Abstract
Modern computing is pervaded by human-centric technologies which potentiate people’s capabilities to address complex problems and needs in contextualised and meaningful ways. Creating such technologies requires thinking approaches that overcome the limitations of traditional paradigms that focus on specific aspects of human-computer interaction in well-defined problem contexts. Design thinking is an ill-defined problem-solving strategy which addresses this need through a systematic and iterative process that integrates exploration, ideation and testing of possible solutions based on the participation of stakeholders, and the investigation and accommodation of their often-conflicting needs. Developing design thinking in students is key to face the challenges of an ever-changing and increasingly complex world, and it is therefore crucial to have approaches and tools that can support educational endeavours aimed at this. In this chapter we describe the use of knowledge maps to promote design thinking for game design and development students. Knowledge maps are a variant of hierarchical concept maps created by domain experts to support learners’ knowledge construction processes. Game design knowledge maps were conceived to integrate and structure multidisciplinary knowledge regarding game systems, players, player engagement principles, and design and testing processes. Their structure was planned so that students could explore imparted knowledge iteratively and incrementally, driven by a human-centric focus. The evidence collected from students so far indicates that knowledge maps integrate large amounts of information in an easily accessible structure which fosters students’ design thinking processes. The maps seem to support students in connecting themes and ideas, and guide them through the whole design thinking process. This suggests that properly structured imparted knowledge can be effective in helping students to learn “how” to think, not just “what” to think.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bannon L (1991) From human factors to human actors: the role of psychology and human-computer interaction studies in system design. In: Greenbaum JM, Kyng M (eds) Design at work: cooperative design of computer systems. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, pp 25–44
Buchanan R (1992) Wicked problems in design thinking. Des Issues 8(2):5–21
Cross N (1982) Designerly ways of knowing. Des Stud 3(4):221–227
Cross N (2001) Designerly ways of knowing: design discipline versus design science. Des Issues 17(3):49–55
Dorst K (2011) The core of “design thinking” and its application. Des Stud 32(6):521–532
Dunne D, Martin R (2006) Design thinking and how it will change management education: an interview and discussion. Acad Manage Learn Educ 5(4):512–523
Dym CL, Agogino AM, Eris O, Frey DD, Leifer LJ (2005) Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning. J Eng Educ 94(1):103–120
Fabricatore C, López X (in press) Education in a complex world: nurturing chaordic agency through complexity science and game design. In: Visser J, Visser M (eds) Seeking understanding: the lifelong pursuit to build the scientific mind, Sense Publishers
Fabricatore C, López X (2013) Fostering creativity through educational video game development projects: a study of contextual and task characteristics. Creativity Res J 25(4):418–425
Fabricatore C, López MX (2014) Complexity-based learning and teaching: a case study in higher education. Innovations Educ Teach Int 51(6):618–630
Fabricatore C, López X (2015) Higher education in a complex world: nurturing “chaordic” influencers. In :Proceedings of the sixth advanced international colloquium on building the scientific mind (BtSM2015), Learning Development Institute, Jupiter, pp 1–11. Retrieved from http://www.learndev.org/BtSM2015.html
Giacomin J (2014) What is human centred design? Des J 17(4):606–623
Grudin J (2012) A moving target: the evolution of HCI. In: Jacko JA (ed) The human-computer interaction handbook: fundamentals, evolving technologies, and emerging applications, 3rd edn. Taylor & Francis Group, New York, pp xxvii–lxi
Jaimes A, Gatica-Perez D, Sebe N, Huang TS (2007) Human-centered computing—toward a human revolution. Computer 40(5):30–34
Koh JHL, Chai CS, Wong B, Hong H-Y (2015) Design thinking for education: concepts and applications in teaching and learning. Springer, Singapore
Kokotovich V (2008) Problem analysis and thinking tools: an empirical study of non-hierarchical mind mapping. Des Stud 29(1):49–69
Mathias JR (1993) A study of the problem solving strategies used by expert and novice designers (Doctoral Dissertation). Aston University, Birmingham, UK.
Novak JD (2010) Learning creating and using knowledge: concept maps as facilitative tools in schools and corporations. J E-Learn Knowl Soc 6(3):21–30
Novak JD, Cañas AJ (2008) The theory underlying concept maps and how to construct them. Technical report IHMC CmapTools 2006-01 Rev 01-2008, Florida. http://cmap.ihmc.us/publications/researchpapers/theoryunderlyingconceptmaps.pdf
O’Cathain A, Thomas KJ (2004) “Any other comments?” Open questions on questionnaires—a bane or a bonus to research?, BMC Medical Research Methodology
Oxman R (1999) Educating the designerly thinker. Des Stud 20(2):105–122
Oxman R (2004) Think-maps: teaching design thinking in design education. Des Stud 25(1):63–91
Taylor P (2000) Designerly thinking: what software methodology can learn from design theory. In: Gray J, Croll P (eds) Proceedings international conference on software methods and tools, smt 2000. IEEE Computer Society, Los Alamitos, pp 107–116
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fabricatore, C., López, M.X. (2018). Promoting Design Thinking Through Knowledge Maps: A Case Study in Computer Games Design and Development Education. In: Carter, J., O'Grady, M., Rosen, C. (eds) Higher Education Computer Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98590-9_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98590-9_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-98589-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-98590-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)