Transdisciplinary Design

Posters are great for anchoring learning into a visual form. The design process provides a framework for students to be problem solvers and designers. This very detailed poster should not be simply placed on the wall for students to memorize. Rather, it is the end result of what students may do as they design. 

To create this poster, I knew I wanted it to be engaging and provide students with a framework they could apply to any situation. As a designer of this poster, it was important to use the process myself to ensure students were clear, engaged, and had a deep understanding of it. As such, this poster was designed to be a tool, not simply a poster on the wall.

Below, you will find two additional versions of this poster.

Version 1 (below) presents the design process at its most basic level. It is essential to begin teaching this process using a simple, streamlined document. Reviewing key terms and having students trace the arrows with their fingers helps deepen their understanding of the iterative nature of this process. Starting a lesson with a straightforward problem that the class can work on together engages students and allows them to be successful.

Version 2 (below) includes blank boxes. In the small boxes, students identify what they are doing, while in the longer boxes, they explain how they are doing it. As students engage in the process, they record their actions' “what” and “how” as they complete the task. Having students document this information is crucial for internalizing the various components of the design process.

Below, you will find two additional versions of this poster.

Version 1 (below) is the design process at its most basic level. It is essential to start teaching this process using a simple, streamlined document. Reviewing keywords and having students trace the arrows with their fingers helps students deepen their understanding of the iterative nature of this process. Starting a lesson with a simple problem that you can do as a class engages students and allows them to be successful.

Version 2 (below) has blank boxes added. In the small boxes, students identify what they do, and in the longer boxes, students identify how they do it. As students engage in the process, they record what and how they do as they complete the task. Having students record this information is critical to internalizing all of the components of the design process.

Looking ahead, I plan to use version one as an introduction to the process and to get students to feel the process. I will implement a gradual release of scaffolding teachings off "I do," "We do," and "You do" to ensure students are not only familiar with but have a deep understanding of how to be a designer. By doing this, all students of all academic levels will successfully become designers.