Joyce Pereira explains how building empathy is central to any programming or robotics class
At the heart of being a computer scientist or designer is the ability to meet human needs efficiently. This is why it is the very first throughline in the course I teach at Korea International School. A throughline is an underlying theme that connects all the topics in a subject, and I found that computer science has five throughlines that stand the test of time. Our introductory lesson focuses on learning how to uncover human needs and wants that exist at the core of every technological tool. This might surprise students who thought they signed up for a programming or robotics course!
Uncovering human needs
I start by asking students to generate a list of as many human needs as they can
I use the Generate-Sort-Connect-Elaborate thinking routine to structure this learning experience. I start by asking students to generate a list of as many human needs as they can. Once their lists are curated and shared, students are asked to collectively sort and group their responses based on similarities. Common human needs identified include: shelter, food, education, health and well-being, entertainment as well as social interactions and relationships. With human needs identified and sorted, students connect contemporary tools they personally use or are familiar with that meet those needs and wants. Students are then asked to elaborate by conducting a web search on how other cultures currently meet those needs both locally and globally.
It is truly fascinating to explore human creativity by observing how different cultures use available resources in innovative ways.
Understanding efficiency
After concluding that learning experience, students can engage with the throughline with a greater understanding of human needs and appreciation for the contemporary tools used to meet them, we then spend time constructing a collective understanding of the term efficient using the Making Meaning thinking routine.
Our shared definition of efficiency is the ability to minimize waste while maximizing benefits. The concept of trade-offs, according to Fischer, involves having to make decisions “that involve losing one quality or aspect of something in return for gaining another quality or aspect”.
This guides students to make better-informed decisions. Students are quick to realize there are no perfect solutions and thoughtful decisions have to be made regarding minimizing waste and maximizing benefits when designing efficiently.
Building empathy
Meeting human needs efficiently becomes our foundational theme throughout the year
Meeting human needs efficiently becomes our foundational theme throughout the year. As students conduct design challenges using the design thinking process, their first step when building empathy is to identify the human need or want that is being met.
By doing so, learners focus on the human as the center of their design and imagine ways to apply their computer science skills to meet those needs in new ways.
The impact of building empathy is evident when you see how students shift from a technical mindset to a human-centered one.
Another favorite design challenge is on multicultural celebrations, where students are invited to design an appropriate and meaningful gift to honor a cultural celebration.
We begin by seeking to understand the purpose of celebrations and the practice of exchanging gifts. Students explore the questions: What is the purpose of celebrations? Why do people get together to exchange gifts? From there, students research traditions and contemporary interpretations of chosen celebrations.
This experience can be modified or extended by looking for common patterns and themes across multicultural celebrations such as: light, water, harvest, luck and good fortune. Here is a link to the design challenge you can adapt to your own context: Multicultural Celebrations.
Exploring the throughline of meeting human needs efficiently sets the tone for how students are expected to engage as computer scientists in our class. This mindset is used to launch students into our second throughline: we can trace stories of ideas to participate in developing their next iterations, which I will expand on in my next article.
Points to ponder
How does meeting human needs efficiently enhance your own understanding of computer science?
I would like to invite you to synthesize this information by using the Connect-Extend-Challenge thinking routine:
- How is the idea of meeting human needs efficiently connected to what you already knew?
- What new ideas did you get that extended or broadened your thinking of computer science in new directions?
- How does meeting human needs efficiently enhance your own understanding of computer science?
- What challenges, puzzles or wonderings have come up in your mind from the ideas and information presented?