INVESTIGATE
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE PROBLEM, ISSUE, OR OPPORTUNITY?
Protocols/Techniques/Strategies
EMPATHY MAP (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING; ETHICAL CITIZENSHIP)
This is a great strategy to help students develop empathy for the person that they are developing a solution for related to the driving question. In general, students explore what the person "thinks", "sees", "says", "does", and "feels" and then think about how this influences any possible solutions they may come up with.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
STORYBOARD (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING)
Based upon the driving question they are presented with, students envision an "ideal future" using words and pictures. Based upon this ideal futures, students look for ideas or solutions related to the driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
INTERVIEWS & EXTREME USERS (Can adapted for grades 3 - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING; ETHICAL CITIZENSHIP)
Interviews with the actual people or users that are affected by the driving question is especially critical. It is important to understand their thoughts, emotions, and motivations in order to develop an effective solution to the driving question. It is especially helpful if students are able to talk with "extreme users" (individuals who are the most affected by the driving question) in the interviews to obtain their ideas and perspective.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
VISUAL GLOSSARY (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(COLLABORATION & GLOBAL THINKING; COMMUNICATION)
This is a great strategy for defining words/terms related to the driving question visually so that students have a common vocabulary. Over the course of the project, a visual word wall could be constructed which features all of the important/central words and terms related to the driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
CHARACTER PROFILE (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING; ETHICAL CITIZENSHIP)
This strategy is used to create a "character" based upon insights students have collected related to the people or users that are affected by the driving question. By focussing on one specific character, students can better evaluate whether the solutions they are developing will be useful or the most effective at addressing the driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
MOOD BOARD (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING)
Within this technique, students create a poster or a collage that captures the overall "feeling" or mood that they would like their final solution to have. The poster can serve as inspiration or something to check against as students are developing solutions to the driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
THE 4 C'S (Can be adapted for grades 3 - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING)
This is a protocol in which students explore what they know about the driving question in terms of "Components" (parts of the driving question), "Characteristics" (features of the driving question) , "Characters" (users or people affected by the driving question), and "Challenges" (obstacles associated with the driving question).
(Click here for an overview of this protocol.)
PAIN-GAIN (Can be adapted for grades K - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING; ETHICAL CITIZENSHIP)
Through this method, students explore what the pain (e.g. - What does a bad day look like for this person? What are they afraid of?) and gain (What does the person want? If we solved the driving question, how would the person benefit?) is for a user or person affected by the driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)
2 X 2 MATRIX (Can be adapted for grades 3 - 12)
(CRITICAL THINKING & PROBLEM SOLVING)
By looking at products, components, etc. related to the driving question on a 2x2 matrix (e.g. - cheap versus expensive and easy versus hard) students can begin to uncover different ideas and solutions that may be more effective at addressing their driving question.
(Click here for an overview of this method.)