Design Thinking Process: Bringing Creativity Back To The Classroom

Many educators and non-educators agree that new and transformational practices are necessary to prepare our students for the future.  21st Century Learning skills emphasize the need for teachers to prepare creative thinkers and problem solvers.   At the same time, teachers are pushed and expected to perform on standardized assessments.  Many teachers accurately identify a creative vacuum in their classroom.  As a Principal I observed this day in and day out in.  Feeling the pressure to meet growth goals measured by MAP tests and cover mandated curriculum, teachers cast aside learning opportunities for their students that embed creative thinking.  It is not hard to figure out how we got here.  Enter Design Thinking. Design Thinking is an emerging learner-centered process that may provide the answer to the need for educators to prepare students for success on assessments, and prepare them for success in a complex world where critical and creative thinking is necessary.

Is it enough to create Problem Solvers?

Design Thinking, according to No Tosh CEO and founder Ewan McIntosh, allows us to move away from teacher focused instruction to learner centered classrooms.  Recently there has been great emphasis on creating "problem solvers".  Instead, McIntosh encourages us to create "problem finders".  He presents the concept of creating "Problem Finders", not Problem Solvers through the Design Thinking Process in his November 18, 2011 Tedx presentation.

Design Thinking: 5 Step Process

Design Thinking Process follows five steps:

1. Immersion: Observation and Empathy 
2. Synthesis
3. Ideation
4. Prototyping 
5. Refinement

Immersion: Observation and Empathy

Through teacher chosen "epic" themes, students engage in developing questions to real world problems  based on their observations of the world around them--often observing experiences of others outside of their day to day experience.   The development of empathy occurs as students ponder the problem they have chosen to solve through the eyes of those that live it daily.  The themes are broad, yet allow teachers to consider and anticipate where the opportunity for curricular connections may exist.

Synthesis

Through the Synthesis process, students begin to see themes emerge as they brainstorm possibilities.  

More questions are often generated during this process allowing your students to bring their thinking together as it aligns with the overall theme.  The divergent Immersion process continues to create the messy business of learning as students further develop their understanding of the problem, leading them down the path of convergent thinking during the Synthesis process.

Ideation

This is the part of the process where convergent thinking begins to grow into real solutions, not just possibilities.  Student engagement is fully developed by this stage as students have shifted from the divergent thinking to solutions-based thinking.  Here's the problem...now solve it!  This is where the teaching and learning has formalized in the five step process.  

Prototyping

Students have made their observations and developed empathy through the Immersion process.  They generated ideas, shared them, and learned more about the issues relating to the problem through the Synthesis and Ideation process.  Now it is time to create a model to test the idea.  The Prototype phase is the part of the process where students realize that they are done talking about it.  It's time to do something about it.  Abstraction is transformed into action!

Refinement

As educators, we are constantly reflecting on our work.  This is a critical skill to develop in our students.  Refinement, the final step in the Design Thinking Process, is the point in which we turn the experience back to the student for reflection.  How did our solution meet the need?  How can we improve on our success and failed effort?  

Teachers that engage in this process report increased engagement and highly-motivated students.  Students are making choices about their learning as teachers let go of control of the learning process.   Ewan McIntosh writes and reflects on the process through his Design Thinking blog.

Stanford University's D.School

Ewan McIntosh is not the only resource on this topic.  Standford University School of Design is working with school districts throughout the country.  Their resources are deep!  For an overview of their model start here.  Still hungry for more?  Download the Stanford Design Thinking Workbook.


Have you used Design Thinking in your classroom?  Share your thoughts and experiences!