Co-designing Design Thinking Games for Preschoolers: Insights from Teachers and Parents

• In Event: Exploring Computational Thinking and STEM Education in Early Childhood: Collaborative Partnerships With Diverse Stakeholders

Abstract

Design Thinking (DT) encourages children to solve real-world challenges while developing 21st-century skills (Luka, 2020). Early DT learning often occurs in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) contexts (Li & Zhan, 2022). Globally, DT learning has exhibited culturally responsive traits (Taheri, 2022), creating an opportunity to merge DT with C-STEAM, where "C" stands for "culture" (Zhan et al., 2020). Leveraging the social construction of knowledge (Berger & Luckmann, 1967), this study employs a participatory design approach (Chan et al., 2023) to investigate how teachers' and parents' perspectives: 1) shape the understanding of DT and C-STEAM in early childhood education and 2) aid in co-designing games for early DT learning.

The study included nine teachers, five parents, and two teaching researchers from a public kindergarten in Shenzhen, China, all lacking prior DT experience. To ensure authentic participation (Tuhkala, 2021), two 1.5-hour workshops on “knowledge building” and “game co-designing” were conducted via group discussions, peer feedback, and hands-on activities. Data were analyzed both inductively and deductively to achieve the research goals.

Workshop 1: Participants collectively built their DT, C-STEAM, and integration knowledge. Participants (n = 11) initially linked DT with creativity, ideation, planning, making, and abstract thinking skills. Only one parent and one teacher defined the "C" in C-STEAM as "creativity" and "reading," respectively. Participants tended to describe C-STEAM using familiar concepts like culture (n = 10), technology (n = 2), and art (n = 1). Most participants (n = 6) categorized DT as part of "technology" within STEAM. Parents were mainly focused on C-STEAM implementation. After engaging with researchers and peers, half of the participants could explain DT using IDEO's (2012) five-step model and defined it as a planned solution to practical problems or creative products. Additionally, participants identified two primary purposes for C-STEAM education: 1) employing scientific and technological methods for cultural inheritance and 2) integrating cultural perspectives into STEAM education. They also agreed that DT could be an approach within C-STEAM education to solve culturally related problems through multidisciplinary knowledge.

Workshop 2: Participants were provided enriched materials and guided worksheets to design games for early DT learning. The design criteria included identifying cultural problems relevant to children, employing interdisciplinary knowledge to address these issues, cultivating children's DT skills, and ensuring the practicality and accessibility of the games. The identified problems included measuring the distance to a museum, building the strongest structure, rescuing a princess from a tower, transporting and sorting fruits, and managing recyclables. These issues involved community concerns, personal interests, regional culture, and children's favorite fairy tales and cartoons.

Despite following the model of “knowledge building” and “game co-designing” to engage teachers and parents in creating early DT games, the findings revealed challenges in implementing innovative pedagogies in early learning contexts. Parents struggled with new concepts due to a lack of professional training. Additionally, participants often neglected the aspects of practicality and accessibility in game design. To address these challenges, adding a “game refining” step is suggested for future studies.

Authors

• Yingqiao Du, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Weipeng Yang, The Education University of Hong Kong