Teaching: Sustainability Design Thinking (IntroSem)

“BE INSPIRED BY WHAT EXISTS”

Stanford has a program called IntroSems. “IntroSems are an excellent opportunity to interact in small, discussion-based seminars with some of the Stanford’s most esteemed and talented professors and instructors.” A version of our Sustainability Design Thinking course was given in Spring 2024. We will have the last class meeting of the term later today, & it seems that a reflection may be a useful exercise.

From a high level, the IntroSems version of the course (CEE 11Q) has involved more visualization which resulted in more discussion. The Winter 2019 version (CEE 176G/276G) had a similarly small class size (~7 or 8 students),  but the group dynamics was different. CEE 11Q distinctly dug deeper into shared issues, whereas the other course spanned a more diverse range of issues. Having a DCI student in the Winter course added to that stretch. The question though is whether Sustainability Design Thinking is academically effective as an IntroSems course.

From two instances of assignments so far this term in CEE 11Q, the design thinking personal reflections (a mini-essay) have been more encouraging relative to the Winter course reflections. A few excerpts from CEE 11Q:

“…be inspired by what exists…” Inspiration is key to launching in the course project work. Students should recognize & be comfortable with inspiration – to exercise the GROWTH MINDSET.

“Thinking about the amount of things this process can be applied to excites me a lot.” While we can be academically critical & analytical about existing sustainable behaviors, the life lesson from this course involves feeling ready to apply the design thinking process to future projects & challenges – as part of YOUR PERSONAL STORY.

“…the most important part of the design thinking process for this project was empathizing.” Empathy threads our entire design thinking process so that we have awareness structure & confidence for action  – to strengthen our EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

The focal proposition of an IntroSems course to be formative & feed on curiosity makes for a good introductory course. It’s like a “lite” version of our other course. So now I am curious whether we need an advanced version of the course?