Design Thinking in Student Affairs: A Primer constitutes such an
important and timely contribution to the literature. By focusing
equally on the theory, mindset, and practice of design thinking,
the book fills a gap by providing a roadmap for theoretically
informed practice and culture change. Authored by trusted
colleagues with expertise in leadership, innovation, assessment,
storytelling, equity, organizational development, change
management, and student success in both Canada and the United
States-thebook makes a compelling case for using design thinking to
facilitate human-centered, cocreated, high-impact solutions within
and beyond the traditional realm of student affairs.Given the
unprecedented combination of new and exacerbated challenges facing
our colleges and universities-decreasing government funding,
student mental health and well-being, diversity and inclusion
efforts, and affordability chief among them-who among us doesn't
need another arrow in their quiver?"-From the Foreword by Janet
Morrison, President and Vice Chancellor of Sheridan College,
Ontario, Canada Design thinking is an innovative problem-solving
framework. This introduction is the first book to apply its
methodology to student affairs and, in doing so, points the way to
its potentially wider value to higher education as a whole. With
its focus on empathy, which is the need to thoroughly understand
users' experiences, design thinking is user-centered, similar to
how student affairs is student-centered. Because the focus of
design thinking is to design with users, not for users, it aligns
well with student affairs practice. In addition, its focus on
empathy makes design thinking a more equitable approach to
problem-solving than other methods because all users'
experiences-not just the experiences of majority or "average"
student-need to be understood. Centering empathy in problem-solving
processes can be a tool to disrupt higher education systems and
practices. Design thinking is a framework to foster innovation,
and, by its nature, innovation is about responding to change
factors with creativity. In an organization, design thinking is
inherently connected to organizational change and culture because
the process is really about changing people to help them rally
around a disruptive idea. Implementing design thinking on a campus
may in itself be disruptive and require a change management
process. The beauty of using design thinking is that it can also
act as a framework to support organizational culture change. Design
thinking approaches, with their focus on stakeholder needs (as
opposed to systemic norms), collaborative solutions building, and
structured empathy activities can offer a concrete tool to disrupt
harmful systems of power and oppression. Design thinking as a
process is not a magic solution to equity problems, though it can
be a powerful tool to approach the development of solutions that
can address inequity. Design thinking is data-driven and considers
both qualitative and quantitative data as necessary to gain most
complete picture of an issue and its possible solutions, whether a
product, program, or service. Design thinking has numerous benefits
to afford students affairs. Chapter 1 outlines a case for design
thinking in student affairs. Chapter 2 discusses a brief history of
design thinking, noting its germination and evolution to current
practice. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of each step of
the design thinking model with pertinent examples to make the steps
clearer. Chapter 4 explains the intersection of equity and design
thinking while chapter 5 explores the use of design thinking for
organizational change. Chapter 6 presents a new model for design
thinking assessment. Chapter 7 addresses the challenges and
limitations of the process. Chapter 8 concludes the book by
discussing the alignment of design thinking and student affairs and
outlining next steps. Design thinking is an innovative process that
can change the way higher education and student affairs operates,
realizing the potential it offers.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!