Five Elements of Design Thinking in Designed to Learn

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Understand to Empathize

Taking perspective means looking more closely at the multiple connections within and among issues, students get acquainted with the complexity of the problems they’ll be identifying later on.

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Identify and Research

Isolating the opportunity or concern their designed solution will address, students seek out the root cause from the symptoms and move into research where they gain deeper insight into the content. 

Communicate to Ideate

As students grow their voice and sense of competence in learning, teachers support them in providing feedback to their peers and supporting learners as they reflect on their own work. 

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Prototype and Test

Creativity and communication are essential as students make learning visible through prototyping and testing their designs. During this element, students continue to make learning visible by selecting components of their solution and later testing their hypotheses. 

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Iterate and Reflect

Iteration and reflection teach the valuable skills of persistence and failing forward while also ensuring students develop strong content knowledge.