Design Thinking Process: e3 

e3  
Discovery Phase-Checklist
Parts 1, 2, 3
Due: Oct. 30, 2018

Emily Jones​​𝄡
⭒★Maximus Isaiah ”Minimus” Johnson
Johnson★
★⭒ 
Andrea Nabor
♬​
♬Gracie Kuyper♬
,​​ ♬𝄢​.
𝄢♬Gryffin Jones♬

Work with your design thinking team to take notes about each part of the Design Thinking Process that you 
you 
complete together. After you feel that you have fully explored each step of the three parts listed, change the 
the 
checkbox to a check mark. Return to and revise each part as needed. 
needed. 
 
Define the mission for the design thinking process - Discovery Phase Part 1 
1 

❏ Identify/define the challenge - Restate your problem statement: 

● The lack of Performing Arts in schools.  

● In San Diego Unified School District 
schools/areas★​⭒ 
● ⭒★Lack of performing arts in low-income schools/areas★
● The performing arts aren’t well supported  
 
Challenge question: How can we better inform low-income middle schools in the San Diego 
School District about the benefits of the performing arts and why the school should provide 
better funding? 
 

❏ Identify/define the audience (end users) -- Who will benefit from solving our problem statement? 
These are the end users: 
 
● school principals/directors, and low-income students in middle 
school in the San Diego Unified School District 
   
 ❏ Share what you think you know about each end user (needs, challenges, background, etc.): 
 

Admin of schools, Children/teens/ who aren’t in the performing arts, and parents.  
​Challenges 
● Money/ funding 
● Not think performing arts are relevant/important 
 

❏ Identify what you don’t know:

 

1. How much funding (on average) do schools put into performing arts?

2. Do students/teachers/admin/parents feel like their performing arts program has adequate

resources?

3. Students/teachers/admin/parents think that their program has

(very-poor/poor/average/good/exceptional) funding. Why?

4. Performing Arts Participants feel like their school values them _/10

5. School admin say they value Performing Arts _/10

6. Parents say they value Performing Arts _/10

 
 
Prepare for Research – Discovery Part 2 
2

❏ Make a plan for your research: How will we complete our research over the course of the next two 
weeks?: 
We each get a couple of questions and research more about it then we will contact schools. Research is 
important so we aren’t planning on contacting them until right after thanksgiving because we need to make 
sure that our research is solid and we make a complete Google Form about it.  
Middle schools that we are planning on going to: 
- Roosevelt - Gryffin Jones (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Albert Einstein - Gracie Kuyper (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Montgomery Middle - Gracie Kuyper (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Kappa Middle - Emily Jones (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Millennial Tech Middle - Maximus Johnson (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Harley E. Knox Middle - Andrea Nabor (right after Thanksgiving) 
- Epiphany Prep - Maximus Johnson (right after Thanksgiving) 
 

❏ Revisit: Identify the end users, experts and other sources of information: 
 
- Parents of low-income students 
- Middle school Students  
- Students in low-income Middle school neighborhoods within San 
Diego 
 

❏ Users (sometimes called the audience) - who can we contact and how?: 

- We can contact experts and contact the admin of schools and parents to see their opinions on this 
particular subject. We will contact them through schools within the school district and message 
principals. Have an assembly with schools in the area. We can maybe even call for an assembly with the 
middle schoolers and present our outlook. We can also sing, dance, or do drama for a little snippet for 
fun.  
- We can contact students at these schools by calling in a scheduling 
a time to talk to the classes, or maybe ask the school is we can 
send a poll to their students so we can get their input on our 
topic 
 

❏ Build questions to ask the end users (think of as MANY relevant questions to ask as possible): 
 
- Does singing help you concentrate? 
- Do you think performing arts helps you build confidence? 
- Do you think that dancing is a good form of therapy? (In the sense that when you’re angry or 
depressed, does it make you happy or feel better?) 
- Do you enjoy performing arts? 
- Are you interested in being in the performing arts? 
- Do you have a performing arts program at your school? 
- If you are in the performing arts, which aspect? Instrumental, dance, singing, or drama? 
 
 

❏ Build questions to ask the experts: 

 
- Do you think schools need more performing arts programs? 
- Do you think performing arts helps with self-confidence? 
- Do you think performing arts helps with work ethic? 
- Do you like the performing arts? 
- Do you think that everyone (middle schoolers inside the district) should have performing arts knowing 
about the benefits of it? 
- Do you think that every part of the performing arts is important? 
 

❏ Make a plan for conducting the fieldwork: 

 
- Ask to go to a school where performing arts exists 
- See the difference of students going through performing arts and not. 
- Ask the students about what they know about the performing arts 
- Inform the students about how the performing arts can affect them in confidence, work ethic, etc. 
- Google Form about the performing arts and benefits 
 
 

❏ Set the schedule for your work on the ​discovery​ phase: 

- Research first 
- Organize all our info together 
- Clean up the info that’s not needed 
- Put info/data on our presentation 
- Figure out solution 
- Put solution on presentation 
- Present our project and solution 
 
 

❏ Determine who will do what by when: 

We’re supposed to be evenly splitting work so we’re all doing everything by when its due :)
Everybody's researching
Nobody is assigned to organize the data but one of us will probably do it
Same goes for cutting out the extra info ^^
No one is specifically assigned to the presentation but someone's gonna because most of us are
perfectionists
The solution will happen when it happens, we’re not rushing it, that's how to have a sub-par
solution.
The presentation is at the exhibition. :)
Andrea is the leader of our group and the lead researcher for information about Dance
Maximus is the lead researcher for information about Drama
Emily is the lead researcher for general data
Gryffin is the lead researcher for information about Instrumental
Gracie is the lead researcher for the information about Singing
 

❏ What do you plan to report back?: 

Our audiences (students, principals, directors, etc.) opinion and on the way performing arts is(or is not) in their 
school and whether it is a good thing to have performing arts. 
- We also plan to bring back a good portion of research on the performing arts within the schools. Some 
 may pertain the amount they are given within the department. How much is given to certain teachers? 
Also how many students are willing to take a performing arts class. Are they also willing to stay for a 
longer period with the department if they are students? 
 

