Triage, patient flow, stakeholder needs, systems constraints. Debate: speed vs equity.
What to do if absent- CER:
- Claim, Evidence, Reasoning — make a claim, back it with evidence, explain your reasoning.
- SOP:
- Standard Operating Procedure — the exact steps to follow (especially in a lab).
- Tracker:
- Your PLTW progress log where you record completed evidence.
- myPLTW:
- The PLTW course site where you do the online activities — you open it through Schoology.
Week overview - Designing a better ER: triage, patient flow, and stakeholder needs
Map the flow of a patient through an emergency room and identify where stakeholder needs and system constraints create inefficiency.
- 1Read the ER scenario and list every stakeholder who interacts with a patient from arrival to discharge.
- 2Draw a simple flow diagram showing each step a patient passes through in the ER.
- 3Mark on your diagram where patients wait the longest, using the patient-flow dataset for evidence.
- 4Label each bottleneck with the system constraint that causes it, such as limited beds or staff.
- 5Pick one stakeholder and write what they most need from the system in one sentence.
- 6Propose one change to your flow diagram that could reduce a bottleneck without harming care.
- • You will be able to map a patient's flow through an ER system.
- • You will be able to identify a bottleneck and name its constraint.
- • You will be able to connect a stakeholder need to a design decision.
Daily lessons this week
Open any day for its full lesson, the work due that day, and guided notes.
Written CER contribution arguing a position on ER speed versus equity, plus two debate questions and a reflection note.
Stakeholder map with six or more ER stakeholders, their primary needs, relationship arrows, and a labeled conflict point.
Patient-flow workflow diagram annotated with queue points, one identified bottleneck, and a written justification of why it is the highest-impact constraint.
Signed team contract with defined roles, communication norms, a decision rule, and an individual-evidence clause.
ER inefficiency brief: specific bottleneck observation, stakeholder harm linked to the map, and a one-sentence design problem statement.
Quick intro to the week
- Hook: the ER you design has to work for a scared patient, a busy nurse, and a tight budget all at once.
- Today's goal: turn a messy patient journey into a clear flow map and find where it breaks down.
- Monday's bioethics debate, speed versus equity, lives right inside triage: who gets seen first, and why?
- Reminder: your graded flow map and stakeholder analysis live in the PLTW course shell.
Your PLTW coursework this week
Do this: Advance PLTW Problem 1 by completing the ER patient-flow and stakeholder-needs analysis in the online course shell.
- • Triage is the process of ranking patients by urgency of need.
- • A bottleneck is a step where flow slows because demand exceeds capacity.
- • Map a patient's workflow through a system.
- • Identify a system constraint behind an inefficiency.
📋 PLTW evidence due: ER patient-flow map and stakeholder-needs analysis uploaded to the Problem 1 course shell.
All PLTW activities are completed inside the PLTW course environment — this page only gives direction.
This week's PLTW tracker
Your week at a glance. Check off each deliverable as you finish it, then submit so Mr. Mendoza can see how the class is pacing.
Use the code Mr. Mendoza gave you, not your name. Saved on this device.
| Day | Date | Focus | Key deliverable |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Tue, Jan 26 | Speed-vs-equity debate | Written CER contribution arguing a position on ER speed versus equity, plus two debate questions and a reflection note. |
| Tuesday | Wed, Jan 27 | Stakeholder map | Stakeholder map with six or more ER stakeholders, their primary needs, relationship arrows, and a labeled conflict point. |
| Wednesday | Thu, Jan 28 | Patient flow workflow | Patient-flow workflow diagram annotated with queue points, one identified bottleneck, and a written justification of why it is the highest-impact constraint. |
| Thursday | Fri, Jan 29 | Team contract | Signed team contract with defined roles, communication norms, a decision rule, and an individual-evidence clause. |
| Friday | Mon, Feb 1 | ER inefficiency brief | ER inefficiency brief: specific bottleneck observation, stakeholder harm linked to the map, and a one-sentence design problem statement. |
- M: debate and ER frame
- T: stakeholder map
- W: workflow notes
- Th: team contract
- F: ER inefficiency brief
Due by week's end: Team contract and ER inefficiency brief.
What to do when absent
Most days, this class is your PLTW coursework — and PLTW is online and individual. So being out usually just means doing exactly what we did in class, from home.
Open Schoology (CMSD) and keep goingHow to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
You can't do those from home — do this instead: Patient-flow dataset.
Class still runs. A substitute will post today's plan — complete the online activity above; it's built to be self-guided. Need the concept taught without a teacher? Use this authoritative explainer:
CDC Emergency Department DataVocabulary
Virtual resources
Teacher-posted resources
Classroom documents for this lesson. Ones marked “Open the file” open right here; the rest are posted in Schoology. Use the label on each card to choose the right move.
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Emergency room design and triage by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:er design. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Open this when the class reaches this activity and use it to complete the required lesson artifact.
Placement rationale
Matched Emergency room design and triage by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:triage, admission. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
Use this as the classroom resource for Emergency room design and triage.
Placement rationale
Matched Emergency room design and triage by path:Biomedical-Innovations/Problem-1_Emergency-Room/1.1_Emergency-Room; keywords:triage, er design. Score 138. Visibility: student-schoology (student-facing resource; link through Schoology rather than local path).
How to get there: open the CMSD website, click Clever, sign in with your Microsoft (district) account, then open Schoology from Clever.
Standards this week
WebXam practice
Drop your Week 2 here. Use a clear file name (your initials + project). Routine work still goes to Schoology (via the CMSD portal).
Upload a project