1. Getting More than "Buy-In": Using Design Thinking to Advance Teaching & Learning Initiatives
Academy for Teaching Excellence Harper College
Michael Bates, Christopher Dobson
Good afternoon. We are Christopher Dobson and Michael Bates from the Academy for Teaching Excellence at Harper College. We would like to share with you today our process of using Design Thinking to Advance Teaching & Learning initiatives.

2. The Traditional Lecture
What’s wrong with this picture? Anything?
Is the student engaged? In the class… or something else?
Is the faculty engaged? In the moment, the material, with the students
What's going on in this picture or scene? Is the student texting?
"Is the faculty member aware, does he care if this is going on during class? Is that even the faculty member writing on the board?"

3. EMPATHIZE
Let’s reframe this picture and empathize with the scenario from the student and faculty points of view.
Is the student distracted with personal problems, like family issues?
Maybe the student is interacting with the discussion board?
Does the faculty member care? Maybe they encourage the use of devices in class?
EMPATHIZE

4. DEFINE Let’s define the problem we want to address…
Increase both student and faculty engagement
Let's "define" the problem with the traditional class format:
Some students "check-out"
There’s a lot of content, sometimes little application to the real-world
Is it all on the faculty member to teach or can students learn from each other?
We need methods to engage students and faculty alike!
DEFINE

5. IDEATE Students: Faculty: Encourage use of their own technology
Encourage study groups
Faculty:
Encourage communities of practice or faculty learning communities
Encourage professional development
What are some obvious methods for increasing engagement?
For students:
Encourage use of their own technology, Flip the Classroom
Encourage active learning in class and study groups
For faculty:
Encourage communities of practice
Encourage professional development
How can we go beyond the obvious?
IDEATE

6. PROTOTYPE
Think about your next lecture. Could you flip it? Are there opportunities for students to learn from each other? Can your students participate in role playing or is there a piece of technology you can use to rapidly assess their learning? Write up a lesson plan and get ready to test it.
PROTOTYPE

7. TEST Implement or test your solution/prototype
What worked? What didn’t?
Were students receptive?
Was it too much development/prep work for the faculty? Too much time commitment?
Put your plan into action. You don’t need to wait until next semester. Before implementing your lesson, determine how you will know if it is successful? In-class assessment results? Student surveys? Student interviews? Based on feedback, refine your lesson for next time.
TEST

8. DESIGN THINKING
Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving
Human-centered approach to innovation
1991 IDEO showcases their process developed at the Stanford Design School
What we’ve just done is given a simple of example of design thinking in action. Design thinking is a process for creative problem solving. It uses a human-centered approach to develop innovative solutions to real problems. Let’s articulate what happens in each phase of the design thinking process.
EMPATHIZE
DEFINE
IDEATE
PROTOTYPE
TEST

9. EMPATHIZE
Learn about your audience for whom you are designing. Who is the user? What matters to them?
Observe, Engage, Immerse
Interviews, shadowing, non-judgmental
The first phase is to empathize with your audience or users. Learn about your audience for whom you are designing. Who is the user? What matters to them?
Observe, engage, immerse yourself in your user base through interviews, shadowing, and surveys.
EMPATHIZE

10. DEFINE Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve.
What are the “needs” of your users?
Consider different points-of-view based on those needs?
Before you can build a solution you need to define the problem. Clearly articulate the problem you want to solve. Write it down in words. What are the “needs” of your users? Consider different points-of-view based on those needs? Share with the users to validate your understanding.
DEFINE

11. IDEATE
Brainstorm as many creative solutions as possible. All ideas are worthy!
Harness the collective perspectives & strengths of your teams
Step beyond obvious solutions! “Yes and…”
Now for the fun part…start to brainstorm solutions with your users and other stakeholders. Withhold judgment. All ideas matter, even the wild ones. Use deliberate brainstorming techniques like “mashups”. Instead of “but” and “you,” use “and” and “we.”
IDEATE

12. PROTOTYPE
Design a prototype (or series of prototypes) to test all or part of your solution
Build real, tactile or visual representations of your ideas if possible.
What is a prototype? Many initiatives get stuck in the planning phase. Design thinking has a bias towards action, rapid prototyping, failing forward and refining along the way. The prototype should be an actionable experience! You can do it tomorrow!
PROTOTYPE

13. TEST Share your prototyped idea with your original users for feedback
What worked? What didn’t?
Testing is another opportunity to build empathy. Through observation and engagement it often yields unexpected insights and opportunities for improvement. Encourage feedback from your users. This is an iterative process to learn and continuously adapt your prototype.
TEST

14. Level II Adjunct Faculty Engagement Program
The Level II Adjunct Faculty Engagement Program was designed to incentivize a body of work in college service and professional development. Level II adjunct faculty receive a pay increase, extra course assignment and guaranteed interview for a full-time position if available. The design thinking process was used with an advisory group to build out the program structure.

15. EMPATHIZE
The advisory group examined data to better understand the adjunct faculty population at Harper. Many myths and archetypes exist about adjunct faculty; however, this helped us to understand the motivations and demographics of Harper’s specific population.

16. DEFINE What problems may limit successful implementation? Time
Conflicting commitments
Multiple motivations for advancement
Perceived relevance
Overly prescriptive
Financial Sustainability
Based on needs assessment data, personal experience and conversations with other adjunct faculty, potential problems and limitations were defined by the advisory group. Articulating these predicted problems helped to inform the next stage of the design thinking process, in which potential solutions are brainstormed to address these problems.

17. IDEATE
The advisory group examined existing adjunct faculty promotion and recognition models as part of the brainstorming process. This produced a list of desirable program characteristics, including a structure that was not prescriptive, but rather individualized and flexible to meet the needs of a diverse adjunct faculty population.

18. PROTOTYPE Intent to Apply Course in Reflective Practice Portfolio
Committee Review
Two rounds of modeling were conducted to land on a final prototype design. Ultimately, the adjunct faculty builds an e-portfolio that showcases their college service and professional development experience. Artifacts that reflect this experience are also included in the portfolio. Faculty choose two domains which demonstrate their work.

19. TEST
An alpha test is currently being conducted in which an adjunct faculty member, who was identified as likely to be Level II – ready, goes through the course and completes his portfolio, which will be reviewed by a committee using the developed rubrics. This provides a feasibility study and allows for design element modifications.

20. Want more information? Contact Us: academy@harpercollege.edu
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