The main tenet of Design Thinking is empathy for the people you're trying to design for. Leadership is exactly the same thing - building empathy for the people you're entrusted to help. ~ David Kelley, co-founder of IDEO and author of Creative Confidence
One Wall of my Makerspace = my visioning for all to see, including the students so they know the Why of the space and so I see my Why!
Part of my current reading list . . . .
Research Question: Does design thinking, with built-in iteration, promote self-awareness in middle-schoolers, thus enticing them to take ownership of their learning?
Basis for the question: In middle school, students struggle with a myriad of social, physical, and emotional changes; consequently, teachers need to create learning opportunities that help them engage in and take ownership of their learning. It is important that educators in middle school create an environment that is responsive to the changing needs of young adolescents, with an awareness of the social emotional needs of students during these critical years (D. F. Brown & Knowles, 2007). Chan, Graham-Day, Ressa, Peters, & Konrad (2014) note that in order for students to have ownership over their learning, they need to have clear learning targets because these provide clear expectations for performance; furthermore, students need to learn to track their progress, monitoring their own experiences, thus investing themselves in their own achievement and growth. By engaging in design thinking, students can participate in their learning in meaningful ways, for design inherently encourages students to not just work through a series of linear steps to produce identical final products. Instead, students, as designers, are encouraged to take risks and work through inevitable mistakes. Educators who allow students opportunities to “rethink and revise give students autonomy and the ability to trust themselves to be problem solvers, even if their path to success is different than everyone else’s” (Martinez & Stager, 2019, p. 71). Design thinking enables students to see their learning as a cyclical process, where they can be in control of the questions that they need to ask in order to make necessary, timely adjustments their learning. “Through design activities, students learn about planning, collaborating, and building a common vision of success” (Davis, 1999, p. 11). Instead of completing worksheets or passing exams, student designers “need to consider such issues as the needs of the audience, the distribution of work in the group, the management of time and resources, and the deadline” (Hsiao & Liu, 2002, p. 311). Furthermore, design thinking “provides a robust scaffold for divergent problem solving, as it engenders a sense of creative confidence that is both resilient and highly optimistic” (Carroll, 2014, p. 16). Ultimately, the design process better prepares students for the demands of a rapidly changing world where critical thinking, collaboration and creativity are crucial.
Carroll, M. (2014). Shoot for the moon! The mentors and the middle schoolers explore the intersection of design thinking and STEM. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 4(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1072 Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, D. J. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (Fifth). SAGE Publications. Davis, M. (1999). Design’s inherent interdisciplinarity: The arts in integrated curricula. Arts Education Policy Review, 101(1), 8–13. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.proxy.cityu.edu/docview/211003363/fulltextPDF/8B41B0EA93AF4944PQ/1?accountid=1230 Hsiao, Y.-P., & Liu, M. (2002). Middle school students as multimedia designers: A project-based learning approach. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 13(4), 311–337. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.lib.utexas.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2002-11584-001&site=ehost-live%[email protected] Martinez, S. L., & Stager, G. (2019). Invent to learn: Making, tinkering, and engineering in the classroom (Second). Torrence: Constructing Modern Knowledge Press.
Methodology The research methodology for this proposed study is a qualitative case study. Student will participate in a design task, structured through the design thinking process based off their passions and curiosities. As they work through the process, students will be reflecting on their learning, and the Researcher will utilize their reflections from different stages of the design process. The goal is to identify emerging themes within the different stages of the design process. Reflections will be coded utilizing “Tesch's Eight Steps in the Coding Process” looking for codes falling into categories of “expected, surprising, and/or conceptual interest” (Creswell & Creswell, 2018, p. 196). The reflections the Researcher will be coding will be those in response to prompts structured around B.C. curricular competencies of Critical and Creative thinking, Communication, and Personal and Social Responsibility. Specifically, pages 5, 7, 8, 10, 15, and 20 to 29 of the attached student booklet will be utilized. Participants will be Grade eight students at the Researcher's current middle school. Participants will be shown that the study presents minimal risk to their physical or emotional health; however, it will be pointed out that if necessary, counseling services are available through the school counsellor. If more than 10 students agree to allow the researcher to utilize their written reflections, then from those students who have granted permission, 10 students will be randomly selected. Written reflections will be photocopied, with any identifying information blacked out. Furthermore, each student will be a assigned a pseudonym and their personal information will be kept anonymous in the study.