Heather Corcoran
Professor of Design, Director of College and Graduate School of Art
Washington University
Heather Corcoran is professor of design and director of the College and Graduate School of Art at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research explores an interdisciplinary role for design, balancing human-centered need and visual expression. She leads collaborative projects in public health and urban education. She also works on information design projects, exploring informational density, clarity and audience understanding. She has led projects funded by the National Cancer Institute and a range of non-profit and for-profit clients. Her exhibition, Reading Time Across Words and Numbers appeared at the Center of Contemporary Art (COCA) in St. Louis in 2016.
Design Thinking and College Readiness:
Can Design Thinking Help Prepare Low-Income, First-Generation Students for College?
Heather Corcoran introduces a multi-year exploration of the relationship between design thinking and college readiness for first-generation high school students. Washington University’s new, STEM-based College Prep Program is informed by several research studies. Design Thinking: An Approach to Problem Solving has distinct goals: teach students the processes of making and visualization; provide students a critical, problem-solving process—specific to addressing human-centered challenges; build skills in collaboration; and improve communication. The program now explores new ways to measure the impact of design thinking coursework for this population of students.
