Empathy - Define - Ideate(Brainstorm) - Prototype - Test

This is Part 1 of the Deep Dive With Design Thinking.

Learning Tasks 1 - A Quick Look at Design Thinking in Action These were some of the skills the students were learning: communication, coming up with an idea that could fit with the teacher-generated prompt, collaboration, taking risks, testing their prototypes, reviewing their ideas.

DISCUSSION PROMPT 1 - What stood out for you in the videos?

The enthusiasm of the students - their engagement with the topics. Timely, meaningful  and relative topics. The students were also self-starters. They understood the idea of "failing forward". They were able to communicate to the audience - the camera. 

Learning Tasks 2 - Understanding Key Elements of Design Thinking Discuss: The key elements of a design mindset, how one develops a design mindset, strategies for developing empathy during the design process.

DISCUSSION PROMPT 2 -What stood out for you in the readings and videos? Why?

The What is Design Thinking? video is less than 2 minutes long. It is clear and concise. I believe that design thinking will work – it is a logical and straightforward path to answers. This is the video I would share with anyone who wants to know about Stanford’s problem solving/thinking creation. As a teacher, I like that I heard that “ideas need to be tested in the real world.” Our classrooms are often very artificial learning environments.

The Why Design Thinking? video from Ventana elementary school stressed that the “human centered point of view” or empathy piece was paramount in this thinking process. The students use rapid prototyping with low resolution materials. I like this idea. Too often the enthusiasm fizzles out if the students can’t get those ideas out quickly. I also find the idea that Design Thinking can be used at the elementary school anytime and everywhere, even at recess. I can see how it would be awesome if our administrators and principals were on board with this process.

Middle School Maker Journey: Recapping the Capstones Kevin Jarrett is a brave and inspiring teacher. First, he was able to generate interesting, authentic projects from his 5^th through 8^th graders. They were truly invested in these projects. The empathy piece was captured brilliantly.  All of the students were very engaged in solving the problems using the design thinking model. They knew the process and were able to rethink or iterate if the design of their prototype was failing. No one seemed to be too bothered by the failures. Not even Jake or Miss Cindy. I loved that all of these people were connected in the same building. The hospital was also local, and I’m sure the school and hospital communities were connected in many ways.

Developed at Stanford University, this is a thinking process - video will say that any problem can be solve with this type of thinking. Empathy is always the first step - Also - what is the human piece?

DISCUSSION PROMPT 3 - Share your infographic with the class using our G+ Community in the Grad Credit Category. Respond to two or more of your colleagues post. (shared on 8/ 4/18)

DISCUSSION PROMPT 4 - Discuss the examples above and how design thinking might fit into your learning landscape.

Discuss the examples above and how design thinking might fit into your learning landscape.

The Edutopia article, Design Thinking, Making, and Learning From the Heart was inspiring. It was thoughtful and fit into Emily Block’s curriculum. It was also very timely. I liked that they got an authentic experience to view other memorials. That would be easier to do in NYC, than our small towns, but we do have statues on our greens and in the centers of our towns. Getting the students to be involved in many ways – getting them outside the classroom adds to their long-term learning. They will remember this project, and the Design Thinking steps that got them there.

We have used the Engineering Cycle in our classrooms. This is the process that I focused on and posted in my teaching areas. The Design Thinking model is similar in many ways, however Design thinking stresses the importance of Empathy. What I like is that it is still a simple enough thinking design that even the youngest children can understand. I will show the older students both models and have them discuss the similarities. Then I will post the Design Thinking model in my schools. I do like this one best. And, yes, it does follow the NGSS elementary Engineering Design best practices.

DISCUSSION PROMPT 5 - Reflect on your Design Thinking Experience (At CML or other experiences in design thinking)

Here are a couple of examples when I used Design Thinking during CML: the cardboard challenge and designing the wooden piece for the glow forge. The empathy piece for building the structure was first listening to Shannon and Caty for directions and then listening to my partner, Amy. She had a good idea that was quick and used the cardboard fastening technique that Shannon and Caty taught us. I started making an incorrect cut, and Amy helped me out on that right away. We tried it out a few times and improved on the structure before finishing. In the end, our pyramid “building” was pretty successful, and did not crash with the shaking movement right away. I have to say, I really liked our simple and strong design. We only used two pieces of cardboard.

On Thursday, everyone was given a small piece of white paper and a thick black marker. The directions were to make a design that would represent one of our focuses during the week at CML. I had had some successes and some fails using LED’s during the week. It was all hard fun for sure, and the lessons were quite intense. Both teachers helped me through my struggles and cheered me on when I took even a small step forward. My design would say LED! I’m quite proud of the pendant. I did decide to go over my lines because we were told to make the lines thick, and to connect all parts to complete the whole.

I did not write out the Design Thinking Process during these projects, but I was staying mindful of the process.

These are just two examples. There were multiple opportunities during the week to use the process. Answered on 8/5/18

DISCUSSION PROMPT 6 - Share the Design Thinking Challenge your created for your students (remember this is a rough prototype only) Reply to two of your colleagues. (shared on 8/ 5/18)

Student Challenge: Design a birthday card for a random student.

Empathize - Interview your partner. Find out when their birthday is, what their favorite colors are, their favorite kinds of toys/games/sport teams, etc..

Define - Describe in a few sentences what a great card would look like for this person.

Ideate – Brainstorm what an interesting and unique card you could make for this person. Anything goes here – be brave. Think about color, size, words, sound, lights…

Prototype – Create a sketch on paper or virtually that would accomplish your goal. It is only a sketch, not the finished card.

Test/Evaluate – Students can exchange cards and give each other feedback.

Iterate – Add, subtract or tweek up visuals and text on your card to make it more special for your partner.

DISCUSSION PROMPT 7 - Explore additional resources. O.K. - and will share with colleagues.

DISCUSSION PROMPT 8 -(shared on 8/ 6/18)

DISCUSSION PROMPT 9 -(shared on 8/ 6/18)

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