Design Thinking KySTE17

I first saw the concept of iterative design discussed in the book Invent to Learn by Gary Stager and Sylvia Libow Martinez. It didn't really sink in though until I was learning more about Minecraft and chatting with Minecraft experts on a MinecraftEDU Twitter chat.

The more I discovered about the concept, the more I realized it was exactly what I was missing in my makerspace project development. For me, iterative design, or design thinking, helped to bring an element of mindfulness to creation. It also helped to establish an expectation that our work can always evolve, and through that evolution we continue to grow as learners.

Overview

I saw a need to create a model that would work for elementary students K-5, and wanted to give a nod to the work of Martinez and Stager, who kept it simple, and work the work of Mitchel Resnick, discussed by Martinez and Stager in their book. Resnick's hit on a cyclical model of imagining that really appealed to me. As a result, I came up with ICE - Imagine-Create-Evaluate

Design Thinking Tools

To help students think through the design process, I created an interactive notebook that coaches them through three iterations of a project. The tool can be used for physical models, multimedia projects or even live demonstrations.

Check out the interactive notebook to see how the process works.

Resources

Martinez & Stager, Invent to Learn https://inventtolearn.com/
Stanford Design Thinking: http://dschool.stanford.edu/use-our-methods/
Stanford Design k-12 Lab Network Resource Guide https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/k12-lab-network-resource-guide
A Virtual Crash Course in Design Thinking https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources-collections/a-virtual-crash-course-in-design-thinking

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Learning in Progress

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