Teacher teams will collaborate on interdisciplinary lesson plans, win prizes
Posted: May 13, 2025
The Hawaiʻi State Teacher Association and Design Thinking Hawai’i are launching the Design Thinking Laboratory to empower teachers to integrate design thinking into their classrooms and develop interdisciplinary lesson plans or units for student implementation.
Design Thinking aims to transform Hawaiʻi by introducing innovative and entrepreneurial mindsets and technologies to teachers and students. The goal is to equip teachers and students with the skills necessary to take on the challenges of an uncertain future.
The laboratory brings together teachers who are or want to be practitioners of human-centered design (or design thinking) to collaboratively generate, explore, and create interdisciplinary lesson plans or units designed for classroom execution.
In-person course held at HSTA headquarters July 26, 27
Interdisciplinary teams of three to five teachers will engage in a free two-day in-person session using traditional design thinking methods based on the Stanford d-School open-source process.
Interdisciplinary teams will be equipped with practical design thinking skills to develop lesson plans or units for immediate classroom delivery. Participants should bring a notebook, pen, and sample lesson plans. Computers are optional.
In-Person Training:
- July 26 and 27, 2025 | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- HSTA conference room
- 1200 Ala Kapuna Street, Honolulu, HI 96819
Teacher deliverables; there are monetary awards!
- Each interdisciplinary team will create a unit using the five steps of the design thinking process.
- Each interdisciplinary team will deliver the developed unit in their classrooms during the fall semester.
- Additional online sessions will be provided to support classroom implementation.
- Each interdisciplinary team will present their unit with student work samples to the Hawaiʻi Foundation for Educators Board, HSTA leaders, and the Design Thinking instructors.
- Presentations will be judged, and monetary awards will be given to the first through third-place units to encourage the development of more interdisciplinary units or projects.
- Presentation sessions will showcase lesson plans and student work on dates to be determined.
How to register
- To participate, you must have a team of three to five teachers
- Team form options:
- All the same content area
- All the same grade level
- Team form options:
- Each team member must register by July 21 through the pd.hsta.org webpage.
- Once registered, each team member must fill out the information on this form.