Roslynn Pardy

Design Thinking In Year 4

Year 4 has had a busy start to the Term. Students have been discussing, collaborating, brainstorming, prototyping, testing and constructing with various materials in our classrooms.  The provocations given provided the opportunity for students to work together to find a solution to a problem. Through this process, students have been experiencing and understanding the Design Process. We have also had the pleasure of welcoming the CEO of Good Design Australia Dr Brandon Gien into our classrooms to discuss the necessity of good design combined with sustainability in real life situations.  Last week students used their knowledge to ideate, design and build various recess games out of recyclables for the Years 1 and 2. The Year 4 students began the Design Process by empathising with the younger students through surveying the Infants about what they would like to see on the playground.  

The prototypes were well received by all the students and teachers during recess on Friday. Students were seen smiling and laughing and stating that: “This was the best day ever!”. Through the reflection process students were able to understand how to look for long-term solutions for problems as well as identifying ways to make the process better for any future designs.  

Throughout the rest of the Term students will continue using Design Thinking to brainstorm solutions to various real life problems. We look forward to sharing some of the problems, ideas and prototypes in further detail as we create a MakerSpace within our rooms.