Review Article Stefanie Panke* Design Thinking in Education: Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges

4.2.2 Informal Learning
Libraries, makerspaces, museums and zoos are examples 
of informal learning spaces that are touched by design 
thinking projects. The connection can occur in three 
different ways: First, informal learning spaces offer room 
for design thinking activities, and professional staff can 
take on the role of facilitators. Second, design thinking 
activities can be used to rethink exhibition spaces and 
user experiences. Third, design thinking can be used in 
a service learning context, where students apply design 
thinking to enhance museum experiences. 
Extending Library Exploration: Bowler (2014) 
pilot tested a design thinking and maker experience 
with Library and Information Science (LIS) students, 
some of whom are training to be school librarians, at the 
University of Pittsburgh. These students participated in 
the Bots and Books Design Challenge, an extra-curricular 
event held each spring during the School of Information 
Sciences iFest. Working in teams of two or three, students 
were challenged to select a children’s story and interpret it 
through a robot, developed with Hummingbird controller 
and visual programming language. The robots were then 
judged by a panel of faculty and one librarian from the 
Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. In a similar project for a 
different age group, Coleman (2016) incorporated the 
design thinking process into literature exploration in the 
school library. The focus of the first-grade design thinking 
challenge was to gain a deep understanding of the 
elements of the “Three Little Pigs” fairytale by designing 
a better house for the pigs. The goal was to have students 
look more deeply than usual at the characters, setting, 
problem, and solution in the story to develop narrative 
awareness that they could transfer to their own writing.