Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes – Tune In: The Design Thinking Process
30 minutes – Find Out: Identifying End-Users
60 minutes – Take Action: Planning to Empathise with the Community
15 minutes – Reflection

Tune In: The Design Thinking Process

Step 1.

If you completed the previous lessons, remind students of the discussion in Lesson 1 about Design Thinking. Show the following clip again to remind them of the phase of the process:

What is Design Thinking? (https://youtu.be/a7sEoEvT8l8)

Step 2.

Ensure that the Learning Intentions and Success Criteria are written on the whiteboard and read them aloud to students:

Students will...

I will investigate the knowledge and interests of others within my school community within the context of robotics.

Students can...

... identify different school community groups we want to engage.
... develop suitable strategies to gather information from each community group.
... create resources to be used to gather information.
... schedule meetings and presentations with community members.

Step 3.

Emphasise that the project the class will be focusing on is engaging the school community in robotics through creation of a robotics based event. The event should help the school community to develop their knowledge and skills, and in turn, their confidence with robotics-based activities.

Explain to students that it is common to define Design Thinking in terms of the end goal; that is, what someone is aiming to achieve when they complete a project. Invite students to share their ideas about how to phrase the end goal for this project.

Encourage students to consider the impact they wish to have more than the action to be taken. For example, to engage the school community in robotics would be a more effective end goal than to have a robotics fair. The purpose of the Design Thinking process is to find a way to create a certain impact.

Once the class has agreed on an end goal, write it on the board and have students record it on the Student Worksheet.

Step 4.

Explain to students that after the end goal is determined, it is important to rephrase it into a 'How Might We..?' statement.

Now, show the following clip:

Level Up with EP - How Might We? (https://youtu.be/mRpUV-uIkF8)

This clip explains the relevance of 'How Might We..?' statements to the Design Thinking context.

Step 5.

Support students to develop a 'How Might We..?' statement by guiding them through the following steps:

Spend 1 minute thinking to yourself about what a suitable 'How Might We..?' statement might be.
Spend 2 minutes sharing your thoughts with a partner and add any new ideas.
Spend 5 minutes sharing your thoughts with another pair, adding any new ideas to your notes.
Share your groups thoughts and ideas with the class and discuss until a 'How Might We..?' statement is agreed upon.
Record the class 'How Might We...?' statement on the Student Worksheet.

Find Out: Identifying End-Users

Step 1.

Explain to students that so far they have investigated the robotics side of the project, and now they will begin to focus on their unique school community.

Show the following clips:

SCSO - Design Thinking - Empathise (https://youtu.be/M5kJ2coKgrE)

Empathy Map | Innovation Toolkit (https://youtu.be/QHFzIG99jvw)

These clips introduce students to the purpose of empathising with end-users, with the second clip providing a suggested framework for how to do so.

After each clip, invite students to discuss key messages of the clip, emphasising the purpose of the empathise phase.

Step 2.

Explain to students that they will now spend some time thinking about who the intended audience is in this project and how they can find out more information about them, ensuring they find out what end-users say, do, think and feel about robotics.

Emphasise that in order to hear them say what they think and feel about robotics, students will have to create a scenario which prompts the school community group to discuss or engage with it.

Step 3.

Support students to form groups of 3-4 and complete part 3, 'How to Empathise with the Community', on the Student Worksheet. Explain that in this activity, students will need to develop a list of relevant school community members that their end goal relates to and develop ideas for how to find out what they think, feel, see and do about robots and robotics.

The first row of this table has been completed below as an example that can be shared with the class:

Community Group	How to explore what they see...	How to explore what they do...	How to explore what they think...	How to explore what they feel...
Foundation Students	Look around their classrooms. Ask them about if they have any robots at home.	Watch them play at recess. Visit the classroom.	Survey the classes. Ask them.	Survey the classes. Ask them. Give them robots to play with and observe their reactions.

Note: Students should be encouraged to find ways to research their end-users that involve the use of the robots themselves. For example, students could show the robot to a group of students from a particular year level and ask them if the can control it, or they could do a demonstration and note the students’ reactions. Ensure that students have access to the SPRK+ (or alternative) robots during this stage of the lesson.

Step 4.

After around ten minutes, prompt students to reorganise their groups so that new groups are formed which contain no one from their previous group. Allow five additional minutes for students to share ideas in their new group and list any additional ideas.

Step 5.

Hold a class discussion, inviting students to share ideas they developed within their groups and record them onto the whiteboard in a table similar to the one students filled out.

Take Action: Planning to Empathise with the Community

Step 1.

Explain that students will continue to work in their groups to explore one school community group from the class list on the board. Work with the class to allocate one community group per student group.

Explain that each of the columns on the 'How to Empathise with the Community' table is a task that the students will have to complete. Draw students' attention to the first row on the table (Foundation Students) and explain that the student group allocated to this community group would have the task of looking around the Foundation students' classrooms. This group would also have to ask Foundation students about any robots they have at home, watch them play at recess, survey the class, and give these students robots to play with and observe their reactions.

Explain to students that groups will now decide how the four tasks for their community group can be completed. They will then need to organise how they will distribute the responsibility for each of the tasks amongst their group. Students may work individually, in pairs or in groups, depending on the task they are responsible for.

Notify students of the time and day of their next lesson, informing them that their community research will need to be completed by that time. Now, invite students to discuss the tasks with each other and negotiate which tasks they will take responsibility for, then record these decisions by completing the first three columns of the 'Community Research Responsibilities' table in part 4 of the Student Worksheet:

Student responsible	How is the research being conducted?	When is the research being conducted?	Complete (tick when this task is done)

Step 2.

Explain that students will now have some time to work on designing and preparing their research task and that they will need to think about the following:

Will it be conducted in person or digitally? (E.g. an online survey)
Will it be presented to a large group, or as a conversation with smaller groups and/or individuals?
Will the Sphero (or alternative robot being used) be incorporated into the presentation, conversation or survey?

Step 3.

Explain to students that they will need to complete the following tasks:

Organise questions or presentations they will be conducting.
Create note sheets to record observations onto.
Contact relevant teachers and school leaders to organise a time to conduct their
presentation, survey and/or interview.
Test the robot element of any presentation or survey to ensure it functions as they expect it to.

While students are working through these steps, be sure to find time to conference with each group, ensuring they have an understanding of their objectives and that they are progressing towards the task goal. When groups have completed these tasks encourage students to complete the 'My Empathise Reflections Task' questions and checklist in part 5 of the Student Worksheet to ensure that they are prepared for their research task.

Note: If you are progressing to the next lesson in this unit students’ actioned will be used. However, if you are using this lesson as a stand-alone, we recommend that you allocate time once students have collected their data to come together and discuss their findings.

Reflection

With 15 minutes remaining, prompt students to move on to the reflection task on the Student Worksheet. This activity prompts students to note tasks that need to be completed prior to the next lesson.

Differentiated Learning

Provisions for Learning Support: Discussions with individuals and groups throughout this lesson should be based on your understanding of their knowledge, skills and confidence levels. Keep in mind that more scaffolding (e.g. additional questions and modelling) may be required for some students. Others may require specific critiquing to ensure they are reflecting on and developing their ideas.

Learning Robotics - Empathising with End-Users

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

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