Design Thinking Entrepreneurs

Recently, our Year 9 and 10 Business and Entrepreneurship students participated in a Design Thinking workshop led by Dr Sally Dwyer from the University Queensland. This workshop complemented the entrepreneurship curriculum at Somerset and supported our efforts to foster the entrepreneurial spirit at the College.

Importantly, the workshops included activities to develop 21st century skills like innovation, ideation, creativity and collaboration, which are at the heart of the Queensland and International Baccalaureate curriculums.

A big thank you must go to the University of Queensland and to Study Queensland for their support of the workshops. More information about these workshops can be found by visiting the Study Queensland website.

The students had the following to say about their experience:

• “I enjoyed finding a problem and making the business idea with our groups”. (Sienna Johnston, 9A3) 
• “I enjoyed being able to recognise a problem and present a solution to our peers”. (Brooke Marshall, 9S4) 
• “I enjoyed collaborating with my friends to discover a solution to a pressing issue”. (James Young, 9, L3) 
• “I liked how this activity was in groups, which encouraged effective communication and listening to other people’s ideas”. (Lucy Colahan 9A7) 
• “I liked the whole workshop, especially when we did the 8 pictures/ideas in 8 minutes. This allowed us to suggest ideas quickly, without thinking about it too much and letting everyone input their ideas”. (Natalie Mai 9L8) 
• “I enjoyed coming up with ideas in a group”. (Sophie Crimmins, 9A10) 
• “I enjoyed thinking about a business idea and collaborating with a group and then pitching it to my peers”. (Stevie Landau, 9A4) 
• “I love how Sally let us explore our task no matter how silly it was”. (Kinari Patel 9L1)
• “I really enjoyed the experience Sally Dwyer provided us, and the techniques she implemented into this program to nurture young minds in the world of business”. (Hayeon Byun, 9A2)