Design thinking leads to more student-focused engineering classes
Author: Cyclone Engineering
The RED RIDE project focused on improving how we teach and support electrical and computer engineering students.
One key finding: using design thinking helped faculty rethink their teaching. By working together and trying new approaches, instructors became more focused on student needs and more open to experimenting and improving their courses over time.
The project also showed that design thinking can help students feel like they belong in engineering. When done well, it makes the learning process more approachable and helps students see themselves as future engineers.
The discoveries led to practical tools for course design at Iowa State – and now the insights are being used as a model for research at other universities, too.
The RED RIDE project was supported by the National Science Foundation. Project leaders included: Ashfaq Khokah, Diane Rover, Mani Mina, Nick Fila, Phillip Jones, Henry Duwe, Joe Zambreno, Doug Jacobson, and Mack Shelley.