Students in the writing-intensive course RPTS 426 (Tourism Impacts) are undertaking a 10 week design thinking project addressing ways to make Texas A&M University more sustainable and carbon neutral. They focus on the main campus in Aggieland. The course is delivered online asynchronously. A pilot project was launched last year in a similar course that was highly insightful on the challenges and potential of design thinking for engaged learning (DTEL). We are conducting research to improve the engaged learning experience by facilitating more effective collaboration in the online student teams and better preparation to undertake the various steps of the design thinking process. Research on this project will help build on research results on various design thinking projects undertaken by SoTL instructors in other courses and enable continual refining and improvement in DTEL for this and other related courses. Furthermore, it will help complement a small Innovation [X] research project on the same topic that I am involved in along with cross-disciplinary students and team leaders from different areas of concentration across campus. The project is ongoing, but results from the previous semester illustrates immense potential for facilitating creative, collaborative engagement, as well as  meaningful, praxis oriented learning and critical thinking.

Tazim Jamal
Professor, Dept. of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences (RPTS)

Many of us who ask our students to work in groups are specific about the work that should be accomplished but not about HOW the work should be accomplished. Therefore, students often choose a cooperative approach by assigning individual tasks and combining the products from those tasks into a collective work. However, collaboration can produce much stronger learning because students are learning from their interactions with each other as they work together synchronously to build on each others’ ideas and create a cohesive final product. In Math 365 and Math 366, we are incorporating specific directions toward the use of collaboration in the project instructions and are asking students to reflect on their learning.

Tamara Carter
Instructional Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics

Students in the ALED 400 (Public Leadership Development) course engage in Design Thinking for Engaged Learning (DTEL) by addressing wicked problems either put forth by organizations in the Brazos County or wicked problems identified by Texas Speaks (a statewide needs assessment conducted by Texas AgriLife Extension to identify issues within Texas counties). Students work to identify and research the problem and then develop manageable solutions to the problem using the design thinking process. Some wicked problems students have addressed include: mental health for college students, healthy food choices for college students, disability awareness, and traffic issues on college campuses. We have been through multiple iterations and made changes after each iteration. Students complete reflections about the process and also describe how they develop in their problem-solving and teamwork skills. Students gain experience in a problem-solving process while working in a team.

Summer Odom
Associate Professor, Dept. of Agricultural Leadership, Education, & Communications

Design Thinking for Engaged Learning (DTEL) was introduced to the Animal Science Capstone course (ANSC 498) beginning in the Spring 2021 semester. Students are split up into groups, and each group selects a problem related to animal science for which they want to provide solutions. Students directly or indirectly interact with industry stakeholders to gather information that relates to the industry's problem. The students conduct background research and use design thinking approaches to identify innovative solutions to the wicked problems. Students use Divergence and Convergence exercises to determine problem areas and develop solutions. As part of the prototype design process, teams build low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes and collect data to help improve their designs. Students developed multiple deliverables for different target audiences (Infographics, Public education videos, Scientific papers and presentations, Poster presentations). Throughout the semester, students reflect on the design thinking process and these reflections are analyzed to create design moves for the next semester. Additionally, we are identifying strategies that help students to reflect better by creating better reflection prompts, and guiding students through the reflection process so that they can become better thinkers.

Sushil Paudyal
Instructional Assistant Professor, Department of Animal Science