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In a maker classroom, no two projects look alike, which can be difficult to manage within a 40- or 50-minute period. Stanford’s d.school has developed design thinking, which is a codification of the artistic or scientific way of thinking:
- Understanding and empathy
- Defining the problem
- Brainstorming solutions
- Prototyping a solution
- Testing the solution
- Reiterating.
Design thinking allows teachers to have control over messy maker projects. You can set distinct time restraints for different steps of the process that will keep everyone on roughly the same timeline. For instance, you can insist that the research phase is finished by a certain date so that students can share information with one another before they move on to the brainstorming stage.
Understanding vs. Experience
So should students make things? Asking them to express an idea translated into another medium requires them to know something holistically and more deeply. They must understand both its complexities and its parts. It's the same as knowing something well enough to teach it -- you have to understand it completely, as well as how all the different pieces fit together. Students may know how many troops died during the Vietnam War, but going to the Memorial and experiencing it physically, walking through the space, touching the names and having a personal connection is a more human way of knowing.
This understanding is intricately tied to our senses and creates a deeper, layered knowing of an abstract concept, making it personal and relevant.
Yes, I like to include the study of the basics within the larger picture. This gives these smaller goals broader applied meaning.