Empowering students to tackle big problems through design thinking
Twenty students explore design thinking at MIT, envisioning a better future for their communities.
By Mariah Rawding
Twenty high school students recently visited MIT for a packed three-day in-person program part of MIT Admissions’ inaugural small town and rural students (STARS) fly-in program. From exploring the Institute’s underground tunnels to workshops, the students had a weekend highlighting the hands-on, project-based learning MIT is known for.
One of their stops was at MIT Open Learning, where they attended a design thinking workshop led by the pK-12 team, focused on helping young people understand how this problem-solving approach can help them solve challenges in their communities and beyond.
“My biggest takeaway from the workshop is that big problems require creative solutions,” says Elle, a student from Watkinsville, Georgia. “In order to address issues in our community, we have to think about new ways to use things in order to minimize costs and resources and that requires a lot of creativity.”
From problem to prototype
As a methodology, design thinking encourages a focus on iteration and learning from failure in quick succession. During the workshop students were encouraged to apply this framework while taking part in a team and project-based activity.
“In these sessions, we want students to understand that failure is part of the design process. Designing a working solution to a challenge isn’t likely to happen on the first try, and learning that the process is less than linear with multiple iterations, tweaks, and changes in perspective can be frustrating,” says Joe Diaz, a STEAM educator and program manager at MIT pK-12. “One of our learning goals is that by both becoming comfortable with this discomfort and collaborating with others, learners realize that they have the ability to develop novel solutions that can actually become a reality.”
Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a guide, Diaz sparked conversations with students on a variety of topics, from the impacts to well water to lack of infrastructure in order to help jumpstart the brainstorming process. In a quick sprint, students broke into teams and built a look-like prototype to tackle the design challenge “No Chill,” where they focused on solutions for climate change and the reality of a hotter planet.
With imaginative designs, from a cooling lunch box to an underground cooling system for roads, students brought forward inspirational ideas about how to cope with climate change and built prototypes that could have real impacts.
“The most memorable moment from the workshop was having to figure out our solution and then actually build a prototype of it,” says Elle.
In just under two hours, her team used a variety of easily accessible materials like cardboard, pipe cleaners, batteries, hot glue guns, and sensors to build an electric vehicle that uses solar power to recharge.
Impact for the next generation
MIT’s educational philosophy highlights that the best education occurs when learners are engaged in a dynamic community combined with rigorous academics and a learn by doing methodology. This is known as MIT’s unique minds-on, hands-on approach to learning. With greater exposure to this approach and mindset for young people, groups at MIT hope to nurture students to solve big challenges across the globe.
“I’m proud to host a program so vital to these students’ college search and application journey,” says Nicole Cooper, assistant director of MIT admissions for rural outreach and a first-generation college student from rural Wyoming. “As a founding member of the STARS College Network, MIT is committed to expanding access to higher education for students from small towns. By bringing these students to campus, we offer first-hand exposure to MIT’s learning environment and provide tools they can take back to benefit their communities.”
For Tate, a student from Canadian, Texas, the design thinking workshop at MIT pK-12 was eye-opening. “The workshop just gave me an entirely new way of looking at problems.” Tate says. “The new approach should help me see problems in different ways and create better solutions to the challenges facing my community.”
