Recently, my class was offered the opportunity to pilot test a new initiative being developed through the CT Centre Learning Commons. With funding from Education Matters, the ILT team is developing Maker Kits, a set of varied and powerful equipment that can be borrowed in order to offer classroom challenges inspired by the Maker Education Movement. Before they become available system wide, however, the team wants to put them through their paces so that they can be sure they are making the best decisions around specific equipment to be included within each kit.
My classroom is one of several that has been invited to test out these kits and provide feedback to the ILT team. Needless to say, I jumped on the opportunity to bring forward another design challenge that ties into the Grade 5 curriculum and offer this creative group of students a truly authentic way to share their understanding of a complex topic.
A Bit of Background
Throughout the year, the Grade 5 students at Twelve Mile Coulee have been looking at the impact and power of water, with a particularly in depth focus on the Calgary Flood of 2013. Virtually every student was impacted in someway by this event and it has provided many rich learning opportunities, including having a direct impact on our Zoo School opportunity earlier in the year. There have been guest speakers from virtually all groups that helped to manage the flood and we have heard the stories of those who lost everything they owned.
It seemed natural to connect our involvement in the Maker Kit Pilot (MKP) to these learning experiences in order to deepen student understanding and to further enhance the more scientific/mathematical exploration of water, floods and wetlands in Alberta that we have just begun.
These classes have also been given different design opportunities throughout the school year in which to engage in the process that is used by professionals when developing a solution to a given problem. Whether developing 'something that moves' (incorporating specific parts provided to them) or developing the plans of a Recreation Centre, this process should now be familiar although there is always room for refinement.
Getting Started
Today, we got started with this work although students were not yet given the problem that they are going to be challenged with solving. Instead, the students participated in a three-stage brainstorming activity at their table groups thaT was designed to bring forward relevant information that they may not have used in a while. The idea of an upcoming design challenge was shared along with the three focus areas for the brainstorm: 2013 Alberta Floods, Municipal Water Treatment, and Wetlands.
So, why these topic areas?
In designing the challenge, it was important to build in the use of previous knowledge in order to create the right conditions for success. By spending a bit of time at the beginning, you allow students to access relevant information and put it at the forefront of their minds for the early planning stages.
That is not to say, of course, that this is everything they might need to know. The content of the webs makes it clear that there is still much to learn. In his book, CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies and T-Shaped People: Inside the World of Design Thinking and How it Can Spark Creativity and Innovation (2011), Warren Berger says that oftentimes designers are at their best when approaching a problem that they know very little about as it let's them 'ask stupid questions' in order to approach the problem from a new direction. The challenge, then, is providing my class with enough previous knowledge that they can get started without providing so much that I have given them the answers or influenced their thinking so that all the solutions become similar or the same.
Next Steps
So, what next? I think the challenge will take a momentary pause. We have a trip to Weaslehead Natural Environment on Wednesday and I know the class will be gaining more useful knowledge about wetlands that can then be applied to reach a solution. On Thursday, the problem will be revealed and students will be challenged to develop a unique and innovative solution.
So, what EXACTLY is the challenge?
Well, you're just going to have to wait until Thursday to find out...