Design thinking is a powerful and engaging process that encourages people to look at problems in new ways. Design thinking lesson plans are an essential part of the design process. They help teachers get their students involved with creative problem-solving activities. Designing for education can be challenging, but it also offers many opportunities to make learning more meaningful. In this article, we will share some fun and exciting design thinking lesson plan ideas!
1) What does this process consist of?
These plans can be used in many different educational settings, from primary school to high school. Designing education encourages students to think outside the box and work together to solve a problem or challenge faced by a group or organization. Designing with this technique was developed at Stanford University’s d.school (design school), where educators have perfected this process since 2005.
2) What are its benefits?
The children will develop new skills and create meaningful products. It is excellent for students with learning disabilities or gifted; it boosts creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving abilities, collaboration skills, cognitive flexibility, empathy towards others’ needs/wants/concerns, etc. It provides a structure around which to build your lessons that helps you teach 21st-century kids how they learn best!
3) What design process activities can be used?
The process has been broken down into several basic steps, which can be taught to children at different learning levels.
Ideation: thinking about solving the problem through generating ideas and possibilities.
Observation: investigating users’ needs by observing how they currently complete their tasks.
Conceptualization: translating user observations into design concepts that solve problems for specific users/groups of people (which may require multiple iterations). Note that this is one of the most challenging stages because it requires abstract thought processes on behalf of students! They must look beyond what they see to spot areas where the current condition differs from the future desired state. Don’t worry; you can do things with your children to help them bridge this gap.
4) In which cases can I use it?
It can be used to identify the following:
Design Brief
Design Concepts (including User Journeys, Personas, and Scenarios)
Prototypes (low fidelity or high fidelity based on project need)
Design thinking lesson plans that are relevant for your specific problem or design challenge. This blog post does not include all of these processes; they span an entire semester course in themselves! But it is important to note what they look like so you know how much time is needed per stage.
You can contact an expert in this field for more information.
