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The students had to test their products to insure that they could work without them being present to guide viewers.

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Here is a student creating and testing switches for her group

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Students worked in groups to complete the assignments. Groups included researchers, testers, constructors, and programmers.

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Students participated in a showcase where they watched the Ozobot "actors" act out the story. They analyzed the random turns the Ozobots made to determine if the choice they made elicited more or less empathy in the reader.

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The teacher and I acted as facilitators, helping students problem solve when needed and asking guiding questions to drive thinking.

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Students tested codes to make sure that they would work before they translated them to their final project. They problem solved codes that were ineffective.

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Students worked in groups to write their stories, code and test their robots.

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Essential Question: How do changing geological features affect different parts of the world, including different cultures?

Design Challenge? How can I design an interactive experience with Makey Makeys, Scratch, buttons, and switches that educates viewers about the geological features of my region?

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Essential Question:
How do authors use characterization in fiction to elicit empathy in readers?

The challenge: How can you use the random turn feature of Ozobots and their programming language to cast Ozobots in an original work of fiction that allows the reader to analyze how choices impact reader empathy?

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Standard:
5 ) Use evidence to explain how different geologic processes shape Earth's history over widely varying scales of space and time (e.g., chemical and physical erosion; tectonic plate processes; volcanic eruptions; meteor impacts; regional geographical features...

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Standards:
3 ) Analyze how particular lines of dialogue or incidents in a story or drama propel the action, reveal aspects of a character, or provoke a decision. [RL.8.3]
22 ) Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences. [W.8.3]

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What does it look like in the classroom? 

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What does it look like in the classroom? 

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In the final step, students will reflect on the product or prototype to determine what works and what needs to be refined, then make refinements. This process may be completed more than once! As you can see--this step can lead back to many of the previous steps.

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In this step, students will answer the problem by creating a product or prototype. This can vary from a 3-D printed prototype to a pamphlet or website. The product should help solve the problem.

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In this step, students will work together to solve the problem that they determined in Step 4.

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This is where students will collaboratively synthesize all of the data gathered in the previous step. "The Define stage will help the designers in your team gather great ideas to establish features, functions, and any other elements that will allow them to solve the problems or, at the very least, allow users to resolve issues themselves with the minimum of difficulty."
----"5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process" by Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang (May, 2020).

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Ask questions that elicit a variety of responses and model collaboration so that students can discuss their approaches to the question. Collaboration can go outside the walls of the classroom from consulting experts to interviewing people with diverse backgrounds to determine their point of view to physically or virtually immersing one's self in the physical environment related to the question.

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Once you've determined what the standard is asking, introduce a question or questions that inspire inquiry and curiosity.

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Standards are what guide our learning and prepare students for the next grade level. Read through the standard, break it down. What is it really asking?

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"Design Thinking is a design methodology that provides a solution-based approach to solving problems. It’s extremely useful in tackling complex problems that are ill-defined or unknown, by understanding the human needs involved, by re-framing the problem in human-centric ways, by creating many ideas in brainstorming sessions, and by adopting a hands-on approach in prototyping and testing. Understanding these five stages of Design Thinking will empower anyone to apply the Design Thinking methods in order to solve complex problems that occur around us — in our companies, in our countries, and even on the scale of our planet."
--"5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process" by Rikke Friis Dam and Teo Yu Siang (May, 2020).

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An essential question is an open-ended question; one that can not be answered by "YES" or "NO." We live in a world made up of difficult questions. In order prepare our students for future jobs, we need to teach them how to think through complex questions--the cure for a global pandemic, world hunger, or urban deserts can not be solved with a "YES" or a "NO."

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Turning a standard into a design thinking challenge blends the processes of developing an essential question with design thinking.

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This passion project was inspired by reflections upon the positive impact that design thinking has on student engagement and growth. After attending a session with Rebecca Hare, Clayton Schools @RLH_designED at ISTE Creative Constructor Lab, I was inspired to put the process of turning a standard into a design thinking challenge into practice in my own school system.