This paper presents an investigation into Indian elementary and middle school students' images of designers. A "Draw a designer at work" test was used with 511 students from Classes 5 to 9 from a school located in Mumbai. Findings from the study indicate that Indian elementary and middle school students, who had no experience in design…

This article addresses a methodological gap in the study of creativity: the difficulty of capturing the microgenesis of creative action in ways that would reflect both its psychological and behavioral dynamics. It explores the use of subjective camera (subcam) by research participants as part of an adapted Subjective Evidence-Based Ethnography…

A wide range of design literature discusses the role of the studio and its related pedagogy in the development of design thinking. Scholars in a variety of design disciplines pose a number of factors that potentially affect this development process, but a full understanding of these factors as experienced from a critical pedagogy or student…

This reflection on practice discusses action research involving two pedagogical tools, identity boxes and culture quilts, which utilize the praxis of culturally responsive pedagogy. These tools were used to build classroom community and help students examine how their lives and education reflected "cultural themes of the society, personal…

In this essay, Erica Halverson and Kimberly Sheridan provide the context for research on the maker movement as they consider the emerging role of making in education. The authors describe the theoretical roots of the movement and draw connections to related research on formal and informal education. They present points of tension between making…

To compete in the global workforce, educators know that their students must be well educated in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. But, as outlined in the NETS, they must also develop the key skills of creativity and innovation. How can educators teach the typically left-brained STEM subjects along with the more…

Art is all about the process of exploration. The final results are less important than what a child imagines, experiences, and learns along the way. Packed with a year's worth of art projects kids can create out of everyday objects and recycled materials. From buttons to Bubble Wrap and rocks to socks, the author shows how to plan exciting art…

Greater Latrobe Senior High School in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, is a school where art is supported both by the administration and the local community. While the school was undergoing renovations, this author was given the task of creating a six-foot round mosaic in the entrance of the school. The design was to be student-created and was to represent…

To capture students' excitement and engage their interest in rocketships and visiting planets in the solar system, the author designed lessons that give students the opportunity to experience the joys and challenges of developing straw rockets, and then observing which design can travel the longest distance. The lessons are appropriate for…

This study examined the racial attitudes of White undergraduates (N = 15) enrolled in a service-learning design studio, in which students worked closely on landscape architecture projects with residents in a low-income African American community. Using a modified consensual qualitative research method, the authors analyzed a series of guided…

Every fall season, each grade level of Rowland Hall St. Mark's Lower School in Salt Lake City, Utah, completes a mask-making project to be featured in a schoolwide parade. This sparked an opportunity to incorporate the fourth-grade unit of realistic and observational drawing with mask making. In this article, the author describes how her students…

Bento boxes are common objects in Japanese culture, designed to hold enough lunch for one person. They have individual compartments and sometimes multiple tiers for rice, vegetables, and other side dishes. They are made of materials ranging from wood, cloth, aluminum, or plastic. In general, the greater the number of foods, the better the box is…

The author's second-grade students were completing a unit in their classroom on fairy tales. The author was asked to come up with a coinciding project to emphasize the imaginative and magical aura of fairy tales. A few years ago, the author attended the Philadelphia Flower Show where the theme was Ireland. Among the outstanding landscape exhibits…

This study describes the application of a new product concurrent design methodologies in the context in the education of industrial design. The use of the sketch has been utilized many times as a tool of creative expression especially in the conceptual design stage, in an intuitive way and a little out of the context of the reality needs that the…

One of the author's goals this year was to turn all of the different pieces of research she has collected throughout the years into projects. This is when she thinks of bringing Renaissance quilling to her class. Quilling, or paper scrolling, uses strips of paper that are rolled up to create decorative designs. During the Renaissance, it was used…