In this lesson, youth are introduced to how empathy is used in design thinking through a self-guided video and by asking questions to understand the “day in a life” of their activity partner. The Seasick with Empathy handout and self-guided video of the lesson are provided.
To prepare for the lesson:
- Print out copies of the Seasick with Empathy handout for everyone.
- Set up the self-guided interactive Seasick with Empathy on your class computer. Review it before the lesson. Make sure you have sound and internet access set up for the computer. It’s recommended to have the site projected on a large screen so youth can follow along together.
- Pencils for everyone. An extra sheet of paper or notebook to jot down empathy question ideas.
- Optional: print Seasick with Empathy Checkpoint Questions for youth to reference the questions asked in the interactive or project the questions while youth are completing the activity.
During the lesson:
- Follow the instructions on the Seasick with Empathy Interactive. As you click through the steps on the interactive lesson, you’ll notice that there is an audio recording of the written descriptions for each section of the lesson. Play the audio so youth have a choice between listening to the words or reading the words on the screen.
- Have youth answer the quizzes that come up throughout the lesson together. You can reference some of these quizzes after playing the interactive in the Seasick with Empathy Checkpoint Questions.
- When the interactive lesson is complete, distribute the Seasick with Empathy handout.
- Have youth work on the handouts in pairs. Share an extra sheet of paper for youth to use in brainstorming their empathy question ideas.
- As a class, go through the expectations of the handout. Imagine they are trading places at home with their activity partner and need to prepare to ask questions to help them as they make the switch. 1)The first part is to add 3 open-ended questions to ask their partner, making a total of 5 questions. 2)The second part is to take turns asking your partner the 5 open-ended questions. 3)The third part is to jot down what their partner Says, Does, Thinks and Feels when responding to each question.
- If they feel comfortable, have a few youth share their Empathy Maps with the whole class. If time permits, have the rest of the youth share with another pair.