DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION FINAL PAPER

Challenge and Selection

My challenge occurred several years ago at work. I am a college business faculty member who teaches  management. One learning goal in my classes is to cover ethics, both personal and professional. I decided  to use the Design Thinking tool of Storytelling. I tell my own stories of observation and experience to  make a connection with the students and illustrate how complex ethics can be in the real world. I reasoned  that telling about actual unethical situations I had witnessed in my career would be the best way to convey  how important it is to abide by a personal and professional code of ethics and what can happen if  someone does not. This topic usually prompts informal discussions which allow for teachable moments.  Also, we can have “story time” in class when the content coverage gets too monotonous. Then we can  revisit stories and bring up new ideas the students have.    As noted in the Good Kitchen example from Fuenzalida, telling the stories of the elderly and the  workers’ needs revealed solutions to the problem of “poor nutrition.” In a similar way, when students and  teachers come together to discuss the problem of “poor ethics” in classes, they can understand each other  and maybe realize the issue is really “lack of information.”    Application    How I did it. The opportunity was that students could learn about academic ethical dilemmas through  storytelling by the instructor. I decided to focus on academic ethical dilemmas to drive home the  importance of avoiding plagiarism or cheating on tests and assignments. I surveyed the class first to find  out: Did they know what academic integrity was? Did they know the definition of plagiarism? Did they  know what citations and references were for research papers?    Most in the classes had a basic understanding of cheating on exams, but many had little knowledge  beyond that – especially on topics like collaboration or the use of outside resources on assignments. So, I  started going over basics in academic integrity in class through mini lectures. We also went over the  Student Code of Conduct at the University. I posted articles on academic misconduct at various  universities on our course website. I allowed for continued discussions on blogs on account of limited  class time and also allowed for anonymous comments in a turn-in pile that we used for daily work. As  they raised questions, we added those topics to the mini lectures followed by discussions.     Insights and Approach    I realized not all students were comfortable talking about academic ethics in a group setting and students  were at different levels in their knowledge. Therefore, the online discussions and anonymous options for  communication were important to encourage all students to engage. We needed to continue the dialog for  those who missed class or had a recent experience they wanted to share.     I was happy with the results of my storytelling, but now that I have taken the Design Thinking course for  Innovation, I would add a few new practices. In the future, I want students to be able to tell their stories,  so I will allow for that by offering an optional assignment on a nongraded blog where they can share and  receive feedback from peers. I will also add more academic integrity resources to my webpage for the  course, so students know where to go to get reliable information. I will ask the students what they find  valuable as well (from Efren Ruiz’s lecture).

I believe this is an appropriate tool from the Design Thinking toolbox to use as the storytelling method  allows for the rich sharing of information on a topic that is often avoided by students and faculty. For  example, I tell the story of my professor who plagiarized my classmate’s paper as his own. After the  student went to the Honors Council and they held a hearing, he admitted he did it and later resigned over  the issue rather than be fired. Most students are surprised that faculty too are held to a strict academic  standard and can be disciplined for their behaviors.     In the future I plan to monitor the progress of my storytelling technique over the semesters to determine  what works (and hopefully what wows). I will revise the practices as we go as needed. For example,  technology is a useful addition and now word processing programs can create research paper citations and  references for students. I will use the iterative process that we discussed in class to follow the process:  awareness → familiarity → knowledge → practice. I am glad I have now learned the Design Thinking  way to approach problems and know it will be useful in my career.


DESIGN THINKING FOR INNOVATION FINAL PAPER Challenge and Selection My challenge occurred several years ago at work . I am a college business faculty member who teaches management . One learning goal in my classes is to cover ethics , both personal and professional . I decided to use the Design Thinking tool of Storytelling . I tell my own stories of observation and experience to make a connection with the students and illustrate how complex ethics can be in the real world . I reasoned that telling about actual unethical situations I had witnessed in my career would be the best way to convey how important it is to abide by a personal and professional code of ethics and what can happen if someone does not . This topic usually prompts informal discussions which allow for teachable moments . Also , we can have “ story time ” in class when the content coverage gets too monotonous . Then we can revisit stories and bring up new ideas the students have . As noted in the Good Kitchen example from Fuenzalida , telling the stories of the elderly and the workers ’ needs revealed solutions to the problem of “ poor nutrition . ” In a similar way , when students and teachers come together to discuss the problem of “ poor ethics ” in classes , they can understand each other and maybe realize the issue is really “ lack of information . ” Application How I did it . The opportunity was that students could learn about academic ethical dilemmas through storytelling by the instructor . I decided to focus on academic ethical dilemmas to drive home the importance of avoiding plagiarism or cheating on tests and assignments . I surveyed the class first to find out : Did they know what academic integrity was ? Did they know the definition of plagiarism ? Did they know what citations and references were for research papers ? Most in the classes had a basic understanding of cheating on exams , but many had little knowledge beyond that – especially on topics like collaboration or the use of outside resources on assignments . So , I started going over basics in academic integrity in class through mini lectures . We also went over the Student Code of Conduct at the University . I posted articles on academic misconduct at various universities on our course website . I allowed for continued discussions on blogs on account of limited class time and also allowed for anonymous comments in a turn - in pile that we used for daily work . As they raised questions , we added those topics to the mini lectures followed by discussions . Insights and Approach I realized not all students were comfortable talking about academic ethics in a group setting and students were at different levels in their knowledge . Therefore , the online discussions and anonymous options for communication were important to encourage all students to engage . We needed to continue the dialog for those who missed class or had a recent experience they wanted to share . I was happy with the results of my storytelling , but now that I have taken the Design Thinking course for Innovation , I would add a few new practices . In the future , I want students to be able to tell their stories , so I will allow for that by offering an optional assignment on a nongraded blog where they can share and receive feedback from peers . I will also add more academic integrity resources to my webpage for the course , so students know where to go to get reliable information . I will ask the students what they find valuable as well ( from Efren Ruiz ’s lecture ) . I believe this is an appropriate tool from the Design Thinking toolbox to use as the storytelling method allows for the rich sharing of information on a topic that is often avoided by students and faculty . For example , I tell the story of my professor who plagiarized my classmate ’s paper as his own . After the student went to the Honors Council and they held a hearing , he admitted he did it and later resigned over the issue rather than be fired . Most students are surprised that faculty too are held to a strict academic standard and can be disciplined for their behaviors . In the future I plan to monitor the progress of my storytelling technique over the semesters to determine what works ( and hopefully what wows ) . I will revise the practices as we go as needed . For example , technology is a useful addition and now word processing programs can create research paper citations and references for students . I will use the iterative process that we discussed in class to follow the process : awareness → familiarity → knowledge → practice . I am glad I have now learned the Design Thinking way to approach problems and know it will be useful in my career .