Design thinking for Learning

A DESIGN THINKING APPROACH

TO LEARNING TO CODE

Nate Cooper

• WORDPRESS SINCE 2005, HTML SINCE 1997

• SIMPLE LABS, FOUNDER (WP CONSULTANCY)

• TEACH WP & FRONT END: SVA, GA, 92Y

• PRESENTATIONS AT AMAZON, APPLE, SXSW

• BUILD YOUR OWN WEBSITE COMIC BOOK

• FOUNDER REBOOT

Design Thinking!

Empathize Define Ideate Prototype Test

Solving problemsusing design methodology

Gather Organize Visualize

Brain-based

What is design thinking?

Cognitive psychology + Behavioral economics

Step 1: Know your self

Try softer

Some imperfect models of the brain

Split Brain experiments

Triune Brain theory

Dual System hypothesis

Visual processing is faster than thought

John Snow’s map

Of cholera cases

Around Broad Street

London, 1854

John Snow’s map

Of cholera cases

Around Broad Street

London, 1854

Step 2: Tackle problems you can solve

Difficult but Solvable

can mean a lot of different things

Apache

MySQL

PHP

Rails

node.js

Joomla

Wordpress

Drupal

HTML/CSS/JS

Text Editor

Sublime

Dreamweaver

Javascript

Flash

Browser

Front End Back End

Server

Client

Production machine

Are you able to

correctly set up

the problem?

Step 3: Tracking progress

Focusing

Facilitation

FOCUSING FACILITATION

“I am your resentment,

and I am here to tell you

that you are underappreciated.”

1. Clear a space.

2. Get hold of a feeling.

3. Apply labels.

4. Test the label or labels.

5. Ask for meaning.

6. Receive the meaning, feel a shift.

FOCUSING : The six steps

Facilitation turns experiences and feelings into goals and steps

Metal Models

‘Understanding’ means building

(working) mental models to make

accurate predictions.

Behavioral economics

Step 4: Understanding false positives

Behavioral Economics Takeaways

Behavioral Economics Takeaways

Without an explicit point of comparison, people use one unconsciously.

We overweight small risks

while underweighting large ones.

Behavioral Economics Takeaways

We accept too much

riskto avoid a loss

Behavioral Economics Takeaways

Behavioral Economics Takeaways

We exaggerate

differences in a paired

comparison

Step 5: Reward progress

10 Growth Mindset Statements

What can I say to myself?

Instead of: Try thinking:

I’m not good at this.

I’m awesome at this.

I give up.

This is too hard.

I can’t make this any better.

I just can’t do Math.

I made a mistake.

She’s so smart. I will never be that smart.

It’s good enough.

Plan “A” didn’t work.

What am I missing?

I’m on the right track.

I’ll use some of the strategies we’ve learned.

This may take some time and effort.

I can always improve so I’ll keep trying.

I’m going to train my brain in Math.

Mistakes help me to learn better.

I’m going to figure out how she does it.

is it really my best work?

Good thing the alphabet has 25 more letters!

Flow

“The state in which people are so involved

in an activity that nothing else seems to

matter; the experience itself is so

enjoyable that people will do it even at

great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”

“If you find yourself asking yourself (and your

friends), "Am I really a writer? Am I really an

artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit

innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one

is scared to death.”

― Steven Pressfield, The War of Art: Break

Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative

Battles