A focus on PROCESS and not the product

Prepared byLouise MaineTeachersFirst Contributor and MyScilife EdTech Coach

Disclaimer

Not just one or two projects but a way to step through the content material.

Every move towards project based and inquiry will provide great benefits.

Goal: Change the education experience

●Guide problem solving

●Collaboration●Critical

thinking●Voice and

choice●Empower

students

PBL vs. Design Thinking

PBL● Encourages inquiry● Used for students to

question and learn info along the way

Design Thinking●Nebulous definition●Encourages inquiry●Process not the product●Begins with empathy●Solution focused

Design Thinking for Teachers

●Problem in curriculum

●Generate ideas●Test solutions●Develop new plans

Backward design - what should students know?

●Look at Big Ideas or standards

●How is content grounded in life?

●What should they really understand?

Identify question or problem

●Meaningful●Expand open ended

questions, essays, or debates

● Introduce project first●Requires collaboration●No right answer●Need to learn content to

have more info to answer●Reframe the question

Design your classProject students will work for● Anchors the unit● Essential question● Project information● Include resources● Balance of team and individual work

Unit content● Playlist of content to learn● Scaffold● Create Hands-on Challenges to use content

Assessments● Formative● Metacognition● Summative - Self and group

Collaboration

-Inclusion-Equity-Fluid groups-Individual work informs group work-Modeling-Teach how to rely on each other as sources of information-Build check ins

More than content learning

● Problem-solving

● Decision-making

● Critical thinking● Creative

thinking● Organization● Communication● Collaboration● Leadership● Self-direction● Curiosity● Ownership

Assessment

● Identify the skills and content required

● Formative● Summative● Self-

assessment● Peer

assessment● Metacognition

Reflection● What have you

learned so far by doing this project? What skills and attributes have you developed which you can use elsewhere?

● How do you feel about your project?

● What are you most proud of?

● What are you least proud of?

● What would you do differently next time?

Issues

Teamwork● Balance choice vs. choosing

students● Skills, ability, motivationMotivation● Grades● Focus on content more than

product● Create challenges to meetFocus on Skills● Writing clearly● Speaking clearly● Organizing information

How to help students

Identify issues● Areas of interest● Concerns● Skills they needProcess● Scaffold● Provide info to start● Caution jumping to early

decisionsProduct● What will it look like?● Options● Feedback and critique

Creating a Design Thinking projectWhat will students learn?What can they create or solve?What are the interests or passions?How can they make an impact?

Provide settings and people that are interesting. Focus on empathy.

Redesign the ___(situation)___ experience . Design a way for ___(specific group of people)___ to better ___(situation)___ . How might we help ___(achieve some goal)___?

Examples of Design Thinking project

● “Welcome to Middle School challenge”

● “Design houses for animals”● “Design a wallet for your partner”● “Redesign the morning routine”● “Determining rules to live by”● “How might we tackle a problem

our community faces?”● “Apply the history of immigration

with the problems of today”● “Propose your own monument”● “Create your own state”

Require questioning, empathy (put yourself in another’s shoes), and solving another’s problem.

Designing a unit or module ● What is a problem that they need to solve that they can be engaged in?

● Provide the problem and the parameters at the beginning of the unit. Student work informs them of the content.

● Identify content and activities they work on to acquire the necessary knowledge.

● Create hands-on challenges to put the content into practice.

● Provide scaffolding and differentiation as needed throughout.

● Encourage thinking differently, brainstorming multiple ideas first

Biomolecule module

Design a Food Project

Design a Food Project

Cladogram Project

Ecological Issues/Tombstone project

Scientific Method

Greenspace Redesign

Greenspace Redesign

Biome “Amazing Race” Survival

Cell Model

Choose items to represent cell parts by matching the structure or the function of the cell parts with the materials that you choose. Defend your choice.

Mission to Mars

@TeachersFirst

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