I will let him make mistakes. In my experience, it’s easy to see where a requirement is vague when you start trying to formally meet it. This will be re-visited when the requirements document is revised
Review current state of the art and existing solutions
- Begin brainstorming solutions that may have been developed or explored already
- Only one source of current state of the art explored
- Does not consider how current state of the art might be extended to overcome its limitations
- Looking at a range of sources for existing solutions
- Identifying the limitations of current state of the art that must be overcome
- EXAMPLE: The intern will be directed at select publications that describe plant science techniques and analysis and will be encouraged to find additional techniques already published in the literature
Lay out range of possible solutions
- Do not consider pre-existing solutions as viable
- Overly complex solutions detailed prematurely
- Evaluating and eliminating solutions during initial brainstorm phase
Only one solution considered
- Keeps all possible solutions on the table in initial brainstorm phase, including pre-existing solutions
- Keeps brainstormed solutions general enough that time is not wasted designing, but specific enough to identify differences between solutions
- Does not begin evaluation of solutions until solution space is adequately defined
- EXAMPLE: We will have frequent brainstorming sessions to encourage creative strategies to effectively and economically reach department goals. This may even occur daily!
Design Elements
Design Element for giving feedback on STEM practice
In order to provide the intern with feedback, we will set up three meetings throughout the project. The initial meeting will discuss the STEM practice and go over the rubric. We will discuss that there will be no formal evaluation and that they are not being graded on it. After reviewing the rubric together, we will share our previous experiences with brainstorming and discuss whether there are any other goals, common mistakes, or proficiencies that we could add to the rubric. I will ask the intern to also provide me with feedback on how I am assisting them in the STEM practice of brainstorming and how I can better support them. In the second meeting, we will revisit the rubric and discuss whether we have encountered any common mistakes and brainstorm strategies to overcome these barriers. In the third meeting, we will discuss examples of any common mistakes that were made during the lessons that were learned, myself included! Because these meetings will be scheduled in advance, it will give the intern the opportunity to think about how to verbalize any challenges that they may be experiencing or concerns that they have. During each meeting, we could utilize the Feedback Matrix discussed in the workshop. We can go over what worked, what could be better, and identify the next steps for the mentor and the intern. This would be a great opportunity to communicate expectations for both parties.Giving feedback on STEM practice
In order to provide the intern with feedback, we will set up three meetings throughout the project. The initial meeting will discuss the STEM practice and go over the rubric. We will discuss that there will be no formal evaluation and that they are not being graded on it. After reviewing the rubric together, we will share our previous experiences with brainstorming and discuss whether there are any other goals, common mistakes, or proficiencies that we could add to the rubric. I will ask the intern to also provide me with feedback on how I am assisting them in the STEM practice of brainstorming and how I can better support them. In the second meeting, we will revisit the rubric and discuss whether we have encountered any common mistakes and brainstorm strategies to overcome these barriers. In the third meeting, we will discuss examples of any common mistakes that were made during the lessons that were learned, myself included! Because these meetings will be scheduled in advance, it will give the intern the opportunity to think about how to verbalize any challenges that they may be experiencing or concerns that they have. During each meeting, we could utilize the Feedback Matrix discussed in the workshop. We can go over what worked, what could be better, and identify the next steps for the mentor and the intern. This would be a great opportunity to communicate expectations for both parties.
Supporting interns STEM identity
The intern will be submitting weekly progress reports for review by our project scientist and upper management. I will provide a clear and simple outline for the weekly report format that will include providing one example of a challenge that they encountered and brainstorming potential solutions. I can provide the intern with an example of one of my previous reports, focusing on one where I report a challenge we are facing or results that are less than ideal. When we list challenges that we are having in our weekly reports, the project manager often provides feedback and potential strategies for tackling the issue. We can discuss how R&D is a process that probably has more failures than successes and it more about the journey and experience. This is a great opportunity for the intern to receive praise, recognition, and feedback by multiple leaders within the company. I will routinely ask for the interns opinion revolving aspects of my job, such as brainstorming solutions to problems or barriers that I encounter. In this way, we can bounce ideas off of each other and it gives the opportunity for the intern to recognize that I value their opinion and unique experiences. Since the stem practice that I chose to focus on is brainstorming, it will provide extra opportunities to understand the challenges associated with proposing solutions that stay within the boundaries of any requirements.
Getting project started
We will have a kick-off meeting for the project in the conference room. We will go over the project outline and discuss how our STEM practice focus (brainstorming) will be incorporated throughout the project. I will set up a google drive folder that includes the outline, the STEM practice rubric, select readings, protocols, and other resources we will be collaborating on. In this way, we can both comment and contribute to all of the documents in one central location. I’ll explain the organizational culture and our standard practices that way ambiguity is reduced. I’ll also ask the intern about their learning style and how they process information, that way I can better tailor the experience to their preferences. If they are detail-oriented or like reading, I can provide them with relevant articles and books to guide independent learning. If they are visual learners, I can provide them with relevant YouTube videos. Personally, I learn best with guided hands-on activities followed by working independently. I will provide them with a variety of resources, but it would be helpful to know which area to focus on. I feel like I will get a better sense of how to provide them with the best learning environment once I get to know their preferences. Following the meeting, we will take a tour of the facility and introduce the interns to the team.
Wrapping up project
Towards the end of the project, we will hold a debriefing where we will go over the challenges that they reported in their weekly reports and discuss lessons learned. This would be a great opportunity to revisit the brainstorming process and point out proficiencies that the intern exhibited. We can also go over the impact that their project has on our company, something concrete and measurable (such as time or money saved), something less tangible (such as improvement in morale or quality of life), and also something meaningful in the community (such as helping farmers or researchers). In this way, I have the opportunity to communicate to the intern that their project has impacts that are both qualitative and quantitative, both within the company and outside of the company. I think that will help the intern with their STEM identity. Once the project is over, the script or process improvement that was implemented will continue to help us! Once the interns are finished with their PowerPoint presentations, they will practice it in front of our research team. We could have them practice a few times, once with each other, once with a small group, and a third time in front of a larger audience. In this way, they can progressively modify not only the content of the slides themselves, but their approach to different audiences and getting more comfortable with the process.
Multiple entry and exit points
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Integrating intern into workplace
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.
Where intern has choice and challenge
Lorem Ipsum is simply dummy text of the printing and typesetting industry. Lorem Ipsum has been the industry’s standard dummy text ever since the 1500s, when an unknown printer took a galley of type and scrambled it to make a type specimen book. It has survived not only five centuries, but also the leap into electronic typesetting, remaining essentially unchanged. It was popularised in the 1960s with the release of Letraset sheets containing Lorem Ipsum passages, and more recently with desktop publishing software like Aldus PageMaker including versions of Lorem Ipsum.