Resource:How to create a design thinking class for incoming first-year students

Need

The need identified in this “How To” is to create a design thinking class for the incoming first year students. A popular topic in the UIF exploration of higher education is the incorporation of design thinking; which when incorporated into curriculum is highly beneficial.

Through this article we discuss how one might implement an introductory course for first year students with advice from current fellow, Jason Weis.  Jason is a fourth year student studying Biomedical Engineering (BME) at Georgia Tech (GT). At Georgia Tech, Weis has been involved with many mentorship programs, including being a co-founder of the campus wide KNIT Mentorship and a leader of the BME Mentorship Program.

Since becoming a UIF in March of 2017, Jason and the GT Leadership Circle have designed and implemented a class that integrates design thinking and Biomedical Engineering.

Objectives and Goals

The purpose behind the course is to lay a framework of design thinking skills that students will use later in their college careers while simultaneously learning about their major. Design thinking helps make introductory courses more experiential and engaging. This occurs through a series of brainstorming workshops and creative projects that develop ideation and problem solving skills.

Why Design thinking?

A design thinking background helps students explore their majors in a deeper way.  It is a style of learning made famous through Stanford’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design as a successful strategy for innovation. Design thinking enables students to explore their ideas and dive deep into their meanings.

Faculty

The faculty or fellows are the instructors who act as facilitators for design thinking, some of their duties include:

·         Teaching the students what design thinking is

·         Guiding the students through their designs

·         Mentoring students throughout their projects

·         Inspiring students imagination and creativity

Students

Students who do well in the course could potentially be trained to teach the following year; however, as of now only University Innovation Fellows have been trained to facilitate the course. Georgia Tech Innovation Fellows like Jason Weis are teaching the first iteration of the course specifically for first year Biomedical Engineering students. Students are inspired by the UIF team and their creative lens. Through this design thinking class they are able to show amazing results in the form of prototypes, presentations, and many more.

Timeline

The course can be developed as a full semester credit/uncredited course or it could be expressed as a  course of a shorter length. This entirely depends on the time available and student interest. Make sure that the course is a blend of short theoretical lectures and practical hands-on sessions. Start slow and gradually increase the pace of the course as students get a hold of the subject.

Grading System

Depending on whether it would be a credited or uncredited course, adjustments to the grading system can be made. While grades do play a key role in the academic setting, make sure that students do not get obsessed with the grading of this course. Participation must be rewarded by having a certain weightage in the grade. Some of the recommended grading points can be

• Attendance
• Classroom participation
• Pitchs
• Group Discussions
• Prototype modelling