Student-Centered Design
We believe innovative ideas and change can come from anyone
We believe that students are integral to generating new solutions and that innovative ideas and change can come from anyone.
If we are to help our students succeed, the tools of innovation should not be relegated to the realm of the classroom, rather, we should embed these tools in our work with students each day.
The Student-Centered Design course is a 12-week (open for 16 weeks to complete) online learning experience to learn and apply the Design Thinking methodology to improve student experiences, services, programs, spaces, and policies.
Participants will develop a design challenge to apply design thinking concepts and tools. Assigned homework advances the goal of developing solutions for their design challenge. The course culminates with participants summarizing their design challenge, insights, ideas, and learning with others, creating meaningful change.
In this course you will:
- Learn the principles of student-centered design and associated tools and mindsets to help you transform challenges into meaningful opportunities for design
- Learn to use tools to gain a deeper understanding of the student experience
- Experience the power of interviewing to inspire and inform meaningful insights
- Use student-centered design to identify needs, interview, brainstorm solutions, rapid-prototype, and test your solutions for an improved university experience
- Develop an empathetic and entrepreneurial mindset to collaborate and build creative confidence
- Define problems and address campus challenges by testing innovative ideas
Benefits of Enrolling in Student-Centered Design
- New approaches to understanding students
- Collaborative ways to generate ideas with students as co-designers
- Develop a common language and approach for driving innovation at your institution
- Speed up the velocity of learning, idea generation, and feedback
- Effectuate change amidst large and bureaucratic organizational structures
Who Should Attend
This course is for you if you want to:
- Understand how to apply Design Thinking in your work with students in a college or university setting
- Speed up the process of innovation
- Work inclusively
- Generate breakthrough ideas
- Unleash your creative potential
Fees
$949 per person
Location
Canvas/Online
Faculty
Dr. Luke Jones works in the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management at Boise State University. In this role he built and led the student-centered design team and helped other university teams learn how to use and embed design thinking in their work
Dr. Jones also serves as an adjunct faculty for the College of Innovation and Design where he teaches leadership and design thinking courses. His professional experience includes work in broadcasting, advertising, higher education, international education and non-profit management. He regularly consults and coaches leaders in education, non-profit, and corporate sectors to help empower teams to solve problems creatively.
Dr. Jones holds a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration, a Masters degree in Student Affairs, and a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Washington State University. His research focus is on the intersection of undergraduate education and the development of meaning, purpose, and community at public institutions of higher education.
Course Outline
Week 1 – Introduction and Creating Your Challenge
You will learn about design thinking, the student-centered design model and how to craft your challenge for the course.
Week 2 – How to Gain a Deeper Understanding of the Student Experience
Why and how do we go about understanding students and their experience in ways that can inform our design? We will start with observation.
Week 3 – Artifact Collection
The Artifact Collection activity is a way for students to own their own experiences and story and to show you aspects of their life that will help to guide your design choices.
Week 4 – Experience
This week connects you to a student and allows them to show you their experience on their terms using a few simple tools.
Week 5 – Interviewing to Understand
Practice interviewing techniques to help you go deeper with a student in unearthing insights that will fuel your innovation.
Week 6 – Student Experience Map
The Student Experience Map is a great tool to help you outline and understand what is happening as a student moves through a student experience and highlight opportunities to improve.
Week 7 – Define
Learn how to use an empathy map, create a persona, and get specific about the student you are designing for and the needs you want to solve for.
Week 8 – Collaborate
Learn how to identify opportunities for collaboration using the campus partner tool.
Week 9 – Ideate
You will learn and use effective tools and approaches for generating ideas on your own and with a team.
Week 10 – Prototype
You will learn to use rapid prototyping and plan how to maximize your learning.
Week 11 – Test
You will put your prototype in the hands of a student to get feedback on it, learn more about the desirability of your idea, and learn more about student needs.
Week 12 – Tell the Story
Assemble everything you have learned into a compelling narrative to effectuate change as well as help others understand the insights you have gained about students and their experience.
Testimonials
Josh Finch, Director of Campus Life – Louisiana State University
“This course was incredible – I learned a ton, made great connections with colleagues across campus, and have applied the principles and techniques directly to my work. Looking forward to applying these principles in the next phase of my career! Thank you for the opportunity to learn.”
Laure Braden, Executive Director University Recreation – Louisiana State University
“As a long time student affairs professional, I found this design thinking course both challenging and refreshing. It gave me new perspective in understanding the lived experience of today’s college students. I will use this knowledge to evaluate, create and transform how we create amazing experiences that contribute to student success.”
Dr. Dan Bureau, Assistant Vice President for Student Health and Wellbeing – Louisiana State University
“This class has been vital in rethinking how I contribute in the lives of students at LSU. Leaders need better approaches to serving our stakeholders. In our case at LSU, we wanted to examine student needs and address long-standing issues we face in our work. We decided to engage 10 of our staff in the student-centered design course during the fall of 2022 and through the process completely reimagined how we approach our work. As a result, we can develop better programs and services to meet the true needs of students. After 25 years in higher education, I have been highly engaged in professional development activities. I can honestly say that this experience has been one of the most important and meaningful experiences I have had, and to have done it with nine other colleagues has been very good for relationships within our division of student affairs. I encourage anyone who wants to reconsider how they do their work with more intentionality and purpose to take the course.”