Part 3: Spring 2016 Labs
36 Design Thinking with Pamela McGranahan and George Jura — 02.19.2016
In the Active Teaching Lab on February 19, 2016, Pamela McGranahan and George Jura from the School of Nursing shared how they use IDEO’s “Design Thinking” process to engage students in authentic activities in Public Health.
In many disciplines, “design thinking” has become a preferred approach to solving complex problems. It has been used to develop not only innovative and commercially successful products, but also to create services, experiences, and education, finance, healthcare, and government processes. Initially developed at Stanford by Rolf Faste as a “method of creative action,” design thinking was embraced by IDEO, a prominent design firm, and later adopted by IDEO’s founders as the core method in Stanford’s prestigious d-school, where the five-step process (empathize > define > ideate > prototype > test) has been used by students and faculty from various disciplines to “take on the world’s messy problems together.”
Key Takeaways
- Students appreciated the opportunity to use DT to better understand why patients act the way they do.
- Start with individual pieces of this process that you are already doing, determine where they fit into this process, and then build on that.
- Let your students know upfront that this is a departure from standard teaching, and that it is meant to be confusing and disorienting, so those feelings are expected and are part of the process. (Side effects may include disorientation and confusion).
- Balance active learning activities such as this, which may be new to students, with more familiar structures. Ease students into it so they can adapt.
- Make your objectives clear to your students so they know what they are expected to get out of it.
- Try the design thinking process for designing your course!
If you’re interested in learning more to get up and running with Design Thinking, watch the videos below and try stepping through the Design Thinking worksheet we created for the session! You can also check out these additional resources:
- Doug Dietz TED Talk: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxSanJoseCA-2012-Doug-Dietz-T
- Morton Ann Gernsbacher’s method of highlighting parts of complex texts
The Active Teaching Lab, a Faculty Engagement program, provides a safe space for structured explorations of cool teaching tools and techniques that your colleagues are using to engage students and teach more effectively. During the academic year, labs are held weekly and will be listed on the Active Teaching Lab page.
Pamela and George’s Story