T6-AL1-1 - Designing Moonshots

1. Innovative Practice Full Paper
Kathy Liu¹ , Jason Zhao^1
1 Stanford University

Introduction
This Innovative Practice full paper presents an immersive class model, ”Designing Moonshots,” which harnesses design thinking principles to equip students with theories, skills, and trajectories for designing moonshot projects. Through user interviews, expert feedback, and student-led ”makeathons,” par- ticipants reported a significant development of their abilities to need-learn and work with peers. Students also noted an increase in agency towards tackling systemic issues, the acquisition of novel problem solving strategies, and the discovery of new fields of interest. Implications of this research demonstrate that the pedagogical synthesis of the design thinking approach and moonshot solutions holds promise for a variety of skills that are often omitted in traditional education.