ERIC Number: EJ1429970
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Sep
Pages: 26
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0957 7572
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1804
Using Empathy Maps to Support Design-Thinking Enhanced Transdisciplinary STEM Innovation in K-12 Setting
Wing-Leung Yeung; Oi-Lam Ng
International Journal of Technology and Design Education, v34 n4 p1325-1350 2024
This paper reports a design and implementation of a STEM enrichment programme infused with affective elements designed for Hong Kong students. Specifically, it features a design-thinking approach to develop solutions to a self-selected problem addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Around 30 upper primary school (grades 5 to 6) and 20 lower secondary students (grades 7 to 10) enrolled in the study. Considering empathy as a core value of the design-thinking process and aligned with affective dimensions of thinking and learning, we investigate students' design-thinking development and STEM learning processes while highlighting empathy map as a pedagogical tool. We discuss the implications and insights of offering humanistic perspectives on STEM curricular design, especially for K-12 students. Our results showed that students at different age range were able to use empathy maps to devise designs effectively, despite their varying degrees of empathy. Furthermore, we conceptualize empathy maps as a pedagogical tool that creates physical boundaries in design thinking, making students' mental transitions across design stages more explicit. This study contributes to a better understanding of the educational potentials of design-thinking enhanced classrooms, with the results informing theoretical and practical advice on the integration of the empathy map in innovation-oriented projects.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Enrichment Activities, Foreign Countries, Elementary School Students, Secondary School Students, Grade 5, Grade 6, Grade 7, Grade 8, Grade 9, Grade 10, Design, Thinking Skills, Learning Processes, Empathy, Instructional Materials, Age Differences, Instructional Innovation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Secondary Education; Grade 5; Intermediate Grades; Middle Schools; Grade 6; Grade 7; Junior High Schools; Grade 8; Grade 9; High Schools; Grade 10
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Hong Kong
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A