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Abstract

We are applying U Stanford's “Design Thinking” approach to convert a 200ft ship into a swimming science lab. The Ship combines a research center for large river ecosystems with a training facility for teacher trainees, and a bionic lab where classes can study the impact of fluid dynamics on marine ecology, geography, and the design of ships and airplanes. Design Thinking applies on several levels. We declared the design process of the Science Lab a part of our “Future Strategy for Teacher Training”. Space on a ship is always a precious resource, as is the time of the classes visiting the lab. Using the “Fail early, fail often” principle, teacher education students work closely with students of neighboring schools to develop, test and evaluate various prototypes. Thus, they combine theory and research to untangle all the problems and constrains, and to provide an rich, interesting and meaningful environment for students.

Footnotes

CLabs feature video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rebSfMbC2M Future Strategy for Teacher Training: http://zus.uni-koeln.de/21122.html Design Thinking resources: http://dschool.stanford.edu/dgift/

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