Activity:
“The Bridge Design Pitch”

Time: 25 minutes
Format: Small groups

INSTRUCTIONS

Read the scenario below.

Each group to write down:

What immediate judgments or assumptions might be influencing James?
How could the group make Aisha feel heard without challenging anyone personally?
Identify moments of bias in the scenario.
Moments where psychological safety could be threatened.
Default “pathway addictions”
Apply the Neuroscience Bias-Challenge 8 Step Process.

A group of engineering students is working on a sustainable bridge design for a rural community.
Aisha, an international student from Nigeria, suggests incorporating bamboo composites into the design. Bamboo is lightweight, sustainable, and used successfully in parts of Asia and Africa.
James, a UK-born student, reacts quickly:
“Bamboo? That’s not serious — it’ll snap in half. We need proper materials like steel or concrete.”
Some group members nod in agreement, while others stay quiet.
Aisha feels dismissed but knows there’s evidence of bamboo’s strength and sustainability.

1. Psychological Safety

How could the group pause and invite evidence without shaming?

2. Link to Values & Known

What shared values (safety, sustainability) could connect to bamboo?

3. Pathway

Addiction

How to acknowledge default reliance on familiar materials? And support erasing of old habitual thinking?

4. Evidence-Based Thinking

Which data would help validate bamboo’s strength?

5. Reward/Play

What would reward us all - success? Being the first? So, how could the group creatively combine bamboo with other materials?

6. Bite-Sized Change

Digestible chucks of information to support new ways of thinking.

7. Social Norms & Modelling

What team rules encourage exploration before critique?

8. Repetition & Habit

How could this approach become standard practice in group work?