Abstract
In an AI-dominated landscape, creative, collaborative, and open-ended problem solving are increasingly critical skills. Traditional science and design toys pair stepwise instructions with single-configuration forms, while pixel-based building systems become an extension of the user’s existing capacity. By requiring creative re-imagination of everyday objects, chain reaction (rube goldberg) machines are a promising concept for practicing and expanding creative design skills through play. We calibrated formal and instructional constraints across two major design iterations, utilizing ethnographic interviewing, behavioral observation, and documentation of creative output to understand, quantify, and react to the impact of design changes. Paired with appropriate creative restraints, a chain reaction-based play experience led children to intuitively, independently, and successfully engage with the design process from problem identification to functional solution, expanding and enhancing their design abilities. This product and the play experience it creates are significant in proving play as a vehicle to develop 21st century skills.
Keywords
play-based learning; 21st century skills; design education; rube goldberg machine
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1410
Citation
Elyse Gilbertson, A., and Madison Aamodt, A. (2024) Leveraging play and Rube Goldberg machines to teach 21st century + design skills, in Gray, C., Ciliotta Chehade, E., Hekkert, P., Forlano, L., Ciuccarelli, P., Lloyd, P. (eds.), DRS2024: Boston, 23–28 June, Boston, USA. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2024.1410
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Research Paper
Included in
Leveraging play and Rube Goldberg machines to teach 21st century + design skills
In an AI-dominated landscape, creative, collaborative, and open-ended problem solving are increasingly critical skills. Traditional science and design toys pair stepwise instructions with single-configuration forms, while pixel-based building systems become an extension of the user’s existing capacity. By requiring creative re-imagination of everyday objects, chain reaction (rube goldberg) machines are a promising concept for practicing and expanding creative design skills through play. We calibrated formal and instructional constraints across two major design iterations, utilizing ethnographic interviewing, behavioral observation, and documentation of creative output to understand, quantify, and react to the impact of design changes. Paired with appropriate creative restraints, a chain reaction-based play experience led children to intuitively, independently, and successfully engage with the design process from problem identification to functional solution, expanding and enhancing their design abilities. This product and the play experience it creates are significant in proving play as a vehicle to develop 21st century skills.