Illinois Institute of Technology
DEF brings Decision Skills to Chicago's future college students through hands-on workshops at Illinois Tech and impactful high school programs like DevUp.
Chicago Difference
In June of 2024, DEF worked with Tia and Greg from Above All Things Dream Foundation to work with over 80 incoming college freshmen through the Chicago Difference program at the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech) in a two-day orientation structured around Decision Skills. Chicago Difference advances diversity in STEM by supporting underrepresented students across Chicago.
Over the course of two days, students had the opportunity to learn valuable Decision Skills that will support them as they navigate newfound independence and responsibility in college.
Though DEF has focused primarily on high school students in the past, this event stretched DEF, extending our range to students in higher education. It proved that our materials are scalable for a large group of students and applicable and relatable to young adults as well. The workshop received positive feedback, and students walked away feeling more confident in their abilities to make decisions that are right for them.
The successful workshop led to an on-going conversation with Illinois Tech about integrating Decision Quality more broadly within their programs. More recently, Illinois Tech has established a Center for Decision Quality to integrate Decision Quality across the organization.
“The Center for Decision Quality at Illinois Tech is a pioneering initiative dedicated to equipping students, faculty, and industry leaders with the tools and methodologies needed to make high-quality decisions in an increasingly complex world”
Read more about the Center for Decision Quality at Illinois Tech!
Dev Up
High school seniors are facing major life decisions—from choosing colleges to preparing for careers. With only two hours on a Friday afternoon and 18 antsy seniors in their spring semester, Decision Professional Terry Karner needed something that would captivate the students while still delivering value in a short timeframe.
Partnering with DevUp, a program that exposes high school students from Chicago’s South Side to STEM and entrepreneurship, Karner was able to organize an after-school workshop for 18 seniors during the spring semester at the Illinois Institute of Technology.
With DEF’s Decision Island curriculum as the foundation, Karner’s workshop became a highly interactive experience. Students were learning about decision-making and actively applying it to scenarios that mirrored the choice they would soon face. The game-like structure of Decision Island sparked discussions, encouraged critical thinking, and gave students a practical framework they could use beyond the classroom.
By the end of the workshop, students had a new perspective on decision-making—they understood the process of decision making through the Decision Chain and how to recognize and avoid Decision Traps. Karner was able to provide the students with decision tools and a structured way to think through their own choices with DEF’s Decision Island.
