Diving Into Design: 8th Grade NuVu Experience
By Evelyn Crowley, Naomi Gee-Burko, and Zihan Zhou
For three weeks in December, the 8th grade class collaborated with the NuVu high school in a hands-on design project where students got to explore new aspects of creation. As a change of scenery for the 8th grade, they shifted focus away from sitting in class, to creating design projects. NuVu coach, Maddie Johnson-Harwitz, joined the 8th graders for the design process. She stated “I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at Newman, and was welcomed with such open arms. I’d love to interact with more of the Newman community and to see even more Newman students have the chance to participate in a NuVu studio.”
NuVu is a design-focused high school in Cambridge where students learn through projects. It was founded by MIT graduates, Saeed Arida and Saba Ghole, with a goal to make project based learning available to young people. Their school is located on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, where their 50-student population can access the many resources that Greater Boston provides.
On December 10th, the 8th grade traveled to NuVu to explore their facilities and tools. The visit began with a tour of NuVu’s classrooms and maker space, where students got a firsthand look at how design studios function. 8th graders had the opportunity to learn from and interact with current NuVu students, adapting the maker’s kit prototypes from their expertise. After exploring the location and meeting some of NuVu’s students, the 8th graders jumped into brainstorming ideas for their own maker’s kits.
Johnson-Harwitz commented: “Visiting NuVu gave students a firsthand look at the tools, spaces, and processes NuVu students use every day. I wanted them to see what’s possible when learning is hands-on and student-driven. If we had more time, I would have had us visit NuVu again so that Newman students could get the opportunity to be trained on the tools we use to make high-fidelity prototypes.”
During the first week, students completed a series of mini-projects designed to teach the foundational skills needed for their final maker’s kits. They started out NuVu by creating a sensory game in student groups of 4-5 people in order to get introduced to the design process. Students also worked on abstracting various different objects, simplifying them to be drawn with fewer than ten lines. Another key mini-project focused on orthographic drawings, where students created precise one-to-one sketches of different tools from multiple perspectives. And finally, to conclude the first week, students paired up into groups of two and recreated functioning tools, based on their orthographic drawings, out of low fidelity materials, like cardboard and chipboard.
One of the most challenging projects for many was the orthographic drawings. Students struggled to create a to-scale blueprint, reliable enough to recreate the object depicted, with just pencil and paper. These special drawings are 2D representations of a 3D object, usually involving sketches of different views. To start, students used calipers, special measurement tools used for precise evaluations. They investigated a variety of tools, such as clamps, wrenches, pliers, and hole punchers. Sebastian Kontogolis ‘30 shared that “doing the sketches and taking the measurements” was his favorite part.
For the final two weeks, students worked in groups of 1- 4 on maker’s kits that represent their passions. Students came up with ideas of what they would like to work on, before narrowing it down to one that they were most interested in. Groups were decided based on these pairings, making two jewelry groups, three history/culture groups, one technology group, one music group, and one baking group. In these groups, students brainstormed ideas for their kits, before choosing one to start prototyping. About 70% of the 8th grade students preferred the maker's kits over the other projects, as they got a chance to create a project based on one of their passions and collaborate with peers. This is because it was very personal to many students, as they chose projects that were meaningful or intriguing to them. Anjali Mahesh ‘30 commented that her favorite part was “prototyping the maker’s kits” but she would have loved “more time on them.” However, Coach Johnson-Harwitz stated that “every project had strong ideas and thoughtful work behind it—it’s hard to pick a favorite. What [she] loved was the variety of themes in the projects, each one brought something different to the table.”
On the last day of this project, December 18, a design expo was held in the basement, where community members could come learn about what they’d been doing. Each team set up a table where they explained what their maker’s kit was to teachers, administrators, and students. From the visitors’ perspective, it was fascinating to see these projects. Many were able to learn new things about cultures, baking, technology, etc. Students picked topics that were meaningful to them and guests loved seeing the wide range. For the 8th graders, it was exciting to tell others about all the hard work they had put into these projects. Short slideshows were prepared and each aspect of the projects were neatly displayed: brainstorms, prototypes, and final products.
Johnson-Harwitz commented that her favorite part was “having the opportunity to bring the NuVu design studio model to Newman students. Watching students experience a different way of learning—and work through the challenges that come with that —was really exciting.” Incorporating this approach into 8th grade’s curriculum greatly benefited both leadership and students. She continues on to say, “Key takeaways were learning how to work collaboratively, communicate ideas clearly, and push through challenges rather than avoiding them.”
All of the skills developed during this 3-week experience, such as collaboration and creative problem-solving, will continue to shape the 8th graders’ work in Design class this semester and beyond. To conclude, Johnson-Harwitz said that she would “be honored to work with Newman students and staff again.” Thank you NuVu staff for making this possible and for this fantastic opportunity!
