Introduction
Teaching Design
Innovative Designers of Tomorrow (IDOT) is an organization focused on bringing design education to American classrooms. With evolving learning models and standards, my team and I sought out to find the most effective, innovative approaches to teach design.
Timeline
7 weeks
Tools
Figma
Google Forms
Team
Aditi Chaurasia
Maya Gillaspy
Nikitha Srinivasan
Palina Karzhenka
Deliverable
Presentation
Mentors
Andrea Chisholm
Jake Cha
Overiew
The Challenge
Design Process
Many schools across the country have moved away from traditional lecture formats and implemented innovative learning approaches (i.e. virtual, flipped classroom, etc.). In their own approach to education, IDOT wanted to explore non-traditional methods in hopes of creating a more engaging experience for students.
Research
Synthesis
Ideation
Recommendations
How Might We Statement
How might we create engaging educational design content?
Personalized organization systems within iMessage ensure a more streamlined, efficient experience for users. Users have the freedom to customize filtering methods based on their preferences and needs to diminish feelings of being overwhelmed.
Research
Interview and Survey Findings
We conducted user research on high school students, IDOT members, and education experts (i.e. teachers).
01) Unique learning styles
Students have distinctive learning styles—approaches that have the capability to appeal to multiple styles can increase engagement.
02) Interactivity
While traditional lecture format is the least time consuming for teachers, our findings suggest students were least engaged with this format. Curriculum should implement interactive activities, possibly as a supplement to the typical slideshow approach.
03) Experience
Students wanting to participate in IDOT want real experience, projects, and resources to utilize outside of the classroom. Additionally, the program should appeal to and be rewarding for a variety of skill levels.
Synthesis & Ideation
Affinity Mapping
Affinity mapping was used to generate and consolidate ideas. Our key insights focused on increasing kinesthetic learning and collaboration within classrooms. Here is one example of findings on teaching methods:
Synthesis & Ideation
Personas
Recommendations
Based on our research, we presented our findings to IDOT and made recommendations as seen below. Our guiding principles in these recommendations were:
Our specific recommendations are organized in this matrix:
01) Accommodating different learning styles through shared resources, guided notes, and summary sheets. This allows students to reference and use material as they see fit.
02) Expert advice and projects to ensure students gain valuable skills and knowledge as an IDOT member and beyond.
03) Workshops and sharing days to encourage collaboration among students and allow them to spend more time with skills they are interested in or struggling with.
Reflection
01) Understanding scope
Creating a matrix of recommendations based on impact and effort was valuable when presenting our findings. It allowed us to remain in-scope while providing high-quality suggestions.
02) Presenting findings
Translating insights into actionable recommendations for the IDOT team was an important experience that has prepared me for communicating with future shareholders.