Learning by Doing

Experimentation provides an opportunity to explore possible lines of thought and material manifestations.  By doing we can empathize with the perspective of the end user whether it be a teacher, student or parent.  Below the Srishti students are working on their proposals for the art projects that they will facilitate at Communities Rising, Inc.  This process helped them to play with the opportunities that the materials offer and to outline the steps which they will communicate to the teachers and students.

Creating the Display Units

In addition to the art activities, the Srishti students developed display units for their projects.  Using locally found bamboo, scaffolding wood and jute rope they had to devise a way to make these units stand without the aid of a foundation.  On this day, students had 3 hours to develop a unit, select the available  materials and build a free standing unit.  Go to the Field Visits to see the display units in action.

Container Prototyping

Prototyping can take on a number of characteristics.  It can be rapid, using simple representative materials that are easy to manipulate to get an idea across, or it can be a thoroughly designed product ready for market analysis.  This section will have images starting from the initial rapid prototyping phase and moving through schematic and design development.  With the support of the field visit SWOT analysis and ideation exercises, the students decided that two container types were needed: one for teachers and one for the students of 4th and 5th standard.

Curriculum Prototyping

It is a newer line of investigation by designer to look at curriculum.  Having a very close relationship with service design, curriculum design approaches the system of facilitation and its relationship to the types of learning outcomes desired.  Although these students are not in the field of education, they are consumers of that service and through this project have now become creators of art curriculum.  Here, they have taken the activities created for the Field Visits and have created their first go at the designing a graphic language curriculum.