Table Of ContentTAKING DESIGN THINKING
TO SCHOOL
Design thinking is a method of problem-solving that relies on a complex set
of skills, processes, and mindsets that help people generate novel solutions to
problems. Taking Design Thinking to School: How the Technology of Design Can
Transform Teachers, Learners, and Classrooms uses an action-oriented approach to
reframing K-12 teaching and learning, examining interventions that open up
dialogue about when and where learning, growth, and empowerment can be
triggered. While design thinking projects make engineering, design, and tech-
nology fluency more tangible and personal for a broad range of young learners,
their embrace of ambiguity and failure as growth opportunities often clash
with institutional values and structures. Through a series of in-depth case stud-
ies that honor and explore such tensions, the authors demonstrate that design
thinking provides students with the agency and compassion that is necessary
for doing creative and collaborative work, both in and out of the classroom.
A vital resource for education researchers, practitioners, and policymakers,
Taking Design Thinking to School brings together some of the most innovative
work in design pedagogy.
Shelley Goldman is Professor of Education, Learning Sciences, and Technology
Design at Stanford University.
Zaza Kabayadondo is Co-director of the Design Thinking Initiative at Smith
College, a pilot program to reimagine liberal arts education.
TAKING DESIGN
THINKING TO SCHOOL
How the Technology of Design
Can Transform Teachers, Learners,
and Classrooms
Edited by Shelley Goldman and
Zaza Kabayadondo
First published 2017
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Taylor & Francis
The right of Shelley Goldman and Zaza Kabayadondo to be identified as
the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested
ISBN: 978-1-138-10099-2 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-10100-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-65728-8 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo Std
by Swales & Willis Ltd, Exeter, Devon, UK
CONTENTS
Notes on Contributors viii
Foreword by Bernard Roth xvi
PART I
Design Thinking and Its Emergence in K-12 Education 1
1 Taking Design Thinking to School: How the
Technology of Design Can Transform Teachers,
Learners, and Classrooms 3
Shelley Goldman and Zaza Kabayadondo
2 The Culture of Practice: Design-Based Teaching
and Learning 20
Meredith Davis and Deborah Littlejohn
3 A Praxis Model for Design Thinking: Catalyzing
Life Readiness 37
Christelle Estrada and Shelley Goldman
PART II
Young Designers: K-12 Students Take On Design Thinking 51
4 Design Partners in Schools: Encouraging Design
Thinking Through Cooperative Inquiry 53
Mona Leigh Guha, Brenna McNally, and Jerry Alan Fails
vi Contents
5 Taking Design Thinking to East, West, and Southern Africa:
Key Lessons from Global Minimum’s Student Innovation
Programs 67
Desmond Mitchell and Mathias Esmann
6 Capturing Middle School Students’ Understandings of
Design Thinking 76
Shelley Goldman, Molly B. Zielezinski, Tanner Vea, Stephanie
Bachas-Daunert, and Zaza Kabayadondo
7 Adapting the User-Centered Design Framework for K-12
Education: The Riverside School Case Study 94
Mohanram Gudipati and Kiran Bir Sethi
PART III
Design Thinking as a Catalyst for Reimagining Education 103
8 Build It In from the Start: A New School’s Journey to
Embrace Design Thinking 105
Susie Wise
9 ResponsiveDesign: Scaling Out to Transform Educational
Systems, Structures, and Cultures 112
Ralph A. Córdova, Ann Taylor, Phyllis Balcerzak,
Michelle P. Whitacre, and Jeffery Hudson
10 Teachers as Designers of Context-Adaptive Learning
Experience 126
Zanette Johnson
11 To Succeed, Failure Must Be an Option 143
David Kwek
12 Empathy in STEM Education 147
Kathy Liu Sun
Contents vii
PART IV
Inspiring Teaching: Design Thinking in the Classroom 161
13 Professional Development That Bridges the Gap between
Workshop and Classroom Through Disciplined
Improvisation 163
Jennifer Knudsen and Nicole Shechtman
14 The Materiality of Design in E-Textiles 180
Verily Tan, Anna Keune, and Kylie Peppler
15 Finding Your Fit: Empathy, Authenticity, and Ambiguity
in the Design Thinking Classroom 195
Molly B. Zielezinski
16 Analyzing Materials in Order to Find Design Opportunities
for the Classroom 204
Charles Cox, Xornam Apedoe, Eli Silk, and Christian Schunn
17 Developing Powerful, Portable Design Thinking: The
Innovators’ Compass 221
Ela Ben-Ur
Index 230
CONTRIBUTORS
Xornam Apedoe is an associate professor in the Department of Learning
and Instruction at the University of San Francisco. Her research focuses
on improving current educational practices in STEM for diverse students in high-
need schools and settings, through the design of authentic learning experiences.
