October 26, 2010

By: Barbara N. from Overland Park, KS
Comments: 24

Posted By: Barbara Nikoomanesh
On: 11/20/2006 10:19:40 AM

In order to increase student awareness of "real life Design", we try to find articles in the local paper or on the web of current events relating to Design. Students read the article, fill out a reflection sheet that I create and have a class discussion on the topic. A couple examples of the topics we read about and discussed were (last year) Hurricane Katrina and disaster Engineering, and Green Construction. This helps expand the students understanding of the diversity of design, and how important it is to us in our every day life.

Posted By: Lisa Verrilli
On: 11/20/2006 1:17:14 PM

sounds excellent

Posted By: Aruna Arjunan
On: 12/3/2006 6:12:38 PM

ooh i love this idea. It would make it much more of a relevant topic for them! I also like the idea of looking at New Orleans for the design of a new city - I wonder if comparing that to Chicago's rebuilding after the great fire would serve to be a good learning experience.

Posted By: Barbara Nikoomanesh
On: 12/4/2006 1:34:06 PM

Aruna, I think comparing and contrasting the two cities and their issues would be a great learning experience. Also, this would help them see that this is not an isolated issue, but is recurring.

Posted By: Aruna Arjunan
On: 1/6/2007 11:55:27 AM

Very true. I also think it makes art more accessible to those who don't think they have any artistic skills, but find art interesting. Also, it would serve as a valuable history lesson!

Posted By: Marianne Aalbue
On: 4/7/2007 3:30:57 AM

A project with the theme of designing a new city is a great way to introduce students to the plethora of careers that involve design. The students could each be assigned a different type of job. This would be a great group project.

Posted By: Monique Fineman
On: 4/9/2007 10:04:53 PM

I think this idea would be great for many grade levels. It is interesting how very young students do understand current events like a hurricane, how much they take in. I could see elementary students building (or rebuilding) cities. It would be a great part of the unit to have students meet a community member who is in the building industry be it an architect or contractor.

Posted By: Tonya Adison
On: 4/29/2007 8:28:42 PM

Design a new city, New Orleans edition sounds like a great idea. I like the idea of the historical comparison to Chicago. I also wonder, for high school, if it would be interesting to consider the reasons for design. When are people more likely to take short cuts? Did the design of the bureaucracy make a bad situation worse? I do not believe design to be limited to physical, tangible items. There is a more theoretical side to design. There is a reason for checks and balances in government.

Posted By: Lisa Verrilli
On: 4/30/2007 6:20:40 PM

Maybe the students could be challenged to add new elements to the City they design. Every city has the same components - playgrounds, businesses, schools, libraries....Is there something else the students could add? What would it be, and why?

Posted By: Tonya Adison
On: 5/7/2007 10:30:25 PM

Maybe create a new tourist destination. New York City has Times Square and Manhattan in general. Students could look into the possibility of selecting and designing the new hot spot for a city. This would be interesting because students would have many things to consider regarding location in addition to the actual design of the space. I like projects that force students to consider many variables. This emulates real world situations.

Posted By: sudha singh
On: 6/14/2007 9:45:29 PM

We have talked Katrina, Chicago, New York City which are our immediate world. This could be further extended to countries that have been devastated as a result of wars fought there. How do we redesign these war torn zones and see a glimmer of hope come to the countless people there? I recently read an article on how old people who survivied Chernobyl still lve there that never abandoned the place, and how some wild life has resurfaced in the region. Did someone redesign that place? Iraq, Afghanisthan , Palestine, Israel all are going through this state of flux, Design element is crucial , we can have the learners go global in their design and learn from the experience. This could be a contribution.

Posted By: maxine feldman cohen
On: 7/15/2007 4:05:02 PM

What wonderful ideas. I love the original thought of using articles about real life design in the classroom. I am thinking of how I could use this in the art room with elementary age students.

Posted By: mel ruth
On: 4/30/2008 1:52:31 PM

I do current events everyday. the topic are narrow and wide ranging. my students ;love anything to do with the theory of design... especially taking a a common object and making it better...like the whole genesis of "apple products" cassette to walkman to cd player to ipod, to the itouch etc. Now i keep a file strictly for these tye of current events and pull one as needed.

Posted By: Gwynne Richards
On: 10/18/2009 9:42:17 AM

Even though the date of the original post here is a few years back, it caught my attention for several reasons. First, I think that looking for current situations that need redesigning is a great way to engage students. Also, comparing two design challenges such as the rebuilding of two cities after a natural disaster requires students to think about the challenges in different ways and requires a variety of higher level think skills. The rebuilding of New Orleans after Katrina and Chicago after the fire were great examples. Finally, it was only a few weeks ago that Chicagoans were thinking about how the city would have to be rebuilt if we had won the Olympic bid...a design challenge that created a great deal of controversy here in Chicago! Even thought that topic has now been put to rest, it's never a bad idea to think about what some of those changes were going to be and move forward on the ones that would make Chicago a better place to live and visit.