Design Thinking

Design Thinking is a solutions-based, hands-on approach to solving problems.  I use this as a framework in the classroom whenever we are going to be designing STEM/STEAM solutions to real world problems or when students are working on their entrepreneur and passion projects.

There are many variants to the design thinking process; I really like using this simple graphic from Seesaw to explain the philosophy behind Design Thinking to students:

There are two Design Thinking frameworks that I have meshed together to create my own teaching and learning tool.

The first is the 6Ds process of Solution Fluency by Lee Watanabe Crockett, which involves:

• Define - What is the challenge and what do you need to do? What problem do you need to solve?
• Discover - Research and gather information about the users of your solution.
• Dream - Think big, brainstorm ideas
• Design - Make a prototype - a model or representation
• Deliver - Present your information
• Debrief - What did we learn?

The second is the 4 Ws Process from Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie's book, Designing for Growth. The 4 Ws process involves asking:

• What is? Exploring the current reality
• What if? Envisioning alternative futures
• What wows? Getting users to help make some choices
• What works? Making it work in the real world

Here is the graphic I created to use in my classroom:

References:

Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie, Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers, 2011: http://www.designingforgrowthbook.com/

Solution Fluency - 6Ds of Design Thinking: https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/solution-fluency-design-thinking 

GO Program Challenge: Design a Trap

A small group of Year 3 students have been working on a design challenge they were set as part of a gifted online program. 

The Scenario:

Imagine that an oil company has discovered a valuable oil deposit under where your animal lives. You have just two weeks to remove and save as many of your animal as possible. You don’t have many people though so it has been decided that trapping the animals and then going round and collecting them up for transport to a new area is the best way to go.

Your job is to design the trap using only materials from the list below (these materials are substituting for the timber, plastic etc. that you would have in real life). You need to make a trap that will operate without a person controlling it to capture but not injure your creature. The trap needs to be humane, it should contain the animal for up to 24 hours without damaging it in any way.

Your design must have at least two of the simple machines listed below as part of the structure:

¨ Pulley

¨ Lever

¨ Inclined plane

¨ Wheel

¨ Axel

They labelled their final design using Seesaw: 

First, I had the students research the animal they were going to design a trap for. Here is their information report:

Once the students had found out some background information on the animal they were going to design their trap for, I had them follow the engineering design process to complete their projects:

Futurists' Fair - Week 3

How can we help to reduce the impact that humans have on the environment?

Students pitched their ideas for the "big picture" problem that they want to solve for the Futurists' Fair. They voted and the majority of students agreed that the impact that humans have on the environment (mainly pollution) was the issue they would address. This is the collaborative video that a small group of students created to explain what their problem is and why it is important.

We are using the 6 Ds of Design Thinking as a framework for their problem-solving. Once they had decided on the problem it was time to brainstorm potential STEM solutions to their problem. This is where we DREAM and start to imagine and brainstorm possible solutions. It's usually the stage my classroom starts getting loud; there's a buzz of ideas and excitement and they really start to collaborate and build on each other's ideas. This is probably the part that is the most rewarding for me as a teacher, I walk around the room and marvel at the creativity, and step back to listen in to the critical thinking and problem-solving conversations students are having independently:

"But how would a waterproof robot work though, how would it would actually collect the rubbish without harming sea animals?"

"Well, maybe it would have a special filter that detects whether something is made of plastic. I guess I need to think a bit more."

"Who would use your product?"

"Is that realistic, could you really build it?"

"That is an awesome idea, can I work with you on that? I think we could make it go viral!"

The thing about student-led learning is that it often goes in a direction that I wouldn't have thought of! If it had been up to me as the teacher I probably would have chosen poverty or food security as the "big picture" problem; many of my students are directly impacted by poverty and I thought that would be quite empowering for them. Then I really liked one of the pollution ideas, that we could help lessen the impact of air pollution by creating protective domes. Students would come up with a way to keep the dome at the ideal temperature for growing trees and/or food sources. But the student who came up with that idea also had plenty more ideas and he chose to go down a different direction.

Perhaps that's one of the things that excites me about teaching STEM, I can never predict where our learning will take us and I'm always pleasantly suprised by the outcome!

Here are some of the ideas that students have decided to develop further:

   

Once students had some ideas about what they might like to create as a STEM solution, we went back to the “Discover” stage of the design thinking process, where they thought about the user of the solution. They used canva to create empathy maps to think about what the users see, say, hear, think and feel.

This is the empathy map that one group created:

"The Recycle Dash App is aimed towards young people our age and older. We thought that it could also appeal to anyone who likes playing interactive games on their phones, so maybe families could get involved too."

Team Challenges

As we're wrapping up the school year we are tackling a few shorter team work challenges including parachutes in 20 minutes, stacking cups using rubber bands and no hands, and sleighs that can slide down ramps of varying angles.

Parachutes

Using the materials provided, can your team design a parachute that can help a 'passenger' land on the ground safely?

Which design elements contribute to a parachute taking longer to reach the ground?

We also had a few quick team-work challenge found on Pinterest:

Christmas Design Challenge:

Can you design a sleigh that will safely carry a bag of marbles down ramps of varying angles?

Stacking Cups

Can your team stack the cups into a pyramid using string tied to a rubber band?

10 Apples up on Top

Can you design and build the tallest apple tower? How will your apple balance up on top?

Another library design challenge for Prep (Foundation) students. After reading Dr. Seuss' 'Ten Apples up on Top', students worked in small teams to design and build the tallest apple tower. Their apple needed to balance on the top of their tower and they were not allowed to hold it during the 'testing' phase. We measured each tower using unifix cubes.

They were so engaged and it was great to hear their collaborative discussions:
"What if we use plasticine to make it more stable?"
"Oh yeah... that is a good idea. Also, we could put the plasticine on the top to sit the apple on."
"Would that be balancing though?"
"There wasn't a rule about that!"

So much fun with these little engineers!

Rollercoaster Marble Challenge

Design Challenge:

Can you construct a rollercoaster that will carry a marble from the top to the bottom using gravity and forces?

Questions:

How is your design similar and different from a real rollercoaster?

What features in your design were necessary for the marble to roll all the way to the end?

What problems did you face in your design process?

How did you improve your design?

How does friction affect your marble?

How are potential and kinetic energy used in a rollercoaster?

Vocabulary

Gravity: Force of attraction of objects to the centre of the earth

Potential energy: Stored energy that an object or substance has because of it’s position or condition.  For example, rollercoaster at the top of the track.  Potential energy can change (transform) into kinetic energy

Kinetic energy: Working energy that an object or substance has because of its’ motion. Examples, rollercoaster going down a hill, waterfall

Friction: Surface resistance to motion

Borrowed Bee Bots!

Our school currently has very limited access to digital technology. We are lucky enough to have smartboards or tv screens in most classrooms, and laptops are stored in a central place for classes to share. Most classrooms have one or two iPads to share within the class, but we don't own any of our own robotics. So I was pretty excited when I found out that there is a local Technology in Schools program where you can borrow equipment!

Since our students have had very little exposure to programming, I decided to start with something very simple.  Bee Bots seemed like an obvious choice because they're something that can be easily differentiated for all early-childhood and primary levels.

Students in Years 4-5 explored the concept of sequencing steps and decisions using the Bee Bots. They worked in groups to solve progressively more complex routes, and programmed the Bee Bots to navigate through mazes that other students created with physical objects. They had to plan the path for the Bee Bot using paper grids or mini whiteboards and then test, evaluate and improve the path of the Bee Bot to ensure it avoided the obstacles. Lots of fun and plenty of learning took place!