Using Design Thinking to Strengthen Student Empathy

Purpose & objective

As a result of participation of this session, participants will...

*understand the design thinking model

*connect empathy building with this model

*apply the design thinking model in creating opportunities to solve relevant issues in and around education (classroom activities, professional learning models)

Design Thinking is a problem-solving gestalt that focuses on empathizing with an emergent problem, generating diverse solutions, selecting and prototyping a selected solution, iterating on that solution given stakeholder feedback, and presenting an authentic solution to relevant stakeholders.

Examples of design thinking employed in education include:
-In the World Language classroom
-In the English Language Arts classroom
-On the middle school team
-In the elementary classroom
-In developing adult, professional learning

Evidence of success:
-Dissertation of design thinking in the middle school classroom
-Unit plan of design thinking in the World Language classroom, with student work
-Professional learning plan for technology integration using design thinking
-Observational evidence from different settings

Outline

1. Presentation of Design Thinking, including relevant research (10 minutes)
-Lecture/presenter-centered delivery with polling/interactive technology

2. Presentation of examples of design thinking in different settings, with a focus on empathy building (15-25 minutes)
-Slideshow presentations with student work

3. Time to work with groups on developing entry points for design thinking in diverse settings (Remainder of the time)
-Template and audience work time with presenter support and feedback

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