Week 3 - Design Based Thinking in the Classroom

In modern day schools, innovation is becoming evermore important. In industry around the world innovation is assessed via economic assess, making it the currency of the 21st century (Wright & Jones 2018). Whilst it may be difficult to narrow down what makes some people inherently creative or innovative, it is beyond clear that society values these people and that schools should be pushed in the direction to foster and accomodate this.

Design Based Thinking is simply the part of the design process in which a person creates a concept for something they wish to create. Whilst this is a simple step, it apparent that the traditional schooling system has placed limitations on the minds of student (Chai, Wong & Hong 2015).

In the modern day classroom, the strong relationship between education and technology as a tool helps to foster a positive relationship with design based thinking in the classroom (Laurillard 2012).

SketchUp is a program that can be accessed via the internet which allows users to create 3D designs. The only limitation that students have on these designs is their skill with the tools and their own imagination. Technology like this is especially beneficial with fostering creativity in the classroom and opens up avenues for teachers to push their students into STEM related topics with the allure of being able to create something themselves.

In the Image on the right, I was able to go into SketchUp and use the tools to create a house with different textures and a hollow interior. With a lot more time and practice you can use the tools that you have at your disposal to spend time in the design process and teach the importance of design based thinking to your students.

Another great way to teach students about design based thinking is to take their designs and build real things with them. Fortunately, with SketchUp, you can take a students design and print it with a 3D printer. This creates an amazing opportunity for students to see the finished product of their work, as well as creates motivation for students to put a lot of effort into creating something awesome.

One major limitation of this method is access to technology. Unfortunately there are a lot of schools that don't have access to a lot of computers or any 3D printers as these are all expensive materials, however, if you work at a school which does, I would highly recommend giving it a go.

Reference List:

Chai, C. S., Wong, B., Hong, H. Y. (2015). Design thinking and education: Conceptions and Applications in Teaching and Learning / by Joyce Hwee Ling Koh, Ching Sing Chai, Benjamin Wong, Huang-Yao Hong. pp. 1–15

Laurillard, D. (2012). Teaching as a design science : Building pedagogical patterns for learning and technology. Taylor & Francis Group.

Wright, G. A., & Jones, M. D. (2018). Innovation in the elementary classroom. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 77(5), 8-13.