Big Picture
Throughout the morning’s activities, students will have explored the design of personal creative spaces, which will have led to a campus walkabout – to consider the design of school-based learning spaces.

Backstory
Over the coming years, NOCCA will expand the school’s structure as well as transform interiors. Administration feels strongly that students will have a voice in the process. In addition, the local community seeks design input from the students regarding a historical museum focused on the civil rights movement.

Design Day 2011
Design Day 2011 will introduce 60 high school freshman to design thinking and learning skills using a Learn.Think.Do approach to design new learning spaces… by extension learning processes. 

Goal – over time students will become self-directed problem solvers embedded in continuous growth. In other words, students will go beyond the “right answer”, rather realize multiple alternatives to consider to any given problem, situation, etc.

Brainstorming Session/s
Prior to the brainstorming session/s with visiting designers, kids will have experienced a story mapping exercise – designed to consolidate morning activities. Session facilitators will “gently guide and design with” (as opposed to drive and design for) teams of students through a process to visualize student-generated ideas in sketch/written form.

Outputs and Direct Application
Outputs of the brainstorming session will serve as a bridge to an upcoming Charrette – where students will present initial plans of action for foreign language, humanities, science learning spaces. Student teams will offer written narratives along with creative representations of their choice (digital media, dance, musical, 3-D or 2-D model, etc.).

Framework