There’s no better way to build teamwork and cooperation than
to work on a design-thinking project as our third, fourth and fifth graders recently
did because the entire premise of design thinking rests upon communication and
collaboration. The cross-graded challenge we gave to our students: construct a freestanding
structure using only 40 dowels and rubber bands that can house all of your teammates
comfortably.
Prior to the exercise, the teachers discussed the social
goals of the activity with the students and explained that the process of
working together outweighed the end result. Most importantly, the students had
to include everyone in the activity and listen to everyone’s ideas, even the
ideas that were far fetched.
The students set out to the school field armed with dowels, rubber bands and plenty of enthusiasm. Before
they got started, the teammates huddled together and whooped a cheer. Each
group was paired with a teacher/moderator to facilitate the brainstorming.
And then the ideas flowed:
“What about an airport?”
“I want something really tall!”
“Let’s build a castle with a moat!”
“Where are we going to get the water?’
“Listen!" one chimed in, " There are no bad ideas.”
“Everyone’s talking at the same time!”
“I like the idea of the moat, but maybe we should focus on
the castle first.”
The facilitator gently steered and directed to keep the conversation
positive as
students talked over one another and grappled at times to
stay on task. Nonetheless, the students pulled each other along – the reticent
student to the take charge one - to create their concept. That’s
teamwork.
Whereas some groups
drew a prototypes of their design, other groups jumped right in on constructing
their piece Students self- selected their roles as some worked on building a
base, and others wrapped rubber bands to secure the dowels together which
required a special technique. Elements of some structures collapsed and the
students stepped back to discuss solutions. Where one student struggled, another
offered a suggestion.
After discussing their group projects, each individual
student reflected on their ability to cooperate by filling out a questionnaire:
How well did you cooperate with your group? What does cooperation mean to you?
What specific advice would you give other team members to improve their
cooperation?
Through the exercise students demonstrated not only
cooperation but assertion, responsibility, empathy and self-control. Design
Thinking requires not only a great idea but also the social and emotional
intelligence to see that idea to fruition.