Design for change A designers effort to influence and change the way students receive education in India.
PROJECT BRIEF Design a reward system program for school students. TARGET AUDIENCE School going students between the age of 12-17. YEAR 2012-2013
Why school?
What did we do?
How did we proceed?
A school is an organization where lot of people interact with each other.
Our mission was to make education a more rewarding experience for students.
Reward strategies have been a successful step in many organizations.
A place with a lot of interaction will always has a scope of design interventions. This is done to improve the experience of each and every consumer.
These days school going students take a lot of stress and pressure about education and getting more marks.
Can we implement the same in Indian school ?
Site visit Maharaja Agrasen Vidyalaya a school situated in the heart of the city Ahmedabad (Gujarat) is a temple of disciplined learning and strict rules. Implementing a creative strategy could be a real challenge. The music class
The computer class
The actual site
Mind Mapping We first interacted with the students and the teachers. While talking to them we started mind mapping keywords that were related to: How does the school function? Who are the major stakeholders? What are the key drivers of the school system?
TIMINGS 8-3
ACTIVITIES Morning prayers Periods Breaks Co-curricular
Classes K.G - 12th and all sections PEOPLE ASSOCIATED Students Teachers Principle Director Trustee Peon Security Sweepers
TRANSPORT Bus Rickshaw Cycle Walking Bike Car
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES Studying Playing Music Exams
SUBJECTS Maths English Science Hindi Social studies Physical education EXTRA SUBJECTS S.U.P.W Music French Sanskrit Regional language
DISCIPLINE Walking in line Nails cut Hair cut Keep silence be sincere Stay neat and clean Never be late
PLACES
EXTRA ACTIVITIES Volunteering Monitoring March past Playing instruments Scouting/ Guiding NCC
SCHOOL
EMOTIONS Happy Sad Dull Enthusiasm Eager excited Scared
STUDENTS Intelligent Outstanding Average Smart Slow Introvert Naughty Noisy Energetic Enthusiastic
EXAMS Terms Roll number Cheating Marks Examiner Pass/fail Supplementary Question paper
Classes Assembly Playing ground I.T class Music class Amphitheater Hall Labs Sports room Library Washroom Sick room
PUNISHMENTS H.W not done Late line Wrong uniform Talking in class Other mischiefs TEACHERS Male/Female Old/young experienced new Strict Sweet Funny Khadus
RELATED PLACES Home Tuition Snack corner Bunking areas
UNIFORMS Shirt Pant/Half pant Skirt Formal shoes Canvas shoes Hair band Birthday (No uniforms)
IMPORTANT DAYS
Independence day Republic day National hero's birthdays Weeks before exams Annual day Parents teacher meeting Sports day Foundation day Teachers day Children's day Last day of the secession
Key Insights We gave students post-its, on which they could write what they disliked about the school. Surprisingly, students were not interested in taking part in any co-curricular activities. They were scared of their report cards. Subjects like art and music were “boring”. Lack of motivation and fear in students mind was not letting them “learn. They only ”studied”.
I don't like the art period, it is so boring that we make lines and then go to the “art class” and then fill those drawing books I don't like it and I can say that none of my friends do.
I am really scared of the report card. The way it comes and the way I open it I just don't like it. My parents get very upset when I score less.
I like the Co curricular activity period those are two free periods that I get in a week so that I can sit and relax. I don't like C.C.A waise toh.
We want more inter school competitions or even inter class/house competition. Better prizes we want more activities like these and activities like art and music.
We want more smart boards (for all the sections). Right now there is only one smart board in the “B” section and we share it we want it in all the classes.
This uniform is very boring . Plus I like drawing but the way they teach us, I hate drawing here.
The benches are not comfortable, I don't feel like sitting on the benches only.
I wish we had something better to do in school apart from just studying.
Ideation We started with two parallel concepts... 1) How can the students be motivated to take part in different activities and how can they get enough recognition ? 2) How can we take out the fear of reading report cards or seeing marks on the same ? 3) Can the classes of extra Subjects have something interesting when they come in ?
