Sensory Walk
By:  Amanda Berry

Project at a Glance :

Students will be partnered with a local elementary school, Griffin Elementary and Lakewood Elementary, to design and develop a sensory walk to be implemented in the hallway of the elementary school. The project will center around a variety of graphic design standards and human centered design principles. ​
 
Driving Question:

How can we design a sensory walk that helps elementary school students and their teachers?        

Standards:

• ESS03.01.02 Analyze elements of a problem to develop creative solutions.
• ESS03.01.03 Describe the value of using problem-solving and critical thinking skills to improve a situation or process.
• ESS03.01.04 Create ideas, proposals, and solutions to problems.
• ESS03.01.05 Evaluate ideas, proposals, and solutions to problems.
• ESS03.01.06 Use structured problem-solving methods when developing proposals and solutions.
• ESS03.01.07 Generate new and creative ideas to solve problems by brainstorming possible solutions.

Team / Culture Building:

• Students completed a True Colors assessment with David Ladd.  The results helped students understand their individual strengths and how they could contribute their skills to collaborate effectively within a group.  We used the color results to assign students to their teams.​

• Early on, we completed a team activity called Who Owns a Zebra? to help students analyze the power of collaboration as well as the barriers to communication and teamwork.

Entry Event:

• Design teams illustrated a ‘typical’ school day for elementary students and reflected on their own experiences from kindergarten through second grade.

Stakeholders:

• Lakewood Elementary, West Ottawa Public Schools community
• Griffin Elementary, Grand Haven Area Public Schools

​​Empathy Building:

• Empathy Map - Design teams created empathy maps from the viewpoints of Elementary students, teachers, and staff.

Need to Knows:

• Before visiting with the elementary schools, Designers did the Need to Know protocol and used that to generate interview questions and checklists.

• Design teams visited an elementary school to interview students and teachers, observe a classroom in action, and assess how a sensory walk could benefit younger students. They also collected data, took measurements, recorded observations, and captured photos.
• Stakeholder Interviews

     "I think that it was fun to include the kids in the design process, because it is something that they'll use." ~ Student
     "Interviewing the kids was actually really fun." ~ Student

• Designers researched educational psychology, child development, and sensory integration to help support their sensory walk plans.  Students researched diverse audiences and how to design for a wide array of abilities and preferences. 

Incubation:

• Designers discussed their ideas and voted within their teams on which ones to proceed forward with.Some teams blended ideas to create new ones, while others modified things to fit together. 

• Designers sketched out their initial ideas, which were posted around the room. Other students reviewed the sketches and provided feedback.  Next, students entered a refinement and modification stage before moving on to the computer to begin developing more finalized designs.

• Students sketched solution ideas.

     "It was nice to design something that was going to be useful to others."  ~ Student

• Mood Boards - Students developed mood boards to help visualize their ideas and explore concepts.

Checking in:

• At the end of each stage, students individually completed a Google Form to reflect on and process their findings.  The responses from the forms allowed me to assess how effectively each team member was contributing to the group and how well they understood the tasks at hand.

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Solution Building:

• Design Development - Designers collaborated in their groups in the computer lab to further develop their ideas, often using their initial sketches as a starting point for more detailed designs.

    "After interviewing the kids, we were able to come up with a theme and a path for the kids to follow. After we developed our ideas, we began bring them to life in illustrator." ~ Student
​
Critique and Revision: 

• Students put their designs into a Google slideshow, they then pitched their designs to a designer who gave them feedback based on the client's requests and overall design aesthetics. 

Feedback Example

Authentic Audience:

• Lakewood Elementary, West Ottawa Public Schools community
• Griffin Elementary, Grand Haven Area Public Schools

Final Presentation:

• Student pitches:​

Link 

Link

Link

Click here for teacher's full plan.

​Reflection and Feedback:
     "I really enjoyed interacting with the kids throughout the process. It was fulfilling to see their enthusiasm and creativity firsthand. What made the experience even more meaningful was knowing that the project we worked on would have a lasting impact and be genuinely useful to them." ~ Student

• Winning AM Team:  The winning AM team will paint their design on the sidewalk after spring break when the weather warms up. 

Click here for the teacher's Journey through PBL on Padlet . . .

Meet the Educator:

Amanda Berry teaches Graphic Design to 11th and 12th grade students at the OAISD's Careerline Tech Center.

     “Watching my students design a sensory walk for a local school was amazing. Seeing their skills come to life in a real-world project helped them realize their creativity has real impact. They weren’t just learning—they were making a difference!”