Design thinking for inclusive and creative STEM education

Keynote by Dr Nicole Lotz
The Open University, United Kingdom

The Open University’s (OU) core mission is to be open for people, places, methods and ideas. Facilitating access to higher education for everyone regardless of background or ability has always been a core objective. This drives my teaching and research activities.

The first half of my talk will exemplify approaches to inclusive STEM learning using digital technologies developed at the OU. The OpenStudio is an award-winning social learning platform that allows students to post, view and discuss artefacts that they create and find. In sharing the responses to quick, fun and playful activities, students realise that everyone can be creative. Learners soon gain confidence to engage and go beyond, which is the key to inclusion. Using CompendiumDS, a knowledge mapping software, learners reflect on their journey through increasingly complex projects. Becoming reflective in learning is a further core practice for inclusion and empowerment in STEM education. These and other digital learning technologies developed at the OU, such as the OpenSTEMLab or iSpot, utilise design thinking to support a self-directed and active learning, and build a sense of community of learners. Principles and examples of Universal Design for Learning will be identified in these learning environments and highlighted in my talk.

The second part of this presentation will cover research that I have carried out recently in Botswana and previously in China, Japan, Croatia and Romania. In the discussion of the findings, I will demonstrate the challenges we face in using creative responses to address complex problems in different parts of the world. I will make a case for a contextual creativity approach to inclusive innovation.

Biodata

I completed my undergraduate and MA studies in Germany and earned my PhD in China. Since 2008, I am a Lecturer in Design at the Open University in the UK. My research and teaching aims at understanding and supporting novice designers to engage, persevere and succeed in challenging situations, such as designing at the distance, across cultures and domains. My unique approach is to uncover and strengthen the designers' and learners' shared values to drive engagement and collaboration.

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