Conceptualization
1st
We created Mr. Pency, student’s best friend and a guide to them in this journey called learning. 1) For motivating students. Rewards points, recognition and motivation have been key incentives to make a task interesting. This strategy is also responsible for getting more output from the performers of the task. 2) Information Design Pictorial representation of any data is always more engaging and informing as compared to direct representation of the data. We tried applying the same logic in the report card of the students.
100
100
80
80
60
60
40
40
20
20
0
0
xx xx xx xx XX
XX
XX
Final deliverable 1 Score more for the badge. Students in high school take pride in wearing different badges, be it the monitor or the house prefect. We applied the same rule for all the subjects. Students who score highest marks in a subject get to wear a badge with the name of a pioneer in that subject.
The Newton of Class 9th A
The Newton of Class 11th A
The C. Darwin of Class 9th A
The C. Darwin of Class 11th A
The Marie Curie of Class 9th A
The Marie Curie of Class 11th A
The R. Carson of Class 9th A
The R.Carson of Class 11th A
The Archimedes of Class 9th A
The Archimedes of Class 11th A
The Steve jobs of Class 9th A
The Steve Jobs of Class 11th A
The Hypatia of Class 9th A
The Hypatia of Class 11th A
The M. Whitman of Class 9th A
The M. Whitman of Class 11th A
The Picasso of Class 9th A
The Picasso of Class 11th A
The P.T Usha of Class 9th
The Smasher of Class 9th
The Frida kahlo of Class 9th A
The Frida kahlo of Class 11th A
The Husain Bolt of Class 9th
The Smasher of Class 10th
The Ruthorford of Class 9th A
The Ruthorford of Class 11th A
The J. Barton of Class 9th A
The J. Barton of Class 11th A
Final deliverable 2 The report card saga Report card is the final result of all the hard work that students do. It cant be hard hitting for them. It is document that helps them realize their growth and short coming. We converted all the marks to graphs and and gave all the information different colors. In order to make the report card more informative and more helpful.
Academic Records
Personal Records
Health
In August
In December
Regularity
Height
167
168
Punctuality Discipline
Weight
55
57
First Term
Qualities
100 80 60 40 20 0
English Maths Social Hindi Science
FIRST TIME
Art
B+
Cleanliness
PeD
A
S.U.P.W
B
Initiative Confidence
E.V.S
B+
Class Teacher
Checker
Examination In charge
SECOND TIME
THIRD TIME
I Term
II Term
III Term
Present
152
271
359
Total
160
282
388
Attendance
Courteous
Parent
General Performance FIRST TIME
Attitude Second Term 100 80 60 40
Art
B+
PeD
A
S.U.P.W
B
E.V.S
B+
English Maths Social Hindi Science
Class Teacher
Checker
Examination In charge
THIRD TIME
Towards Teachers Towards class mates Towards school performance Teachers Sign
Extra activities
FIRST TIME
SECOND TIME
THIRD TIME
Extra Reading Creative Writing Public Speaking Dance/Drama
20 0
SECOND TIME
Parent
Teachers Sign
Third Term
Outdoor activities
100
FIRST TIME
SECOND TIME
THIRD TIME
Games and Sports 80 60 40
Art
B+
PeD
A
S.U.P.W
B
E.V.S
B+
Adventures activities Scouting & Guiding Teachers Sign
Principals remark at the end of the session
20 0 English Maths Social Hindi Science
Class Teacher
Checker
Examination Incharge
Parent
Principal Excellent :
Very good:
Good:
Satisfactory:
Average:
Under Average:
Poor:
Final deliverable 3 No boring extra classes. Whenever students visit the extra subject class they are welcomed by Mr. Pency saying famous quotes of the pioneers of that particular subject. Students see something new instead of dull boring walls.
The name is Bond,
Covalent Bond.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan
Art enables us to ďŹ nd ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time. -Thomas Merton
Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. - Harry S. Truman
Conclusion Education as a gift in India is not received by everyone. The ones who receive it, are under constant pressure of performance and are very stressed. We as designers should always strive for creating better experience wherever we can. This was a generous attempt in making education better for Indian kids... because When India will Read Then India will Lead.