Stephanie Bachas-Daunert is a PhD candidate in Civil and Environmental
Engineering at Stanford University. Her interdisciplinary work spans engineer-
ing, environmental and public health, microbiology, biogeochemistry, and
sustainability. She is passionate about increasing diversity in STEM fields, and
began outreach in East Palo Alto through the NSF-funded Stanford REDlab
Educating Young STEM Thinkers project in an effort to introduce STEM and
design topics to underrepresented groups while mentoring the future generation
of scientists and engineers. Stephanie holds a National Institutes of Health Ruth
L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Fellowship, and is a National Science Foundation
Graduate Research Fellow (NSF GRFP), a Stanford School of Engineering
3D Diversity Fellow, and a Woods Institute for the Environment Rising
Environmental Leader Program Fellow.
Phyllis Balcerzak, PhD, is Senior Program Producer at the UMSL College of
Education’s ED Collabitat, designs, directs, and teaches professional learning
experiences for educators in all stages of their professional careers. Balcerzak
has contributed to the fields of applied ecological research, science education
and teacher preparation. In collaboration with an array of professionals in higher
education, informal and formal K-12 education she has built the foundation
for programs that cross disciplinary boundaries and respond to the specific and
targeted needs of educators, in local and national settings. In concert with
the leadership team Balcerzak brings her passion and experience to the ED
Notes on Contributors ix
Collabitat’s infusion of professional creativity into the cultural landscape of our
education systems.
Ela Ben-Ur (http://i2iexperience.com/people) has coached and co-exper-
imented with educators and others interested in design thinking since 2012,
focusing on her lifelong “extracurricular”—educating of people of all ages. Ela
worked 13 incredible years at renowned design firm IDEO. Her design practice
and leadership at IDEO spanned diverse geographies, industries, and sectors. She
was a co-founder of IDEO’s Leadership Studio for developing project leaders,
coach for teams, and facilitator for clients. Ela has taught at pioneering Olin
College since 2007, and offered workshops through MIT (her alma mater),
Sloan, Babson, Dartmouth, and Harvard. Her 2- and 4-year old daughters are
her inspiration.
Charles Cox is a registered architect, professional engineer, and instructor of
design in the School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional
Programs in the College of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University,
where he has also taught design studios for the Department of Architecture
and the Department of Architectural Engineering. At the time this book chap-
ter was being developed he was performing research during a post-doctoral
appointment at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Design
Center.
Meredith Davis is Professor Emerita of Graphic Design at NC State University
and has taught for 47 years at the K-12 and college level. She holds degrees in
education from Penn State University and in design from Cranbrook Academy
of Art. Meredith is author of a two-year study of K-12 design education by
the National Endowment for the Arts and served as a member of the develop-
ment team for the National Assessments of Educational Progress in the Arts
and in Technology and Engineering. She is a member of the Cooper Hewitt
National Design Museum/Smithsonian education committee and lectures in
the museum’s teacher education programs. Meredith is also a member of the
editorial board of Design Issues and She-Ji, the journal of design, innovation, and
economics, and author of several books and more than 100 articles on design
and design education.
Mathias Esmann is a co-founder of Global Minimum and holds an AB in pub-
lic and international affairs from Princeton University and a joint MSc in inter-
national law, economics and management from the University of Copenhagen
and Copenhagen Business School. He currently works in the private sector in
Copenhagen.
Christelle Estrada, PhD, received her doctorate from Claremont Graduate
University (1993) in Education and Religion and is currently the Education
Specialist at the Utah State Office of Education. She is also the President
