Design Thinking
Design thinking, put quite simply, is a method to solve a problem. 

​In schools we often have a traditional model of a teacher providing knowledge and a student replicating that knowledge in the form of a project after the knowledge transfer has taken place. Despite this project perhaps being viewed as "hands on learning" and some type of creation made by the student, it is not constructionism just because a student "constructed" something.  There was no problem to be solved, only information to be reproduced.

Design thinking is the crucial element that MUST occur BEFORE, DURING and AFTER making happens.

​This thinking process is the true evidence of creativity, application and problem solving using what the child already knows and giving them a reason to learn more. ​This design thinking is a methodology that will encourage the solving of complex problems through ideation and iteration.
Creativity has the potential to help reform education, and yet we have educated our students out of creativity with our factory model classrooms and high stakes testing (Robinson & Aronica, 2015). With the maker movement finding its way into our schools, we have a chance to use design thinking as a way to teach and develop complex skills of creativity. Creativity can and must be taught if we are to prepare students for a world that requires innovators (Wagner & Compton, 2012). This design thinking must be approached with intentionality.

​Dr. Susan Crichton from the Innovative Learning Centre warns of what can happen if the maker movement is not approached with a shift in purpose.

“Unless educators intentionally pursue innovation and creativity as learning outcomes, makerspaces will become “imagination ghettos” where issues of access, purpose, and ownership resemble those common in the cloistered environments of early computer labs and many of today’s shops and students are tasked with cookie cutter activities and trivial projects to complete.” (Crichton & Carter, 2015, p. 3). 

Purpose of Design Thinking
​in Maker Education

Giving students a real life problem to solve, as an intentional reason to use design thinking, changes the quality of the learning. Students are not learning because a teacher simply told them information they are required to remember, students are learning because they need and want to solve a problem to make the world a better place. This type of design thinking has the power to transform students into global citizens committed to creative solutions to solve global problems. This is the type of student innovator we are missing in our current educational settings (Wagner & Compton, 2012). Below are examples of student innovations that have changed communities for the better. You can use these examples as inspiration with your students.

The EMPWR Coat

The EMPWR coat is a water-resistant and self-heating jacket, which can transform into a sleeping bag, or be worn as an over-the-shoulder bag when not in use. The coat is constructed of upcycled automotive insulation, fabric from Carhartt, and other materials provided by generous donors.

This was a creation that started as a design project in school.

You can also view the CNN story about this coat and the founder that is committed to community empowerment and improvement.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is a remarkable true story about human inventiveness and its power to overcome crippling adversity. William Kamkwamba was from Malawi, a country crippled with famine and drought. William decided to build a windmill using parts found in a garbage pile from instructions he found in an old science textbook. This innovation provided his community a set of luxuries that only 2% of Malawians could enjoy: electricity and running water.

You can view his Ted Talk here or read the children's story book to inspire your students to change the world for the better.

The Paper Furniture Social Enterprise

The Paper Furniture Social Enterprise operates as a separate entity within Cerebral Palsy Africa. Specialized furniture is important for children with cerebral palsy and using recycled paper and cardboard enables specialist furniture to be constructed at affordable cost.

Find out more about these amazing community changing designs here.

Iterations in Design Thinking

In design thinking repeating a process to test, improve and design is crucial. This is known as iterations. In education we often allow children two iterations; rough copy and good copy. In design thinking we need to expand our understanding by allowing students to continually revise their design on an ongoing basis for the support of a process over the completion of a product. 
Start by using a Design Thinking process framework with your students. There are hundreds of versions you can choose from or make your own. 

Teach students that the design is the anchor of the project, return to it over and over again. By using coloured pencil crayons to design with, students can add new ideas or make changes with a new colour each time. They will start to see a rainbow of iterations!
Try one of the design challenges from the Innovative Learning Center makerday tool kit, the Stanford d.school, the K-12 Lab Wiki, or Design Thinking for Educators. Also you can share the concept of iteration and failure in design by watching this video of a student with his Rube Goldberg Machine.

Design Thinking Educational Resources

The Maker Day Tool Kit from the Innovative Learning Center offers educators an opportunity to lead fellow teachers or students through design challenges.
Stanford d.school is an amazing source of innovation and design thinking. This is a crash course in design thinking!
Be sure to download your free guide from Design Thinking for Educators. Along with the guide is a participant workbook. This site takes design thinking and connects it to education. 
A collaborative K-12 Wiki full of design challenges from the Stanford d.school!