Our classrooms bring together students from different countries, cultures, disciplines, backgrounds, and ways of thinking. Design thinking provides practical ways of making this diversity an active part of learning, while developing the creativity, collaboration, adaptability, and problem-solving skills that students need for professional practice.

In this webinar, Tony Morgan, Associate Professor in Innovation Management Practice, and Dr Lena Jaspersen, Lecturer in Innovation and Qualitative Research Methods, from the University of Leeds will explore how they use design thinking in interdisciplinary, team-based student projects. A particular focus will be on diverge-converge approaches, which create space for different perspectives and ideas before teams evaluate options and make shared decisions. These structured processes can help students contribute in different ways and support more inclusive and psychologically safe teamwork.

Using a short design activity and examples from student projects, Tony and Lena will show how students move from an initially broad challenge towards a deeper understanding of the problem and the people involved. They will illustrate how personas, empathy mapping and ‘as-is’ scenarios help students question assumptions and understand different perspectives; how idea generation and prioritisation help teams turn these insights into possibilities; and how approaches such as storyboarding and design thinking hills help them develop ideas and communicate value clearly.

The session draws on Tony and Lena's experience and pedagogic research of interdisciplinary innovation education at the University of Leeds and their book, Design Thinking for Student Projects. Participants will leave with practical ideas for using human-centred design to support more inclusive, reflective, and creative team-based learning.

This webinar will be recorded. If you're unable to attend the live session, please register anyway to ensure you receive access to the recording afterward.

Free OneHE content to explore: 

• Leading In-Class Group Work - course
• Assessing Group Work - course

OneHE content (Available with OneHE membership. A 10-day free trial is available for new members).

• Introduction to Team-Based Learning - course
• Using Team-Based Learning to Improve Student Learning - interview
• Being Transparent in Your Teaching - course
• Creating Captivating Challenges with Problem-Based Learning - course