This class provides students an opportunity to learn the knowledge and the capability needed in "Design Thinking" approach through intensive lectures and practices of a team project. The class starts with the question, "What is Design Thinking?". The students are requested to understand and master the "Design Thinking" approach about how to find and solve the problem from the fundamental level. The knowledge and skill obtained in this class is highly related to the following Engineering Design projects. When engineers faces various problems, they must know how to solve them with strong viewpoint of key issues in problems. Therefore, students in this class learn fundamental five steps; Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test, and understand how to use these steps through basic exercises. They also experience the iterating processes from "finding potential user needs" to "ideating as prototyping solutions to problems".
The goal is to understand fundamental five steps of "Design Thinking" approach; Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test, through lectures and practices of a team project.
Design Thinking, Project-Based-Learning (PBL)
Specialist skills | Intercultural skills | ✔ Communication skills | ✔ Critical thinking skills | ✔ Practical and/or problem-solving skills |
All lectures are to be held at workshop spaces, such as Design Factory, Ishikawadai 5th bldg., 3rd floor.
Students are supposed to have a group work under instructors' supervision. The class style is Project-Based-Learning (PBL).
In the Design Thinking Fundamentals A, lectures are given mainly in English (though Japanese usage is accepted in group discussions).
Course schedule | Required learning | |
---|---|---|
Class 1 | DTF-A (held on Monday in English at Design Factory) Each instructor specifies her/his class schedule. Design Thinking Fundamentals Course Structure Module 1: Introduction to Design Thinking Module 2: Research & Inspiration Module 3: Synthesis & Opportunity Areas Module 4: Ideation & Concept Development Module 5: Prototyping Module 6: Storytelling Module 7: Final Presentation | Each instructor indicates assignment. |
To enhance effective learning, students are encouraged to spend approximately 100 minutes preparing for class and another 100 minutes reviewing class content afterwards (including assignments) for each class.
They should do so by referring to textbooks and other course material.
Each instructor specifies textbooks.
Each instructor specifies materials.
Each instructor specifies criterion and methods for assessment.
Each instructor specifies requirements for her/his class.
Room S323 will not be used, instead workshop spaces such as Ishikawadai Bldg. No. 5 3rd Floor Design Factory will be used. Details of the location for the 1st lecture will be announced via email on a day before; therefore, please complete registration two days before the 1st class.
This lecture restricts the number of students based on the maximum number of project groups. The enrollment of the following students will be preferentially accepted. If there are too many participants, selection such as interviews is carried out.
(i) Students in Engineering and Science Design Course and CBEC Program.
(ii) Students who are willing to practice "empathizing with users through producing prototypes" and "overcoming the diversity of students with different backgrounds." These are evaluated by enrollment experiences of the related courses and interviews with the instructors.