Qatar University Center for Young Scientists (QU- YSC) announced the start of the third cycle of the Design Thinking and innovation track for the primary and preparatory levels, with the participation of six schools inside Qatar on 28 August, Sunday.
The design-thinking track was prepared on scientific bases and concepts following the laboratory experimentation strategy to build students’ abilities to solve problems creatively. The design thinking process consists of five steps, which are: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. This track also aims to empower students and expand their perceptions to devise valuable and effective solutions and models for various contemporary problems to achieve the sufficiency of creative and critical thinking and research and investigation sufficiency.
The students from primary schools performed several scientific experiments to identify the characteristics of the different materials and innovative designs used in food packaging. Then students followed the design thinking methodology in designing innovative packaging for food preservation. This track also included another workshop dedicated to the preparatory schools, where the students explored the ability of different materials to insulate and conduct heat and then applied the steps of design thinking and the acquired knowledge to solve the heat loss problem faced by food transport and delivery companies. The participating groups will compete to design a final model for an efficient heat preservation box. Specialized arbitrators from Qatar University will evaluate outputs produced by the students.
Prof. Noora Al-Thani, Director of the Qatar University Center for Young Scientists, indicated that design thinking is one of the strategies that call for logical thinking and links scientific concepts to daily life. Therefore, it will acquire the students with the necessary skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving skills, to find creative solutions that meet sustainability standards from an environmental point of view to build an innovation-based society. In turn, Prof. Noora Al-Thani thanked the center’s partners, the UNESCO office in Doha, and the National Commission for Education, Culture, and Science.
Qatar University Center for Young Scientists (QU- YSC) offers various programs to spread the culture of scientific research and build research capabilities among students of all academic levels. These educational and research activities and initiatives have received significant attention from students, teachers, and parents for over twelve years. Through its various tracks, the center has made a difference in education by using the STEM approach, which gives students the ability to be creative and innovative to become future leaders who contribute to achieving Qatar National Vision 2030. Accordingly, the center has launched several new tracks, including the design thinking and innovation track.
Source: Qatar University