It all started when I began reading Michael J Gelb’s, “Think like Da Vinci”. Incidentally it also happened to be my first year as Design Teacher for students in the Middle Years Programme. With the experience as a Tech integrationist, I knew this could be a good start  for facilitating STEAM learning. 

The MYP Design cycle is like any other inquiry model except that it gives detailed insights into developing feasible solutions to real-time problems. Learners develop curiosity and love for learning when they are shown real-time examples and applications of that learning. Understanding why they are learning a concept, is of paramount importance. I started my classes by showing some design sketches of Leonardo Da Vinci for various machines he dreamed of developing. The Genius of Da Vinci book served as a great resource for sparking interest and inquiry in the class. Students even did this short book review after reading it.

(This is a cleaning hope which inspires people to throw trash, this also helps to better our basketball skills.)
By:  Tanmay Rao Myp 2C

The 7 Da vincian principles

Da vinci was a polymath who developed interest in various subjects and pioneered in areas like art, engineering, anatomy,botany,geology,physics etc. When I adapted the following 7 principles of Da Vincian thinking, it helped my learners unleash their unlimited potential for learning and creativity in Design. They also connected the knowledge they had acquired from subjects like English, Mathematics,Science, Arts and Technology.

 

• Curiosita

“The desire to know is natural to good men”- Da Vinci

 

Intelligence and continuous learning are nurtured by passionate questioning. Design thinking too is fuelled by insatiable curiosity and makes questions equally important as answers. As Leonardo says, questioning is an exercise in creative problem solving of the very highest order. Learners start designing a product or a solution by making a stream of questions asked from different perspectives.

Here is an example of student-driven inquiry questions stated for research for a unit on an Animation project.

• Sensazione

“The five senses are the ministers of our soul”- Da Vinci

 

Leonardo looked at the 5 senses as keys to open the doors of experience in this world. His appreciation of the beauty around him was demonstrated through magnificent paintings that captured the subtle expressions of mankind. He was also a brilliant musician who played flute,lyre and other instruments. He savoured the feel of fine fabrics and his studio was always filled with flowers and perfumes. 

 

My Design class always has a pleasant ambient atmosphere filled with gentle music and scents to help learners focus on their tasks.  Like Leonardo cultivated a passion for culinary arts,  my learners also tried their hands on Food design by creating interesting recipes following the design cycle. This project helped them put their five senses to use to create a delicious meal.

 

• Sfumato

“The painter who has no doubts will achieve little”- Da Vinci

 

This principle talks about the willingness to embrace ambiguity, willingness and uncertainty. Leonardo explored beauty as well as ugliness in his paintings by combining battles, grotesques and deluges with flowers and beautiful youths. 

In Design students follow Sfumato by doing product analysis using techniques like SWOT, ACCESSFM, FEEDSCAM etc. This way they learn how to embrace creative tension and find out the plus, minus and interesting factors in a product or system.

 

• Arte/Scienza

Study the science of art and the art of science- Da Vinci

 

Here students develop a balance between Science, Art, Logic and Imagination which leads to “Whole-brain” thinking. Mind-mapping is known to be a powerful tool that helps one to cultivate synergy between art and science in planning and problem solving. Students inquire and analyze a lot about the problem they are investigating through mind-maps and concept-maps they made.

 

• Corporalita

“Sickness is the discord of elements infused into the living body and healing is the restoration of discordant elements”- Da Vinci

 

This principle focuses on  cultivation of grace, ambidexterity, fitness and poise. Leonardo’s “Vitruvian man” with human body proportions is a perfect example that reflects this principle. He believed that one should accept personal responsibility for one’s health and well-being.

 

 Learners in their design projects are mindful of the Ergonomic and anthropometric factors when they work on human-centered designs to ensure that the user feels comfortable to use their product without having to face any health concerns.

 

Here is a TinkerCAD prototype created by a student for a multi-purpose cupboard.

 

• Connessione

“The earth is moved from its position by the weight of a tiny bird resting upon it” –  Da Vinci

 

Da Vinci’s unparalleled creativity is his lifelong practice of combining and creating diverse elements from nature. Learners in Design class become seekers of connections by learning about Biomimicry a.k.a Natured inspired Designs.

 

• Dimostrazione

“Obstacles do not bend me. Every obstacle is destroyed through vigour” -Da Vinci

 

Dimonstrazione is demonstration of knowledge. The Theory of Knowledge embraces the commitment to test knowledge through experience, persistence and willingness to learn from mistakes. That’s the principle students use to test or evaluate their product from their users to get their feedback and learn to accept constructive criticism thereby improving their work.

 

Here is a student reflection for Product testing:

More such student work can be found in my Blog and on my Wakelet