EDUC 546.

03 - Design-based Thinking
Assignment 2 - Problem of Practice Design Challenge
Phase 3 - Developing Possible Solutions
Julie, Janelle, and Michela

Task 5 - Exploring Different Design Processes

IDEO Lense
5 Stages of the IDEO Process:
1. Discovery: we used our practicum, past experiences and anecdotal evidence from
others to influence our question. We discovered there was a distinct connection
between hating math and being bad at math.
2. Interpretation: we talked about our experiences. We discussed the many stigmas
regarding math confidence and the struggles that students face. We created our
problem of practice: How might we increase student confidence in math to foster
positive relationships with the subject matter?
3. Ideation: Began to discuss what influences math confidence and math relationships.
We used these ideas to inform our prototypes/ experimentation stage.
4. Experimentation: PLEASE SEE MIND MAP. We discussed many possibilities of how
to increase student confidence to develop positive relationships. We began to realize
that these could all be incorporated to your daily practices.
UDL Lense
When we looked at our problem of practice through a UDL lense, we considered the three core
ideas of UDL (engagement, representation, and action & expression). We brainstormed
possible solutions that connect to one or more of these core ideas.
Reflection
The two design processes that we chose to develop our solutions were the IDEO and
UDL methods. We felt that these two methods best fit our needs in terms of determining
solutions and we connected with the non-linear natures of both.

We really enjoyed the IDEO design process because it aligned very closely with what we
were doing in class. The 5 stages make it very easy to move through the design process
especially since this process doesn’t require we follow a linear pattern. We first met as a group
after realizing we had many of the same problems regarding mathematics and we developed a
first draft question. We then began the ideation and experimentation stage to try to find some
solutions to our problem. We soon realized however, that there were too many solutions
because our problem of practice was too broad and included too many factors. After a
discussion with an expert at one of the seminars, we were able to refine our problem of practice
and then started ideating and experimenting with solutions to our new problem. We liked being
able to do this because we felt that no matter what we were always making our question and
thus our solutions better for our students!

We also found it useful to look at our problem of practice through a UDL lense, as it
helped us “categorize” some of our solutions and how they fit in to each of the three core ideas
(Engagement, Representation, and Action & Expression). We were able to expand on some
potential solutions by considering strategies used in UDL and how that connects to our problem
of practice. It felt pretty natural to come up with solutions related to UDL, because the strategies
of UDL are very related to what our potential solutions would be. We saw a lot of overlap when
we considered our potential solutions through an IDEO or UDL lense, which helped us confirm
that our potential solutions were on the right track.

Our “a-ha” moment began to occur when after looking at the IDEO mind map and UDL
brainstorming. We started realizing that everything was connected. We found that our solutions
inform the other and they can all help to provide a better environment for our students. We also
noticed that a lot of the strategies provided by the UDL framework could be integral to our final
solution. These realizations however, also posed a challenge for us because we realized how
complicated our problem really is and how many components there are to math! We are hoping
that after speaking to an expert and doing some reflection that we might be able to come to a
conclusion in regards to a solution and maybe we will find a way to incorporate numerous
solutions into one.