Design Thinking and Teaching
An interview with Jillian Alexander for the Center for Teaching Excellence with Assistant Director Philip Smith
Editor's note This transcript has been lightly edited for readability. Timestamps, repeated filler, false starts, and obvious transcription errors have been removed while preserving the substance and conversational character of the interview.
Philip: I have a few basic questions, and then I am sure we will have some follow-ups and see where the conversation goes. I will start with a basic one: What is design thinking, and how did you get into it?
Jillian: Design thinking is actually an engineering principle, and also an entrepreneurship principle. It is a different kind of thinking. The way I explain it to students is that we are building our way forward in terms of solving a problem.
Jillian: We will get into the framework in a little bit, but it is something that came out of Stanford University. Two engineering professors realized that some of the things they were talking about in class could be used as a framework, along with certain mindsets, to address life's problems. They started holding office hours with students and moving them through the framework in relation to questions such as: What do I do after I graduate from Stanford? I have this business opportunity that I want to get involved with, but how do I know it is the right decision for me?
Jillian: It has grown from there. They have written a couple of books about design thinking as it relates to life's wicked problems. Wicked problems are problems that do not necessarily have one right choice or right answer. There is some ambiguity, and they are very individualized.
Jillian: Back in 2019, I had the opportunity to go to Stanford with a couple of ETSU colleagues and participate in the design studio they offer for higher education faculty who want to bring life design thinking into their classrooms. I have been changed in every way because of it. We were there for a week, and they were long days, but we went through the entire framework. We created prototypes, tested them, and then came back to campus and began implementing what we had learned fairly quickly.
Jillian: It has changed the way I look at life, the way I look at work, and even how I approach teaching.
Philip: That is great. Their main book is called Designing Your Life, right?
Jillian: Designing Your Life, yes.
Philip: I am somehow on their mailing list. I get newsletters from all kinds of teaching and learning organizations, but theirs is one of the few I make a point to read most of the time. There is always a really good little lesson or something to think about. It is often presented in a way that makes me want to go try it with my first-year class.
Jillian: Yes!
Philip: I love their practical approach and how you can apply it to so many different things at so many different levels.
Philip: You started to address this already, but how has design thinking influenced the way you teach and design classes and curriculum? It might help to unpack the different parts of design thinking.
Jillian: There are six components in the framework. First, there is accept: accepting where we are, accepting our constraints, and accepting all the parameters of whatever we are working with. In teaching, this might mean accepting the classroom we are in or the size of the class we are teaching.
Jillian: Then there is empathize. We empathize both with ourselves and with the people who will be affected by whatever we are prototyping or testing. In life design, the emphasis is often on self-empathy. In teaching, I also think about empathizing with the students. If I have a first-year digital media student in the class, how are they looking at the content, delivery, or activity compared with a senior business student? Those students will see it differently. It will land differently.
Jillian: Next is define, which means defining the actual problem you are trying to solve. The problem might be that a particular activity did not land well. It might be that a concept is really difficult for students to grapple with. The question then becomes: How can I deliver that content differently so that it helps students understand it better?
Jillian: Then there is ideate. Most of us are familiar with brainstorming and coming up with possible solutions. I think ideation, and the idea that nothing is too crazy or too wild, has pushed me the most in my teaching. If a possible solution means bringing out a pile of LEGO, that is okay. It is not too crazy. There is research behind approaches like that, and there may be elements of the wild idea that you can implement. Sometimes the wild and crazy idea might actually be the best option.
Philip: And that makes it fun, too, right?
Jillian: Yes, exactly. It makes it fun.
Jillian: Prototyping means taking something really small and trying it instead of creating a full-fledged course, for example. I wanted to bring a life design class to ETSU for a long time, but I prototyped it first. I tried one life design activity in one class and another prototype in a different class with a different set of students. Then I tested those things and went back through the cycle to ask how I could try them in a different way. You are essentially pressure-testing the prototype.
Jillian: Several mindsets support the framework. There is reframing, which we have to do all the time. We have lived through so many unprecedented times that reframing has simply become part of life. There is curiosity: always asking questions and remaining curious about what comes next. There is a bias toward action, which means actually doing something rather than saying, 'This is the problem. It is always going to be a problem, and there is no solution.' You try something that might make the situation better.
Jillian: There is also radical collaboration. I think I have gotten a lot of that from the CTE. I have access to many professors in the College of Business and Technology, but they often work with content and students similar to mine. It is really helpful to step outside of that environment and encounter different ways of approaching teaching.
Jillian: What has helped me most in teaching is not being afraid to try things. If something does not work, then it does not work, and that is okay. I have only tried one small thing. It is not as though I built an entire course, taught it, and then watched the whole course fail. It is just one activity or one lesson at a time. That is completely fine.
Philip: Did you design the life design class you teach now around those steps and mindsets? It seems as though the course would lend itself to that.
Jillian: Yes. We also talk about all the things that support the framework. We all bring different identities to the table, and those identities might define some of the things we do or affect how we empathize with ourselves and others. So we talk about identity in the class.
