Chapter 8: First Graders’ Design Processes During a Field Trip Activity

In this chapter, we examine the ways that one group of three children engage in design thinking as part of a field trip activity facilitated at a small science center near their school. We approached this analysis with an interest in recognizing what children are capable of doing, rather than discussing what children may need to be taught. We believe children come to learning experiences with strengths and assets. An additional secondary goal of this chapter is to bridge the research literature that investigates how people engage in and learn “engineering design” or “design” with the literature that describes how people engage in and learn “design thinking.” We use the terms “engineering design” or “design” in this chapter rather than the term “design thinking” because these are the terms the engineering education community uses, and because we hope to amplify other existing research that is framed using the terms “engineering design” and design” instead of “design thinking.” We begin the chapter by discussing prior research on design, how children engage in engineering design, and different models and ways of talking about engineering design and design thinking. We then present our research design and our narrative of one group of first graders’ process of engaging in an open-ended design activity. Finally, we offer our interpretation of the children’s design process in the “Discussion” section and offer suggestion for future research, curriculum designers, and educators.