From Seeds to Success: Transforming Classroom Learning with Design Thinking

Design thinking as detailed in Stanford University's guide, involves five key phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Each phase builds on the previous one, focusing on understanding and addressing the user's needs through creative and practical solutions.

My engagement with the design thinking process through the Makers Project as part of MAET was transformative. In the empathize phase, I immersed myself in the users' environment; in this case a 2nd grade classroom. One of the main things I noticed was that my students’ curriculum is WAY above their current abilities, and they struggled to grasp concepts, especially recalling them throughout a unit/long term. The curriculum also focuses on the same repeated topic but dives deeper as the unit progresses, so if they don't have that initial understanding, they aren't able to build upon it. That foundation isn't there. My goal for this project was to create something I could apply to my students that enhances their learning. Something that will help them truly understand concepts and deepen their knowledge in hopes to reduce their knowledge gaps in regard to the curriculum being taught and make it more accessible to them. 

The ideate phase was particularly exciting! Specifically, my ELA and science curriculum revolve around the plant/flower parts, life cycle and pollination. Like discussed early this is a major concept and is built upon as the unit continues. Thus, material is hard for them to understand if they don't have this initial knowledge. The curriculum just talks about this with readings, but I want them to engage with making something to deepen their understanding and recall. I selected a few promising ideas to prototype. First, I was thinking about having the students create a visual representation of a plant/flower life cycle by finding parts from outside and adding arrows/labels to help navigate/display their knowledge. Another idea was building a visual of how pollination works. This entailed making a structure that has two flowers and a bee/pollinator moving from flower to flower with felt pollen sticking/falling off every time. Lastly, I wanted them to understand the structure/parts of a plant/flower, so I began to think of ways they could do this. I decided they could gather different parts of different flowers outside and form them to make a new flower/plant and label the parts.

I decided to focus on creating a flower from different parts of various flowers which serves as an effective pedagogical tool to help students understand and identify the different parts and structures of flowers. This hands-on activity aligns with constructivist learning theories, which emphasize the importance of active engagement and experiential learning. By physically assembling a flower, students can observe and manipulate each part, such as petals, sepals, stamens, and pistils, gaining a concrete understanding of their form and function. This process not only reinforces the anatomical vocabulary and concepts but also enhances cognitive connections through tactile and visual learning. Furthermore, it encourages inquiry and exploration, as students compare and contrast the parts from different flowers, fostering critical thinking and deepening their comprehension of plant biology. This method also promotes collaborative learning, as students can work together, discuss their observations, and share insights, enriching the educational experience.

After I fostered my idea in a useful way for my students, it was time to create the model. I then was able to test my design with fellow educators to enhance my creation as I value diverse perspectives. The collaboration amongst colleagues sparked new ideas and ways that I can bring this to life. I am someone who is big on making that classroom to real life connection and one of the thoughts was to have live models around the room with labels. This would incorporate the live flowers but in a way that is not harmful to the environment. It was also suggested different ways to display student creations in the classroom. One member stated making a flower garden and I began to think of the various ways I could replicate this (Legos, drying clay and origami). I think this would also change the materials I used as I would want something that could stand or be propped up. Initially too, my goal was to have students be able to identify different parts of any flower, meaning some flowers may look different but they still should have the same structure. I felt like this part was lost when adapting it from live flowers but someone else suggested having the students make multiple models to continue this learning piece. The flowers would look different but have the same parts included. Other ideas included making flower edible arrangements and replanting seeds of the picked plants and incorporating plant life cycle and food sustainability into a lesson. Overall, I was glad to have the opportunity to work through this lesson with fellow educators as they gave me such great things to incorporate and without this collaboration those great ideas would have been lost. This activity was enhanced as all angles were looked at and worked through. (View their creations below!)

Future steps to refine this idea include using more sustainable allergy-friendly resources and materials, incorporating the community/real world and implementing this same process in other aspects of the curriculum. 

Overall, design thinking is a powerful problem-solving approach that emphasizes empathy, creativity, and iterative learning. By deeply engaging with users and continually refining ideas, one can create innovative solutions that truly meet people's needs. My experience with design thinking has not only equipped me with valuable skills but also instilled a mindset that prioritizes human-centered design in my classroom. I strive to continually make learning a better experience for my students, and this is one of the many ways I will do so.