Using Design-Thinking Strategy in Development of a Multiplayer Game to Address Textile-based Environmental Injustice: Expanding Interdisciplinary Inclusion and Transforming STEM Education and Action.

Program Abstract: Aftermath Learning Lab at Boston College is an environmental health research and art lab whose mission is to reduce global textile waste and other technology-related pollution through interdisciplinary STEM research at the intersection of art, policy, developmental psychology, education, and public health with an environmental justice lens. By combining the perspective of various experts, Aftermath Learning Lab is able to effectively integrate a design-thinking approach to innovate STEM-based solutions to the textile waste crisis.

Aftermath Learning Lab has become a model for interdisciplinary design-thinking throughout various STEM-related projects and coursework including the creation of a multiplayer game designed to educate on the topic of textile pollution-based environmental and health impacts.

In this session, participants will learn about the increasing importance of interdisciplinary design-thinking collaboration in STEM fields and consider solutions-oriented approaches to promoting cross-disciplinary collaboration at the university intervention as well as course levels.