How do you engage students' voice and choice in PBL with design thinking?

1 Define the challenge

The first step of design thinking is to define the challenge or problem that you and your students want to address. This should be based on a driving question that sparks curiosity, relevance, and rigor. You can co-create the driving question with your students, or invite them to modify or personalize it based on their interests and needs. For example, if your driving question is "How can we reduce food waste in our school?", you can ask your students to narrow it down to a specific aspect, such as "How can we compost food scraps in our classroom?" or "How can we create a campaign to raise awareness about food waste in our cafeteria?".

2 Empathize with the users

The second step of design thinking is to empathize with the users or beneficiaries of your solution. This means understanding their needs, feelings, perspectives, and challenges. You can use various methods to empathize with your users, such as interviews, surveys, observations, or personas. You can also encourage your students to choose their own users or stakeholders, depending on their project focus and scope. For example, if your students are designing a composting system, they might want to empathize with the custodians, the gardeners, the teachers, or the worms. Empathizing with the users can help your students develop empathy skills, as well as generate insights and ideas for their solutions.

3 Ideate possible solutions

The third step of design thinking is to ideate possible solutions to the challenge. This is where you and your students can unleash your creativity and imagination, and brainstorm as many ideas as possible, without judging or filtering them. You can use various techniques to ideate, such as mind mapping, sketching, SCAMPER, or reverse brainstorming. You can also encourage your students to choose their own ideation methods, or combine different ones, depending on their preferences and learning styles. Ideating possible solutions can help your students express their voice and choice, as well as explore multiple perspectives and possibilities.

4 Prototype selected solutions

The fourth step of design thinking is to prototype selected solutions to the challenge. This means creating a low-fidelity version of your idea, using simple and inexpensive materials, such as paper, cardboard, clay, or digital tools. You can use various formats to prototype, such as models, mockups, storyboards, or role plays. You can also encourage your students to choose their own prototyping formats, or mix and match different ones, depending on their project goals and audience. Prototyping selected solutions can help your students test their assumptions, refine their ideas, and learn from failures.

5 Test and get feedback

The fifth step of design thinking is to test and get feedback on your prototypes. This means sharing your prototypes with your users or stakeholders, and asking for their opinions, suggestions, and criticisms. You can use various methods to test and get feedback, such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. You can also encourage your students to choose their own testing and feedback methods, or use different ones for different prototypes, depending on their project context and criteria. Testing and getting feedback can help your students improve their solutions, validate their impact, and incorporate user feedback.

6 Iterate and present

The sixth and final step of design thinking is to iterate and present your solutions. This means making changes and improvements to your prototypes based on the feedback you received, and creating a high-fidelity version of your solution, using more advanced and polished materials, such as 3D printing, coding, or video production. You can use various modes to present your solutions, such as posters, slideshows, websites, or podcasts. You can also encourage your students to choose their own presentation modes, or use different ones for different audiences, depending on their project purpose and message. Iterating and presenting your solutions can help your students showcase their learning, share their voice and choice, and celebrate their achievements.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?