An Invitation to Participate

Dear K-12 Educators,

Challenge 2013
Submissions Deadlines
 
Phase 1 - Steps 1, 2, 3
March 15

Phase 2 - Steps 4, 5
May 15


Challenge Overview

As the facilitator of the Industrial Designer’s Society of America (IDSA) K12 Design Education Initiative, I am delighted to invite you to challenge your students to a world of infinite creative ideas as they tackle a problem worth solving within your classroom, school, neighborhood, or community – the goal, to create innovative outcomes that have positive impact within one of the following teacher-selected themes:
  • Existing Classroom Curriculum Transformed into a Challenge
  • School Climate Issue of Significance to Students
  • Neighborhood Improvement Project with Potential for Student Impact
  • Community Awareness Project of High Interest by Students

In partnership with the National Art Education Association, IDSA offers all K-12 educators (as facilitators) and students (as learners) to participate in Challenge 2013 within your classroom, school club, or afterschool program. This integrated study will engage your students in a highly interactive and collaborative learning process grounded in creativity, problem solving, and innovative thinking. Challenge 2013 offers productive opportunities to integrate:

  • 21st Century Inquiry by way of Critical Thinking, Creativity, and Collaboration
  • Project-Based Learning embedded in a Human-Centered Approach
  • Common Core State Standards aligned with a Flexible Curriculum Framework

With an option to team up with college art and design students and/or design practitioners, you will embrace design “pedagogy” (methods used by designers to learn.think.do) as your fundamental approach to teaching and learning. Your learners will be challenged in a collaborative manner anchored in critical and creative inquiry to investigate and report on a topic of their choice. Learners will explore creative ways to “see with their eyes” as well as “see with their minds” as they tap into their sense of curiosity – the objective, to learn how to make good decisions with the intent to produce innovative outcomes by way of one of the following forms of design:

  • Product Design – design as an physical object
  • Communications Design – design as a visualization in paper or electronic form
  • Service Design – design as a system in which services are delivered
  • User Experience Design – design as a set of user interactions within a system

Come join us in the Design Learning Challenge 2013!

Doris Wells-Papanek, MEd, IDSA
IDSA K12 Design Education Initiative Facilitator

doris@designlearning.us