Random Word Technique

Practice

1. Relating a random word

A problem is stated and written out on the blackboard. The students are then asked for suggestions of a number up to the number of pages in a dictionary (e.g. a number from 1 to 460) and then for another number to give the position of the word on that page (e.g. 1 to 20). Using a dictionary the corresponding word is located. The word is written down together with its meaning (unless the word is a very familiar one). The students are then asked for suggestions as to how the word could be related to the problem. To begin with the teacher may have to make most of the suggestions himself until the students get used to the process. Each suggestion is elaborated briefly but no attempt is made to note down the suggestions. The session goes on for 5 to 10 minutes.

Possible problems:

• How to deal with the problem of shoplifting.
• Increasing car safety.
• A new design for windows to make them easier to open and close without the danger of people falling out or draughts.
• New design for a lampshade.

Unless the teacher is fairly confident about his ability to use any random words it might be better to use the list given below rather than a dictionary. In this case the class would be asked for a number from 1 to 20.

1. weed
2. rust
3. poor
4. magnify
5. foam
6. gold
7. frame
8. hole
9. diagonal
10. vacuum
11. tribe
12. puppet
13. nose
14. link
15. drift
16. duty
17. portrait
18. cheese
19. chocolate
20. coal

2. Same problem, different words

Here a problem is set but different random words are used. Each student works on his own and makes notes of how the word generates ideas about the problem. At the end the results are collected. If there is time these are analysed to see whether there is any consistency of approach which depends on the random word used. The same idea may have been reached in different ways depending on the random word. If there is not much time then some of the results are selected at random and read out. One can also take the end idea in each chain of thought and then ask the class to imagine what the random word was in this particular case and the line of thought that led to it (e.g.) if the problem was ‘holidays’ and the random word was ‘turkey’ a chain of thought might run: turkey — special food — Christmas — special holiday — more holidays with a special purpose. One would just take the ‘more holidays with a special purpose’ and ask what the random word might have been.

Two or three random words distributed among the class would be enough. More would just be confusing. The words can be taken from a dictionary or from the list above.

Possible problems might include:

• Clearing oil off a beach.
• Weeding the garden.
• Design of apparatus for rescuing people from a burning building.
• Making plastic sheet suitable for clothing (how would one treat it to make it hang properly).

3. Same word, different problems

This may be done either as an individual practice session or as an open class session. A random word is selected and then each student is given one out of two or three chosen problems. The student works to relate that random word to the problem he has been assigned. At the end the results are compared to show the different uses of the same word.

At an open class session three problems are listed. The random word is then related to each of the three problems in turn. Five minutes are spent on each problem. Suggestions are volunteered by the students and the teacher adds his own whenever there is a pause. It is better if the three problems are not written up together for then some students might be thinking ahead to the next problem.

Possible random words:

• drain
• engine
• cooking
• leaf

Possible problems:

• How to store information so that it is easily available.
• How to spend less time learning a subject.
• A device to help you climb trees.
• Design for a better cinema.

4. Your own problems

The students each write down any problem they would like to tackle. They write it down in duplicate, put a name or number on each sheet, and give one copy to the teacher. This is to prevent a sudden change in the problem when the random word is given. A random word is then found (by page number etc suggested by the students to locate a word in the dictionary or just chosen by the teacher).

Before they hand in their results some of the students are asked by the teacher to describe to the rest of the class how they related the word to their own problem. In this type of session one can get an idea of how the same random word can be of use in many different situations. If some students find that they cannot make any progress at all then the teacher goes through the problem with them showing how the random word might be used in each case.

Possible random words:

• scrambled eggs
• screwdriver
• bomb
• doorhandle

5. Random objects

The objects are not random to the teacher who selects them but to the students to whom they are presented. The advantage of an object over a word is that an actual object can be looked at in many more ways than the word describing that object. One should be able to imagine an object in just as much detail but in practice one does not and the function of the object tends to swamp the other features. A problem is given to the students and then the random object is presented. This can either be run as an open class session with the students making suggestions as to how the object may be related to the problem or it can be done on an individual basis with comment on the results or individual students describing their own results.

Possible objects include:

• a shoe
• a tube of toothpaste
• a newspaper
• an apple
• a sponge
• a glass of water

Possible problems might include:

• Learning how to swim.
• A new design for clocks.
• A device for getting handicapped people in and out of bed.
• Unblocking a drain.