Sketching - A simple way to improve the quality of student projects

As teachers, we often assign projects to students that require them to lay out information visually.  I have done this many times in my teaching career, but I never taught students explicitly how to design the visual elements of their projects.  For example, I have assigned posters and made it very clear what information needs to be included in the poster, but given students very little direction about how to organize their information visually.

I attended a talk by designer Idan Gazit at a Python conference this past spring.  He spoke about a simple way that professional designers use the technique of sketching to "explore visual ideas."  I started using this technique with students last spring, and I presented a workshop on the technique last week during one of our opening inservice sessions.  Students began creating higher-quality products, and teachers see a number of needs that the technique addresses.

I wrote up the technique in a post, if anyone is interested.  You can teach students the technique in about half an hour, and use it repeatedly throughout the year.

http://peak5390.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/sketching-for-a-better-edu...