| 1. | State your goals (general) and objectives (specific) for your trip. |
| 2. | Gather information and data about the place you want to visit. |
| 3. | Think of several ways to see your vacation area. |
| 4. | Consider the constraints (cost, time, convenience, etc.) of these possible ways. |
| 5. | Evaluate the various constraints on your travel plans. |
| 6. | Lay out the specific routes and areas you will be seeing and the amount of time needed to do so. |
This exercise is organized in an Instruction
Feedback
format so you can participate in the solution of the problem. Each instruction
raises a question about one step in the decision-making process.
Read
each
Instruction first, think about and decide on a response, and then
compare
your decision with the Feedback. The Feedback provides some possible
responses; you might have others. Then return to the next instruction,
and so on. Happy travels!
For the Spring Interim Mary Explorer wants to visit a large metropolitan center. Since Chicago is the closest city of this type from her home in Eau Claire, she made plans to spend 3 days in Chicago. As a curious person, she wants to learn and see more than the ordinary tourist spots. What might be her goals or objectives in visiting Chicago? What kinds of places might she want to visit?
Now that Mary knows what she wants to see, she had to decide: What sources of information and data can she use to locate the areas she wants to visit and learn more about them?
After she actually collected
all this information, how is Mary going to see the city?
She
tried
to think
of as many possible solutions as she could.
Mary thought that the next step in the decision-making process might be to specify the constraints which would affect any solution to the problem. Constraints are factors which limit choices. Mary wondered what general constraints would limit her choices to pick a solution to her sightseeing problem.
Now that Mary has established her goals and considered several possible
solutions as well as constraints to seeing the city, she is faced with how
to evaluate her options.
Instruction 6--Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation
Because Mary decided to give herself a tour of Chicago, she wanted to lay out a systematic way of seeing major land uses, ethnic/racial/income neighborhoods, and tourist spots. Assuming she already had gathered specific information (race, income, major shopping areas, etc.) about different parts of the city, how could she quickly and effectively organize her field trips?
Feedback 1
Mary wants to
see
different
parts of Chicago
as well as to have a good time. Specifically, she wants
to see
| Downtown (CBD) | Black and Chicano Ghettos | Old and New Suburbs |
| Parks and Amusement Areas | Ethnic Neighborhoods | Suburban Shopping Malls |
| Industrial Areas | Wealthy Neighborhoods | Exurban Settlements |
| Old and New Ports |
[Yes, you can have a good time visiting a ghetto or industrial area!]
Feedback 2
Mary thought of several major
sources of
information
| Chamber of Commerce brochures | U.S. Census of Housing and Population |
| Oil company city maps | Travel and general books |
| City maps from the Convention Center | Architectural guide books |
| USGS topographic sheets | Knowledgeable people--professors, travel agents, etc. |
Feedback 3
She thought of
three different ways to
see Chicago:
| a commercial-guided tour | a tour from a friend who lives in Chicago |
| a self-guided tour |
Feedback 4
Because Mary is
a student at UWEC and has
only 3 days to see Chicago, she
needs to consider cost and time constraints. Yet she wants to see as
much as possible of this fantastic city.
Feedback 5
Mary ranked the
solution like this.
Possible Solution | Time | Cost | Thoroughness |
| 1. self-guided tour | quick/long | inexpensive/expensive | complete |
| 2. friend-guided tour | quick (1/2 day) | free | tourist spots |
| 3. commercial tour | quick (1/2 day) | expensive | tourist spots |
Feedback 6
On a city map,
provided free by the City
of Chicago Tourist Board, she
circled major areas of interest: black ghetto, wealthy suburbs,
ethnic
neighborhoods, etc.. She also marked streets of significance: shopping,
entertainment, etc.
Compare your tour with one
designed by a
professional geographer.
Finished! Return to decision-making table.
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