Welcome to Educational Design Studio (EDS), an experimental design depth course at Olin College. From our perspective, everything in education is designed – classroom experiences, pedagogical approaches, curricula, educational software, policies, evaluation methods, classroom spaces, project toolkits, standards and accreditation criteria, museum exhibits, textbooks and syllabi, etc. In this course, we will try to make sense of it all, and then proceed to create and launch some entirely new educational designs.
How will we do this? We'll apply a systems perspective to deeply understand and analyze present-day educational designs and their contexts; and we will apply human-centered design methods to develop and implement new educational designs for a variety of settings (K-12, college, professional, community). Through research, readings, site visits, and in-class discussions, will seek to understand not only the ‘what’ (e.g., knowledge, skills, and abilities) and ‘how’ (i.e., pedagogical techniques) of learning, but also the ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘with whom’, and ‘why’. We will unpack the design decisions and examine the mental models that underlie particular educational designs, and consider how to support learning in contexts where stakeholder needs may conflict. By engaging with external clients or advisors on a major project, we will deploy prototype educational designs that creatively address problems, respond to societal needs, leverage opportunities, initiate change, or provoke the system. This course is experimental, so we will work together to adjust and adapt the course plan as we go along.
Educational Design Studio is a design depth, which means that the course:
Focuses on a major theme in design thinking covered at an advanced level,
Involves substantial theoretical consideration of design principles, processes or methods,
Presents the theme and theoretical consideration at an interdisciplinary level covering material that is relevant and accessible to multiple disciplines, and
Provides substantial project experience that aims to create a system, component or process to meet needs.
The course syllabus will tell you all about the experience.