Transforming Learning Perspectives Through Design: 2020 MDes Thesis Work

Transforming Learning Perspectives Through Design brings together a lively collection of information about the thesis work of our Class of 2020 MDes graduates: Gowri Balasubramaniam, Colleen Clark, Megan Freund, Jenn Low, and Ashley Moon.

Over the course of their two-year graduate degree program, these five designers explored different perspectives that address equity and access in partnership with collaborators from the public K-12 education sector.

Together, research teams worked to explore and address equity and access in our collective civic lives, in the curricula we teach, in the education of our educators, in the planning of our communities, and in the futures we co-create.

While a public presentation of their design research outcomes was cancelled due to the pandemic, their findings and perspectives are more relevant than ever as we seek to rebuild and address long overdue disparities in our communities and the world at large.

Thesis Work

Megan Freund

Designing for Equity in Education with Serious Play

Jenn Low

Dear Chinatown: Exploring New Ways of Public Engagement

Ashley Moon

Zine-making as Social Action: Integrating Design and Self-Authorship in Civic Learning