❏ When do you plan to report back?: 

- We are all willing to send an e-mail to everyone we are contacting by January the latest. Which 
afterward we will communicate and plan to get most data within a month or two. Which means most 
research should be done before Spring Break in March. 
- Some of us will also call and actually go to the middle schools for better communication if necessary. 
 

❏ Did you dig deep enough?: 

- I think that we still need to do more research and to break it down once we have it. 
- We need to research more about behaviors that performing arts effects 
- And we need to make a google form for the schools we are planning to go to 
- Send it out to the students 
- Get feedback and make up our solution from there 
 
 
 
Conduct the Research (Gathering Inspiration) – Discovery Phase Part 3 
3 

❏ Immerse yourself in context 

 

❏ Learn from groups 

 

❏ Learn from experts 

 

❏ Learn from peers observing peers 

 

❏ Learn from people’s self-documentation 

 

❏ Seek inspiration in new places 

 

❏ KEEP AN OPEN MIND!! 

 
Research Findings: 
 
 
- http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359105307086699 
- Evidence that performing arts has helped adolescent behavior and health 
- Published between 1994 - 2004  
- Performing arts affects the health of adolescents between the ages of 11-18 year-olds 
- Includes research on music, performance, drama, and dance 
 

 
- This is evidence that one of our members talked with Dr. Cheryl Ward about the performing arts and its 
benefits 
 
- We will put our evidence of contact with the schools here: 
- Roosevelt - Gryffin Jones (January) - Status? 
- Albert Einstein - Gracie Kuyper (January) - Status? 
- Montgomery Middle - Gracie Kuyper (January) - Status? 
- Kappa Middle - Emily Jones (January) - Status? 
- Millennial Tech Middle - Maximus Johnson (January) - Status? 
- Harley E. Knox Middle - Andrea Nabor (January) - Status? 
- Epiphany Prep - Maximus Johnson (January) - Status? 
 
- Links: 
- https://www2.ed.gov/programs/magnet/2013/sandiegoapp.pdf 
- https://www.sandiegounified.org/newscenter/news-release-san-diego-unified-vapa-foundation-announces-201
8-grant-recipients 
- There have been grants awarded for the performing arts in schools in the district. We can also talk about that 
with the middle schools we will talk to. “​Fourteen teachers from the San Diego Unified School District 
have been awarded a combined $11,000 in grants to pursue artistic projects with their students​” 
- Teachers from different schools are banding together to get money to support the performing arts. 
- Studies have also indicated that children who participate in 
Performing Arts can enjoy improved performance in the more 
traditionally academic subject such as mathematics and English. 
- https://www.pentagonplay.co.uk/news-and-info/the-benefits-of-performing-arts-in-scho
ol​ s
​ ource  
 - According to lead author, Professor Andrew Martin: "The study 
shows that school participation in the arts can have positive 
effects on diverse aspects of students' lives. 
- Source​: ​https://phys.org/news/2013-09-involvement-arts-wide-ranging-benefits-young.html#jCp 
- The evidence is clear: the study of the arts contributes to student 
achievement and success. Its multiple benefits are academic, basic 
and comprehensive. What is less clear is how to ensure that all 
students have the opportunity to learn about and experience the 
arts in school. Despite convincing research and strong public 
support, the arts remain on the margins of education, often the 
last to be added and the first to be dropped in times of strained 
budgets and shifting priorities. 
- Source ​https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED529766.pdf  
- Federal Funding for Arts 
-​https://www.theperformingartsalliance.org/issue/federal-funding-for
-arts-education/​ and 
https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/reports-and-data/l
egislation-policy/legislative-issue-center/arts-education-policy-and-fun
ding  
 
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=4k3nCwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR9&dq=lack+of+performing+arts
+in+schools&ots=WPwzQwAd1Q&sig=EmbvLkOsoUZc4jCkAIULp5b9exI#v=onepage&q=lack%20of%20performin
g%20arts%20in%20schools&f=false 
 
- This journal talks about how strong arts makes a strong school 
- They talk about how the board of education just focus on general math, science, history, etc. and how 
the arts are a “second thought” 
- Some don’t understand how the performing arts can be connected with, “jobs and livelihood, the global 
economy, and our ability to compete in world markets.”(2001, Fowler) 
- It even mentions that some teachers find the arts “frivolous, distracting students from the real and 
important learning that is the main and required business of education.” (2001, Fowler) 
- It emphasizes the importance of the arts in the education of students.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Checklist Evaluation Rubric 
Exemplary Evidence  Good evidence  Some evidence  Little or no evidence 
✔        x 
✖  ⁄