After going through design thinking workshops, it occurred to me that until you empathize with your end user — your students — how could you truly design a successful classroom experience? In trying to figure out how to encourage discovery within our classroom walls, our student interviews revealed that it was not the curriculum but the physical space that needed to be redesigned. The desks were old and because they were set up with an opening in the front, the students found it difficult to find specific folders, workbooks and other materials. The chairs were hard, uncomfortable and did not move easily. There was a lot of bulky furniture taking up space so that the students could not spread out comfortably for group work.
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