Welcome back to our special series about shifting to a more student-lead ecosystem! Usually we take the month of July off, but this year we’re going to re-examine episodes with the theme of empowering students and communities to determine their own needs and successes.

Sheryl Cababa researches and designs educational products and services on behalf of philanthropists and investors. In this episode, she explains how she combines design thinking and systems thinking in her work in order to elevate the voices of students and teachers, and examine the underlying structures that shape success. She explains how we all can use concepts of human-centered design, equity-centered design, and targeted universalism in our work.

We wrap up by discussing the latest trend in educational products: AI. Sheryl applies systems thinking to it, highlighting the fact that the commonly used AI models have been built on data sets rife with discrimination. 

To learn more, visit: pastfoundation.org

We unbox:

• What key terms mean like “systems thinking,” “targeted universalism,” and more
• How to use the power of research to benefit participants, not just extract information from them
• Why the equity-centered design approach can uncover systems that are not always visible 

Resources:

• Connect with Sheryl on LinkedIn
• Read “Closing the Loop: Systems Thinking for Designers” by Sheryl Cababa
• Read “Race after Technology” by Ruha Benjamin

Produced by NOVA Media