Getting Started with
Design Thinking
A presentation deck for training educators on the
Project MASH design thinking process
90-minute version
Today’s explorations
Gain an in-depth understanding of design
thinking.
Experience design thinking first-hand
through the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly, an
activity from Project MASH.
Discuss how you can use this activity (and
other related design thinking experiences)
in your classroom.
What is design thinking?
How Design Thinking Can Empower Young People
from Is School Enough? A video series on Edutopia
Design thinking is a creative and collaborative
process for identifying problems and their
innovative solutions.
Design thinking is one of several teaching
strategies that inform the educational content
and experiences available on Project MASH, a
social network for learning.
Design thinking engages students in an
active, meaningful process that connects
core content to the real world.
.
Design thinking facilitates project-based
learning. It is naturally interdisciplinary and
provides relevant opportunities to improve
verbal, written, and visual communication
skills.
Design thinking is civically charged.
The design thinking process
The design thinking process
The design thinking process
The design thinking process
Ready to Dream & Design
It?
Explore the first phase in the design thinking
process with an activity from Project MASH.
The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly
A Design Thinking Activity from Project MASH
You’ve walked through this school hundreds of times,
but you’ll never look at it the same after today.
During this activity you will:
 Explore your school in a critical and creative way
 Conduct critical research and analyze the data
STEP
Discover
TIME
2O minutes
GOAL Explore the campus using your smartphone.
Take pictures of the good, bad, and ugly—use
your thumb in each picture to indicate which
category it fits.
STEP Dig Deeper
TIME
10 minutes
GOA
L
Analyze your images.
 What patterns emerge?
 Are there more good, bad, or ugly
photos?
 What opportunities do you see in the
“bad” or “ugly” areas?
STEP Brainstorm
TIME 10 minutes
GOA Choose one of the opportunities you identified,
then brainstorm all the possible solutions with
L
your team.
 Embrace wild & wacky ideas.
 List as many possibilities as possible.
 Choose your best solution and create a
quick sketch illustrating it for the group.
Project Share
TIME 5 minutes
 What are your general findings from the
Good, the Bad, and the Ugly activity?
Summarize these.
 What opportunity did you identify?
 How might you address the opportunity?
 Create a sketch of your best idea.
Reflection & Discussion
TIME
1O minutes
 How else might you use the Good, the Bad, the
Ugly activity?

What skills and content did you cover today? If
this was adapted to your subject area, what
skills/ content could you cover using this
approach?
 What role does technology play? How is this
role distinct from the simple notion of
“technology integration”?
Common Core Connections
TIME
5 minutes
 What connections do you see between
design thinking and the skills identified in
the Common Core State Standards?
 What connections do you see between
design thinking and the knowledge foci
supported by the Common Core State
Standards?
Design thinking is an approach to teaching and
learning at the heart of Project MASH, a social
network for educators, students, and the
organizations that serve them.
Visit www.projectmash.org for student activities
and projects that rely on design thinking and other
unique teaching strategies.