As my students start into their third design challenge I have come to realize that my students really struggle with understanding and using empathy in their design. Before I have asked students to generate questions to others about their design challenge and document their questions. This was not really working. For design challenge #3 the students have been challenged with creating a mural that captures the feeling of the design thinking process. This gave me an opportunity to really focus in on having the students understand empathy and how to gain empathy.
I gave the students three different people they needed to "interview" for empathy. The first was our Art teacher so they can put themselves in the shoes of the artist. I wanted them to focus on how the mural would be created and the different elements they need to think about from the art standpoint. I gave the students an entire day to generate questions as a team that they would use in a face to face interview with the teacher. I did not pre-screen the questions. When she arrived today to be interviewed the students just sat there without any questions. The one question that was asked was not on track to being part of empathy. After the art teacher left I used the time as a teaching moment for empathy. We discussed and talked about the type of questions that should have been asked. I am going to have the art teacher come back again and give the students another shot at really using empathy the right way.
The second person that I wanted them to put themselves in the shoes of was our principal. He will be the one choosing the winning mural that will be painted on the wall. I wanted them to ask him vision questions that will help them understand what he is looking for. The time challenges that a Principal faces meant that he was not available for a live interview. It was actually great because it gave me a chance to have the kids use empathy in a different way. I had the students generate the questions as a team then email him the questions. Having pre-warned the principal to expect the emails, he was great and answered each and every one (I think he actually really enjoyed the process and the emails from the students!) The one thing that I need to do differently is to have the students cc me in on the email so I can keep track of which groups completed the assignment and so I am able to assess the questions being asked. Since I skipped that part of the process I had the students forward their email and my principal's response to me instead.
The last person I wanted them to connect with for empathy was a potential new student to the school. They will be the one that will walk by the mural everyday and they will be the ones that need to understand the process so it is important for them to be thought about as the students design. For this option I had the students also generate questions they thought would be important to give them insight, then either email them to a student who I connected with ahead of time and was willing to help me, or record a short video asking the questions. I had one group that did video their questions and the student did a video in response. This was a great way for me to see the possibilities that I had for connections with other students around the US or event he world (my ultimate goal in design thinking). It worked pretty well and it is something that I want to continue to explore.
Overall the students seemed to get a little bit better grasp on empathy but I think I still have a long way to go in developing this skill in the students.
