Design Thinking

Using future technology to understand today’s world

Charlie Laurent, 4th Grade

FIRST LEGO League is much more than a robotics competition. As a Project-Based STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) learning experience, the FIRST LEGO League challenges students in myriad ways. It is rooted in design thinking as participants engage in an authentic design and ideation cycle. This year, the team was charged with “observing how cities and buildings grow, thrive, and change.” Team members set to work on developing an innovative solution to a problem facing their community. Using design thinking they:

• identified and researched the problem

• developed an empathy for those affected by the problem

• ideated possible new and innovative solutions to the problem

• developed prototypes of possible solutions

• tested the prototypes

• refined and reworked their prototypes

2001

First laptop classroom created. Allie’s Playground is dedicated in memory of Alexis A. Boss ‘89. Sailing program is revived.

Students also discovered what it means to be innovative. They were encouraged to challenge the rules, learn from failure, collaborate with others, stay curious, and take risks.

Providing students authentic, stimulating, and fun opportunities to practice innovation using design thinking is a crucial component to teaching the whole child. As Alvin Toffler, author of the classic book, Future Shock , posited fifty years ago, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” Fifty years later, the Rocky Hill Country Day School Robo-Mariners team members are sure to be a fully literate and successful group of 21st century global citizens.