Jillian: We also talk about questions such as: What is work? Why is work important? Is work important? What is our purpose? What is college for? What is the end goal of college beyond receiving a degree? That is something we explored this past week.
Jillian: It is interesting because most students say, 'I always thought college was just about getting a degree, but that is not really why I am here. I am here to gain experience, meet people, and get better at a particular skill.' A lot of the time, we do not stop to think about why we do certain things in life. Design thinking gives us the time, space, and framework to do that.
Philip: I really like that the actual problem solving, prototyping, and creating are nested within this larger frame of understanding the conditions and practicing empathy. It incorporates the social, emotional, community-building, and affective dimensions of learning that we know are so important. It makes those dimensions part of the design process.
Philip: That also connects with what we talk about so often in the CTE: the importance of community, active learning, and building connections.
Philip: How can we make design thinking approachable and applicable to a new faculty member or someone who is new to teaching in higher education? Could you give an example of what it might look like in a particular lesson or topic? For example, someone might usually teach time management through a short lecture or presentation. How would a design thinking approach be different?
Jillian: I think it can begin with something as simple as reading a newsletter or learning about an idea from the CTE. You have just encountered a new activity or a new approach, and you are curious about it. Curiosity is one of the mindsets, so you allow yourself to become more curious.
Jillian: Then you think: If I want to include this in my classroom, how can I do it in a small way that is not going to derail the entire week? That is typically how I approach design thinking in relation to teaching. I hear something in a CTE workshop and ask myself, 'What do I have coming up in class, and how could I incorporate this concept?'
Jillian: Maybe the concept is community building. What is one community-building activity I could incorporate that takes only five or ten minutes? Then I prototype it. After trying it in class, I take a few minutes to reflect: How did that land? Did it work well in my classroom? How did I feel about it? How did my students react? How did the students feel about it?
Jillian: Then I decide whether it is something I should incorporate more often. Or perhaps it did not work at all, so I can chalk that up as a failure, decide not to use it again, and try something else in the future.
Jillian: That process takes you through the whole framework. I accept that I have encountered something I am curious about. I empathize with myself and my students, both before and after trying it. I define what I am trying to address. Perhaps it is a best practice or a research-based approach that I want to incorporate into the classroom. Then I prototype it, test it, and go through the cycle again.
Jillian: For new faculty in particular, it can be scary to try something completely new. That is why we prototype. We do not say, 'I am going to change the entire course based on this one idea.' I know that when I come back from CHIIPs, I am ready to redesign my entire classroom and course based on everything I learned, but that is not feasible.
Jillian: Instead, I can take one small part. It might be as simple as asking, 'How can I conduct a check-in differently so that it creates community in the classroom?' Eventually, that small change may scaffold into more beautiful things later in the semester. That is a win. And if it fails, it is no big deal. There is no real harm at that scale.
Philip: I feel as though that also keeps teaching fresh for the instructor. You may have conducted check-ins a million times, but there is always a way to tweak the practice or approach it differently. That makes it more interesting for you as well.
Jillian: Instructors can treat that as the problem they want to address. Maybe my content is getting stale, or I am getting bored with myself or with my teaching. If so, it is time to ideate some ways to make it less boring or stale.
Philip: When I talk with instructors, they often come to the CTE looking for ideas. They might say, 'I inherited this class, syllabus, and textbook,' or 'I have taught this class in person many times, but now I am teaching it online.' There is often a moment of inertia because the project seems too big.
Philip: On one hand, you might attend a conference, become inspired, and want to change everything. On the other hand, the class starts in a week and you have just been handed the syllabus. A design thinking mindset could be really helpful in that situation. If I am a new instructor inheriting a course rather than developing one, design thinking gives me a way to start making it my own. If I teach it regularly, I can prototype as I go and gradually make larger changes.
Jillian: If you think about it in reverse, many of the students who come through my life design classes are in periods of transition. A first-year student may be deciding whether this is really the major they want. I have a senior who graduates in December and is thinking, 'I am going to be a real adult in December. What does that look like?'
Jillian: We can create small experiences that allow that student to practice what adult life could look and feel like. Then it is less daunting when December arrives. The whole point of life design is that we create meaningful, joyful, happy lives.
Jillian: The same idea applies to teaching. If you inherit a course, it is daunting to redo the whole thing. But if you can make this piece a little better and then make another piece a little better, you begin to find some joy in it. That joy gives you the motivation to continue creating and designing.
Philip: That is great. I love that you brought in joy. That seems like the big picture and perhaps a good note on which to end. Is there anything else you would want to add?
Jillian: I think radical collaboration is a big part of it. Sometimes we think, 'I am designing my life for me. It is just me.' But there are so many people who can support you and offer different perspectives. You never know where that perspective is going to come from, so being open to it is really important.
Jillian: That is especially important for new faculty, although it applies to anyone. You can learn so much about teaching by stepping outside your own discipline. Sometimes we become siloed within our academic disciplines and begin to think there is only one way to teach a particular course. In reality, you can learn something about teaching from almost anyone.
Philip: Great. Thank you so much, Jillian. I appreciate it. This was really wonderful. Now I want to do a whole series of these conversations.
Jillian: Yes!