Courses
Learn and practice design thinking and human-centered design with our "DTX" courses
SCD uses our research to develop content for our courses, and creates unique offerings in partnership with instructors and colleges. Our own "DTX" course code stands for "Design Thinking + X", meaning any discipline could combine with human-centered design.
Our DTX courses range from an introduction to Design Thinking to specialty capstones. These courses allow students to take a deeper dive into the key principles and mindsets of Design Thinking and learn how they can apply this to their specific fields. To enhance the connection to real-world situations, many of our adjunct instructors are primarily brought in from industry.
Spring 2024 Courses
DTX 455 | Design for Social Impact
An immersive exploration of design thinking as a method for tackling social needs and issues. Social innovation seeks to impact transformational change in underserved, underrepresented, and disadvantaged local and international communities by addressing problems too complex to be solved by traditional methods. Students in this course will work in collaborative teams to employ the human-centered design process to discover and develop innovative solutions for social problems such as poverty, homelessness, hunger, and violence.
Registration opening soon!
DTX 495 | Special Topics in Design Thinking
Introduction to Health Innovation
Introduces learners to human-centered design and design thinking within the context of health innovation. Through recorded interviews of healthcare professionals, learners explore the landscape of how human-centered design is currently being applied to various aspects of health as well as develop speculative frameworks around the future of human-centered design in health innovation. This course will be taught asynchronously and takes place during the first 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
Introduction to Immersive Experiences
Introduces learners to human-centered design and design thinking within the context of immersive experiences. Learners explore the landscape of how human-centered design is currently being applied to various aspects of immersive experiences as well as develop speculative frameworks around the future of human-centered design in this context. This course will be taught asynchronously and takes place during the first 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
Design Thinking for Health Innovation
This course deepens student understanding around the practical application of design thinking to a particular area of health innovation. Learners will delve deeper into the landscape of a particular area of health innovations. Examples of topics that sections might be built around are leadership in public health, emergency medicine, preventative medicine, community health, environmental health, health devices, health equity, rural medicine, nutrition, and occupational health. This course will be offered in an online synchronous format, and takes place during the second 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
Design Thinking for Immersive Experiences
Discover the intersection of human-centered design and immersive environments in this comprehensive 8-week, project-based course. Students will use design thinking to develop innovative solutions tailored to the challenges of immersive experiences spanning diverse industries. This course will be offered in an online synchronous format, and takes place during the second 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
Human-Centered Design & Responsive Teaching
This course provides an overview of human-centered design as it connects to responsive teaching practices and instructional design. Throughout the 8-week course, you will learn about human-centered design and the processes and practices that will help you to teach with a humanizing and responsive pedagogical approach. By the end of the course, you will have practical experience developing strategies for learning about your students holistically, making insights based on empathic understandings, brainstorming ideas to be responsive to your students needs and desires, developing these ideas and implementing them, and meaningfully collecting and responding to feedback. This course is conducted in-person at SCD, and takes place during the first 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
Teaching Disciplinary Concepts Using Human-Centered Design
This course provides an overview of human-centered design as an instructional approach to help students learn and master disciplinary concepts. Throughout the 8-week course, you will learn about human-centered design and the processes and practices so that you can design instructional experiences for students that engage them in discipline-based design challenges and the HCD approach. By the end of the course, you will have a plan for teaching students about HCD. You’ll also have hands-on experience designing a discipline-based design challenge and implementing it in your classroom. This course is conducted in-person at SCD, and takes place during the second 8 weeks of classes.
Registration opening soon!
DTX 499 | Innovation Studio
Design thinking requires design practice, especially on real-world challenges that truly require cross-disciplinary creative and critical thinking. Students will be assigned to a semester-long group project where they will conduct research, propose and prototype designs, and plan for the implementation and launch of the team’s final designs. By collaborating with local organizations, students have access to the audience who will be most impacted by their designs, so teams can collaborate with the users throughout the semester.
Registration opening soon!
Interdisciplinary Certificates
Interdisciplinary Certificate in Social Design
For students interested in combining human-centeredness with social impact design
Interdisciplinary Certificate in Health Innovation
For students interested in the concepts, mindsets, and processes they need to innovate sustainable and human-centered solutions to complex problems within the health industry.
Interdisciplinary Certificate in Immersive Experience Design
For students interested in using Human-Centered Design to connect deeply with audiences when designing everything from augmented and mixed reality to real environments.