ARTICLES
our desire to further develop creative design thinking in our students. By design thinking, we mean the
Top It is
FIVE
STEPS in Championing STEM Innovations (continued)
iterative process in which our students seek to empathise with the needs of the intended end-users of their
designs, then plan, develop and communicate their possible solutions to address those needs. The students
tinker, experiment with ideas and create prototypes, test and evaluate the prototypes and modify their
It is our desire to further develop creative design thinking in our
prototypes, test and evaluate the prototypes and modify their
designs
to
refine
and
meet
the
design
brief.
Figure
1
shows
the to key
processes
in the
our design
model
of design
students. By design thinking, we mean the iterative process
designs
refine
and meet
brief.
Figure 1 shows the
thinking
new NSW
Technology
Mandatory
Syllabus
for
Years
7-8
(NSW
Education
by which
our adapted
students from
seek the
to empathise
with
the needs of
key processes in our model of design thinking adapted from the
the Standards
intended end-users
of
their
designs,
then
plan,
develop
new NSW Technology Mandatory Syllabus for Years 7-8 (NSW
Authority, 2017).
and communicate their possible solutions to address those
needs. The students tinker, experiment with ideas and create
Education Standards Authority, 2017).
Figure 1. Situating Design Thinking at Mount Saint Benedict College.
Figure 1. Situating Design Thinking at Mount Saint Benedict College.
Adapted from NSW Education Standards Authority (2017)
Figure 1. Situating Design Thinking at Mount Saint Benedict College.
Adapted from NSW Education Standards Authority (2017)
2. Design
an Ill-Structured
Task Task
2. Design
an Ill-Structured
STEM, we presented the students with common flooding issues
that occurred in Australia. The students were asked to design
It is important to engage students in ill-structured tasks in STEM
allowed people
to remove
water their
from 21
their
st house
It is important to engage students in ill-structured tasks a in device
STEM that
programs
in order
to develop
programs in order to develop their 21st Century skills. The
during the flooding period. They were asked to test out their
Century that
skills.
challenges
our society
faces are design
increasingly
complex,
high-level
of from
challenges
our The
society
faces are that
increasingly
complex,
by moving
as much necessitating
water as possible
in a minute
necessitating
high-level skills
of problem-solving
skills The
and World
resilience.
one bucket
another, posits
positioned
at a height
of 300 mm. We
problem-solving
and resilience.
Economic
Forum to (2016)
complex
problem-solving
The World Economic Forum (2016) posits complex problem-
developed
a school-based
(Bennies
dollars) and gave
as one of the top 10 skills by 2020. This is a key competency
in an
age in which currency
artificial
intelligence,
each team a total of $30 to buy materials from a store set up
solving as one of the top 10 skills by 2020. This is a key competency
robotics and machine learning are growing in importance
daily
lives. Depending on what the students had
for in
the our
STEM
program.
in an age in which artificial intelligence, robotics and machine
designed, the range of suggested devices showed applications
learning are growing in importance in our daily lives.
When a task is ill-structured it is based on real-world contexts, and is therefore complex in nature
of mathematical budgeting, collaborative decision-making,
When
a
task
is
ill-structured
it
is
based
on
real-world
contexts,
(Jonassen, 1997). According to Jonassen, an ill-structured
demands
multiple
and task
scientific
concepts
such perspectives
as transfer of to
energy, hydraulic
and is therefore complex in nature (Jonassen, 1997). According
power,
understanding
the uses
Archimedean
understand it, and multiple solutions are expected to solve
the and
problems
it presents.
This of is the crucial
when spiral.
to Jonassen, an ill-structured task demands multiple perspectives
The students used Microsoft OneNote to capture and reflect
students approach
a problem
from
perspectives
Engineering and Mathematics and use
to understand
it, and multiple
solutions
are the
expected
to solve of Science,
their thinking process and collaborative functions to share and
Technology
during This
their
problem-solving
our earlier
years of the
implementing
the problems
it presents.
is crucial
when students process.
approach For instance,
construct in
ideas.
They searched
Internet for just-in-time
a problem
perspectives
of Science,
Engineering
information
to support
their in prototype
design.
2 shows a
STEM, from
we the
presented
the students
with
common and
flooding
issues that
occurred
Australia.
The Figure
students
Mathematics and use Technology during their problem-solving
range of solutions developed by the students for this ill-structured
were asked to design a device that allowed people to remove
water from their house during the flooding
task.
process. For instance, in our earlier years of implementing
period. They were asked to test out their design by moving as much water as possible in a minute from one
bucket to another, positioned at a height of 300 mm. We developed a school-based currency (Bennies
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SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 68 NO 1
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