A common and constant challenge within schools is that of developing student skills including resilience, problem solving, questioning, creativity and critical thinking (amongst other skills)! The design thinking framework outlines a simple process and consistent language that can be use in every classroom to develop students to be self-regulated learners. In this workshop teachers will collaboratively explore the design thinking process and how to plan for student learning. They will leave with a set of simple strategies and resources which they can use to immediately enact the design thinking process into their classes.

1. Embedding
Design
Thinking in
the Classroom
VALA Conference
June 11-12 2015
Dr Adrian Bertolini

2. Introduction

3. Intentions of Session
• To unpack the importance of design thinking
and its link to meta-cognition and developing
self-regulated learners
• To give you the experience of a simple design
thinking activity
• To provide an opportunity to begin to plan in a
way that embeds design thinking in our units

4. What YOUR job is today
Be open, honest,
participate
and
try on the ideas!

5. Today’s workshop
Why is Design Thinking important?
Marshmallow Challenge
Embedding Design Thinking in our
Planning

6. Performance
Think about the skills, attitudes, and habits you
display when you successfully deliver on a task / project /
etc in any area of your life
What are the key
elements that
allowed
you to succeed?

7. Design Thinking underlies your success

8. Design Thinking – in curriculum (explicitly)
Investigating
and
Designing
Producing
Analysing
and
Evaluating

9. Design Thinking - Science
Questioning and
Predicting
Planning and
Conducting
Processing and
Analysing
Evaluating
Communicating
Similar cycles
can be found in
History and
Geography
disciplines

10. Design Thinking – General Capabilities

11. Stage 1
Teacher
Centred
Stage 2
Learner
Centred
Stage 3
Learner
Driven
Students have to drive the
learning if they are to truly
develop the capacity to be
self-regulated learners
Why? To develop self-regulated learners

12. Successful Learners = Self-Regulated

13. What this points to about design thinking
• It is embedded in the curriculum – both explicitly and
implicitly
• Unconsciously we use design thinking in our lives
• Problem = we aren’t explicitly using it as a framework
in our planning and our everyday teaching & learning

14. My thoughts
The more WE explicitly think from, plan from and
operate from a design thinking paradigm …
the more effectively
we will develop self-regulated learners

15. Requires a BIG contextual shift!
Current
Learning
Paradigm
Future
Learning
Paradigm
Current Actions, Habits,
Structures
Actions, Habits and Structures
that naturally develop self-
regulated learners

16. Habits and Rituals
Powerful learning is
built upon rituals and
habitual practices that
develops people to
think, view and
interpret the world in
particular ways

17. HOW – framework
• Having visual Design Thinking process constantly present and
referred to within every lesson as a solution based process

18. HOW – learner centred learning
• Having consistent agreed upon language and approaches used
across all subjects
• Learning Goals and Success Criteria
• Feedback / Feed Forward mechanisms
• Student Voice and Choice
• Gradual Release of Responsibility
• Co-construction of learning
• Understand by Design Planning

19. HOW – anchor practices

20. HOW – meta-cognition
• Developing student meta-cognition explicitly by discussing how
they and their brains learn best
• Use the General Capabilities to create formative rubrics which are
used across all subjects
Where else will they learn how they learn
if not at school?

21. HOW – unit planning
DestinationMilestone
2
Milestone
1
Feedback
Mechanisms –
Feedback,
Feed Forward
Direct
Instruction –
I do, We do,
You Do
Authentic
Problem
Solving
Strategies
Design
Thinking
Peer Assisted
Learning
Students
Drive
Develops
Intrinsic
Motivation

22. HOW – teacher reflective practices
Teachers as action-evaluators
(a design thinking process)
Important to do forensic
autopsies on what you have
tried to constantly learn and
develop your capacity

23. Four and One Questions
Template to reflect on
conversations and to
have you develop your
meta-cognition

24. Today’s workshop
Why is Design Thinking important?
The Marshmallow Challenge
Embedding Design Thinking in our
Planning

25. Peter Skillman: ‘The Marshmallow Challenge’

26. Learning Goals: The Marshmallow Challenge
• To collaborate effectively in teams of 2 or 3
• To design a free-standing structure
• To build the structure under a time
limit (15 minutes)
• To reflect on what this activity
teaches us about design thinking

27. Marshmallow Challenge - Rules
• Build the Tallest Freestanding Structure measured from the
table top surface to the top of the marshmallow. The structure
cannot be suspended in any way.
• The Entire Marshmallow Must be on Top (cutting or eating
part of marshmallow disqualifies the team)
• Use as Much or as Little of the Kit
• Feel free to Break up the Spaghetti, String or Tape
• The Challenge Lasts 15 minutes: Teams cannot hold on to the
structure when the time runs out. Those touching or supporting
the structure at the end of the exercise will be disqualified.

28. Design thinking process

29. What did you learn about design thinking?

30. Tom Wujec and the Marshmallow Challenge

31. What this points to
We need to ensure in our PLANNING that we give
students time to engage fully with the process of design
thinking – to prototype and refine their work to gain
rich feedback and deepen their understanding.

32. Today’s workshop
Why is Design Thinking important?
Marshmallow Challenge
Embedding Design Thinking in our
Planning

33. Embedding Design Thinking in our Planning
Tuning In
Design
End Goals
Plan to
Achieve Goals
Action Reflection
1 2 3 4 5 6 87 109
Tuning In /Research Action
Design & Plan
to Achieve
Goals
Culminating
Demonstration
Celebrate
/ Evaluate
Feedback
Real, Practical and
involve Community

34. Design Phases - I.D.E.A
© Minds at Work

35. Flow of Backward Planning
Identify
Desired
Results
Determine
Acceptable
Evidence
Plan Learning
Experiences
and Instruction
Where are
we going?
How do I
know we have
arrived?
How are we
getting there?
The MAP

36. Defining the Destination
1 2 3 4 5 6 87 109
Tuning In /Research Action
Design & Plan
to Achieve
Goals
What are the
skills and
understandings
they must
demonstrate by
the end of this
unit?
Celebrate
/ Evaluate
Identify
Desired
Results

37. Process of Planning
Destination
Milestone
2
Milestone
1
Defining the Destination (Where are they going)
1. Extract Skills & Learning Focus / Elaborations from the AusVELS
2. Identify what you want students to know and be able to do by the end
Outcome
A CAN-DO List for the students in student language

38. Example Year 5 DCT
Identify
Desired
Results

39. Can-Do List Year 5 DCT
I can:
• List the elements of a design brief
• Extract the key points from a design brief
• Discuss a possible design with a partner
• Develop the steps needed to produce a design
• Annotate design ideas with labelled sketches and drawings
Identify
Desired
Results
Thought Experiment: What could the CAN DO statements be
if we had a History unit on the Early Settlement of Australia?

40. Can DO Statement List
Identify
Desired
Results

41. Can DO Activity
Identify
Desired
Results
With a partner
• Choose an appropriate Year Level to work upon
• Using the Design Creativity and Technology
Progression Points examples and the Bloom’s
Taxonomy Action Verb Sheet
• Create CAN DO statements
that reflect what the students
would know
and be able to do

42. Example – Whitfield District PS
“You have to believe in what you are
doing and make a fuss to get things
moving. People were surprised that kids
could do this stuff” Grade 6 Students

43. Example – Mt Alvernia College QLD
The teacher uses an independent learning approach to
review the questions from a recent exam.

44. Thanks!
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