Application of design thinking as a differentiation strategy for the education of gifted students: “City X”

Abstract

This research aims to apply the City X Project as a 6-hour workshop for gifted students and evaluate the workshop. The study group consists of 25 gifted secondary school students (13 Female, 12 Male) who continue their education at the Science and Art Center (SAC) in a city center. During the application process, gifted students were introduced to the City X project, and information regarding the design thinking method was presented. The story of City X was provided to the students via a digital presentation. The given information was as follows: in the recent past, 40 people from the world were sent to a distant planet to form a colony and these people started to found City X city. City X citizens illustrate the specifics of the issues they face through "citizen cards" in many fields such as health, transportation, safety, and communication to the students and ask them for assistance in addressing the problems. The students are divided into 9 groups that have 2 to 3 participants using the game "Team Meter" during the execution of the workshop. Worksheets, a laptop or desktop computer with an internet connection, citizenship cards, a pen and paper were provided to each group to be used at each stage of the design thinking process. Students selected one of the citizenship cards and used the design thinking method to solve the problem written by the owner of the citizenship card. At the stage of empathy, they evaluated the emotions of the person they selected, and in the definition stage, they defined the social area of the problem raised by the City X citizen. The students later generated ideas for the solution of the specified problem, wrote their ideas on the worksheet, and picked an idea to prototype by group decision. The students prototyped their ideas during the prototyping and testing stages by drawing on the worksheet and completed their creations in various versions by providing feedback to each other. In the sharing stage, 2-dimensional drawings are transformed into 3-dimensional forms via Tinkercad and SketchUp programs. The 3D drawings were saved and submitted to the e-mail address of the City X administrator to be printed on the City X 3D printer. The worksheets used in the design thinking process, three-dimensional models, and the working dynamics of the groups were evaluated by students via Kahoot! web 2.0 tool. The criteria stated in the Kahoot! digital evaluation tools were scored in the range of 1-4 points. The views of students about the workshop were also collected verbally. The students reported that they enjoyed the process of design thinking, that they were pleased to do 3D drawings, that they wished to specialize in 3D design, and that they had several problems with teammates occasionally. One can suggest that the methods applied in the City X workshop can also be included in the course designs within the scope of STEM courses and design thinking methods can be adopted in SAC framework programs.

ÖZEL YETENEKLİ ÖĞRENCİLERİN DİJİTAL OKURYAZARLIK ve SİBERAYLAKLIK DÜZEYLERİ ARASINDAKİ İLİŞKİNİN İNCELENMESİ

“…In earlier research performed in SACs, it was discovered that gifted students had high levels of educational technology self-efficacy as well as information and technology literacy skills (Bayra, 2020;Nacaroğlu, 2020). Several educational process experiences that allow gifted students to adapt to new technologies, support their higher-order thinking, and empower them to use and generate with technology may have contributed to their digital literacy abilities (Avcu & Er, 2020a, 2020bAvcu, Ayverdi, Ülker & Karakış, 2020;Ayverdi & Öz;Avcu & Ayverdi, 2022;Avcu & Yaman, 2022;Bozok, Geniş & Avcu, 2020;Çevik, 2021;Del Siegle, 2023;Önal & Önal, 2021). Following the findings of recent research, it can be concluded that gifted students acquired digital literacy, which is a 21st-century skills, through the education they received in SACs (Nacaroğlu, 2020).…”

“…BİLSEM'lerde yürütülmüş olan önceki çalışmalarda, özel yetenekli öğrencilerin teknoloji ve tasarıma yönelik eğitim teknolojileri öz yeterlikleri ve bilgi ve teknoloji okuryazarlığı becerileri yüksek düzeyde bulunmuştur (Bayra, 2020;Nacaroğlu, 2020). Özel yetenekli öğrencilerin yeni teknolojilere uyum sağlamasına olanak tanıyan, üst düzey düşünmelerini destekleyen ve teknolojileri kullanıp teknolojiyle üretim yapmalarını sağlayan birçok öğretimsel süreci deneyimleri özel yetenekli öğrencilerin dijital okuryazarlık becerilerine katkı sağlamış olabilir (Avcu & Er, 2020a, 2020bAvcu, Ayverdi, Ülker & Karakış, 2020;Ayverdi & Öz;Avcu & Ayverdi, 2022;Avcu & Yaman, 2022;Bozok, Geniş & Avcu, 2020;Çevik ve diğerleri, 2021;Del Siegle, 2023;Önal & Önal, 2021). Güncel çalışmaların sonuçları doğrultusunda, özel yetenekli öğrencilerin 21. yüzyıl becerilerinden biri olan dijital okuryazarlık becerisini edinmesinde BİLSEM'lerde özel yetenekli öğrencilere yönelik verilen eğitimle başarıldığı yorumu yapılabilir (Nacaroğlu, 2020).…”