Design Thinking & AI Literacy at Fairfield Methodist Primary School
Fairfield Methodist Primary School invited EYEYAH! to conduct a 12-hour design thinking program, spread over six weeks. This innovative program was designed to educate P5 and P6 students on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and to guide them in effectively creating prototypes to educate the pros and cons of AI to their peers.
Week 1: Introduction to AI and Design Thinking
The program started off with an introduction to AI and the fundamentals of design thinking. Students explored the ethics of AI, discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly aspects of AI.
Week 2: Interviews and
Audience Understanding
Students delved deeper into the various uses of AI, focusing on the advantages
and the techniques for initiating discussions about AI. They also interviewed
their peers to gain insights into their target audience’s understanding of AI.
Week 3:
Persona Profiles
Assessing data from their interviews, students categorised their peers into
four distinct persona profiles, which helped them understand the needs of
different persona types.
Week 4: Brainstorming
The students explored the design thinking techniques of convergent and
divergent thinking. Students brainstormed ideas suitable for their chosen
personas, using AI to enhance and refine their concepts.
Week 5: Prototype
Development
Students began working on their chosen ideas, creating a diverse array of
digital and physical prototypes, including games, skits, posters, and comics.
Week 6: Show and Tell
The programme ended with a “show and tell” session where each group had five minutes to pitch their prototypes. They explained their ideas behind their designs in front of three guest judges; an MOE educator, a representative from Meta, and EYEYAH’s creative director.
The program was a great success. It gave students practical experience with AI and its effects, while also helping them learn a lot about design thinking principles.
“I got to learn the pros and cons of AI. In addition, I learned lots of fun facts about technology including AI. Apart from this, I also learned more about how to use AI wisely and learned about AI ethics.” – Student
“I like that in this programme, I learnt a lot about design thinking, like brainstorming and ideates to solve a problem, in this case about AI. I also learnt about how to create good ideas like when to be convergent or divergent. In addition, I learnt a lot about technology and AI – which is something I have been hoping to learn about.” – Student
“The impact of the programme extends beyond the sessions themselves. A physical deliverable is produced as a result of the students’ DT journey. After consultations with EYEYAH!, it was agreed that a PowerPoint deck for teachers to use when teaching about AI would be developed. In addition, the student-crafted questions from their prototypes are being used to develop an online AI-themed game with four levels which was one of the student prototypes. To complement this, a comic series, also one of the students’ prototypes is also in development to further engage students on the topic of AI and ethics.” – Ms Sofia Gita Parkash, Head of Department English Language, Fairfield Methodist Primary School