Introduction to the Process
Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking
Michelle and I were purposeful in using principles of Design Thinking from the onset of this project. Basic on our own experiences in conceiving/writing the grant, we felt it was vital for the students to journey through an initial Design Thinking experience. Michelle introduced me to the ideas and practices coming out of Stanford's d.school. We used their 90-minute Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking to take learners through a full design cycle. It is a fast-paced project where students pair up to interview each other, identify real needs, and develop a solution to "redesign the gift-giving experience" for their partner. We used their video, handouts, and debrief questions across three school days.
Days 1 and 2
Day 3
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Reflection
Before conducting the d.school's Crash Course in Design Thinking with the students, we tried it out ourselves. It is suggested that any educator using the Crash Course should do this as well. There is definite value in being confronted with the same challenges faced by students: time restraints, developing open-ended questions that help you gain insights into your user, shaping the problem, ideating possibly solutions, visualizing a 3D version of the solution, etc. As adults, we both ended up straying from the prompt of "Redesigning the gift-giving experience for your partner". We both thought our user's "gift giving experience" was impressive; therefore, we had to go outside of the prompt and use our gained insights to define a problem/solution specific to what we gathered in the interview. I think we both surprised each other with the problem we defined as well.
Guiding students through the Crash Course, we noticed it is a difficult prompt. Some students found value in this prompt, and like us, had profound conversations that may have veered from "gift giving". It was a great thing to observe. On the other hand, some students struggled. We noticed some were too focused on the physical "gift", some students (at only age 13) had not faced enough gift giving experiences that could be the subject of deep conversation, and some students paired up with a partner who didn't come to class prepared (our out-of-class assignment before the Crash Course was to brainstorm everything you could about the last gift you gave. I'm thinking of the student who came to the discussion armed with "____ was hungry at lunch so I gave him some of my sandwich". Conversation was difficult.)
Logistically, here are some things worth mentioning.
What about the future? Again, the Crash Course is a great classroom tool... but very high level for 8th grade students. We have discussed replacing the prompt on the video with "Redesign the classroom for your partner"; something more appropriate to the needs, ages, and maturity of our students. Everyone has experienced a classroom and has ideas that can be shared and expanded upon through open-ended questioning. The (latent?) needs of the user might be easier to uncover. Now that we have completed the Crash Course as participants and implemented a full design cycle in each of our classrooms, we could easily use the format and the ideas of the d.school to create our own activity for our particular students. As it says on the d.school's website: "Through this experience we hope you will take away some of the basic principles of Design Thinking and start to adapt them into your personal and professional routines."
Guiding students through the Crash Course, we noticed it is a difficult prompt. Some students found value in this prompt, and like us, had profound conversations that may have veered from "gift giving". It was a great thing to observe. On the other hand, some students struggled. We noticed some were too focused on the physical "gift", some students (at only age 13) had not faced enough gift giving experiences that could be the subject of deep conversation, and some students paired up with a partner who didn't come to class prepared (our out-of-class assignment before the Crash Course was to brainstorm everything you could about the last gift you gave. I'm thinking of the student who came to the discussion armed with "____ was hungry at lunch so I gave him some of my sandwich". Conversation was difficult.)
Logistically, here are some things worth mentioning.
- Partners: The students voluntarily picked their partner and this approach seemed to work well for 13-14 year olds.
- Seating: We had the classroom arranged so that partners were seated across from one another face-to-face.
- Materials: We gave each student a copy of the d.school handouts. These materials are well done and are helpful in guiding students through a full design cycle.
- Days 1 and 2: As discussed above, Days and 1 and 2 were generally a challenge for students in different ways. The video does a great job of moving students though the design process.
- Day 3: It was full of energy and smiles. For many students, Day 3 was an "Uh-huh" moment... the value of the Design Thinking process only became evident after testing the prototype. At Jefferson, the students worked wide a wide range of materials to build their prototypes. At Mellon, the students worked almost exclusively with Legos.
- Absentees: Whether it is at the beginning or during the course of the video, once a student misses a segment of the cycle, it is difficult to simply "resume where you left off" or "start the activity in stage 4". Careful planning is recommended so that all students can participate across all three class periods.
What about the future? Again, the Crash Course is a great classroom tool... but very high level for 8th grade students. We have discussed replacing the prompt on the video with "Redesign the classroom for your partner"; something more appropriate to the needs, ages, and maturity of our students. Everyone has experienced a classroom and has ideas that can be shared and expanded upon through open-ended questioning. The (latent?) needs of the user might be easier to uncover. Now that we have completed the Crash Course as participants and implemented a full design cycle in each of our classrooms, we could easily use the format and the ideas of the d.school to create our own activity for our particular students. As it says on the d.school's website: "Through this experience we hope you will take away some of the basic principles of Design Thinking and start to adapt them into your personal and professional routines."