Professor Kanigel: Design Thinking Leads to Aha Moments

PBS MEDIASHIFT -- When I walked into my media entrepreneurship class at San Francisco State University last week, I felt a little like a kindergarten teacher. Construction paper? Check. Toilet paper rolls? Check. Colored markers, scissors, glue sticks? Check, check, check. Pipe cleaners? Oh no! They were at home, in a shopping bag along with the pieces of colored felt I’d bought the night before at a craft store. I scrambled to find multi-hued Post-its, paperclips, masking tape and other office supplies that could, in a pinch, double as craft materials. But an hour into the class session, my students didn’t seem to mind the dearth of bona fide art supplies. They were all intent on their work, busily cutting, sketching, measuring and stapling.