What:
Design thinking includes researching a current problem, creating solutions through a well crafted how might we statement, and prototyping a practical solution. Design thinking can be completed by students and adults simply through reframing a problem leading to creative solutions.
Why:
Implementing design thinking in the classroom allows for students to engage in deep problem solving, creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, and more. Design thinking also encourages student voice and choice in the classroom allowing the teaching to take on the role of facilitator instead of leader.
How to:
Design thinking can be completed individually outside of a large group in order to redesign your own classroom lessons. For example, most students dread the first day of school because they might be nervous about meeting new classmates and new teachers or they go from class to class listening to the rules and expectations all day. By following a design thinking model, a how might we question can be created after recognising the problem exists and researching the problem through constructing user personas. How might we redesign the first day of school to include ____? You can fill in the blank with whatever you value most on the first day of school: more personal connections, more excitement about your subject content, etc. Once you fill in the blank of your how might we, you can create a solution than allows your first day of school to include the valuable feeling you filled in the blank. For example, if my how might we is How might we redesign the first day of school to include more personal interaction? I might not discuss the syllabus at all and instead have numerous activities lined up to have students meeting each other but also spending one on one time with me (the teacher) throughout the first class. If my how might we question is how might we redesign the first day of school to excite students about science? I might quickly review the syllabus and engage students in a simple but mind-blowing science experiment to showcase what we will learn throughout the year.
Next Steps:
Interested in learning more? Checkout the websites below for great information.
References:
All sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
TLDR (too long didn’t read):
Design thinking includes researching a current problem, creating solutions through a well crafted how might we statement, and prototyping a practical solution. Design thinking can be completed by students and adults simply through reframing a problem leading to creative solutions.
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