Engineering and Design in ISB’s Elementary School

(Newswire.net — November 22, 2017) Beijing, Shunyi District — 

 

At the International School of Beijing (ISB), design thinking, makerspaces, tinkering, and STEAM are important components of all school curricula and spaces. Design thinking and the process of making enhances student learning in numerous ways. Students consolidate their understanding of content with hands-on application, develop critical problem-solving skills, improve collaboration and management skills, and develop technical skills, including using hand tools, digital drawing, sewing, and coding.

 ISB is continuing the evolution of our elementary design curriculum, including our own ISB design process, as well as a scope and sequence of skills which aligns with our secondary school. In the past two years, we have adopted Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) which help spark design thinking through the process of engineering. We are also implementing Engineering is Elementary, to help develop a scope and sequence for engineering design. Ideally, we want to go beyond simply designing from the mindset of an engineer, and only through the lens of science, to understanding how the design process applies across all subject areas.

In many other schools, when design and engineering curricula are evident, they are usually only articulated in the secondary school. In many elementary schools, this important content area is often left to “open makerspace time” or sees individual teachers adding projects that incorporate the design process and materials in their individual classrooms. Often, elementary teachers integrate many great STEAM concepts in their classes, but the skills and processes of a robust design or engineering curriculum aren’t articulated across the grade levels like other curriculum strands. This is an area that can improve in many schools. Elementary-aged students love to learn through hands-on application and are keen to create; this can provide students an ability to develop technical skills and use the design process throughout their schooling.

While at ISB we are continuing to develop our design and engineering curriculum from Pre-K to Grade 12, we have already designed and equipped an incredible new Elementary Design Lab for teachers to use with their classes. This is a safe, well-resourced space, supplied with facilitators who help co-teach and embed more design thinking and technical skills into the curriculum. Our vision is to provide a space that allows students and teachers to explore the critical thinking and learning that is a natural outcome of the ISB design process.  

In developing our design and engineering programs at ISB, we are learning, adjusting, and fine-tuning as we go. We developed our ES Design Lab before we had a set elementary school design and engineering curriculum. The ES Design Lab has been purposefully designed to be flexible and open; allowing students the freedom to define its potential. We feel that providing a well-resourced space to showcase the thinking and creativity of our youngest designers will be just the sandbox necessary to develop the great thinkers, problem solvers, and makers of the future.

Julie Lemley is the Design Facilitator for International School of Beijing. Previous to working in Beijing, she taught MYP Design in Japan and Peru and has also worked as an EdTech Integrator. Follow Julie on Twitter at @JulieLemley