#554: Knowledge Building Design: Bridging Theory and Practice in Teacher Professional Development Through Design Thinking

In the AI era, Knowledge Building (KB) pedagogy becomes increasingly vital, yet traditional professional development inadequately prepares teachers to facilitate knowledge-creating learning environments. This study examined how teachers engaged in an online professional development course using the Knowledge Building Design (KBD) model, which integrates design thinking processes with KB principles. Teachers demonstrated high collaborative engagement and clear progression through design cycles, shifting from problem definition to lesson prototyping. Qualitative analysis revealed recursive design patterns, with teachers strategically returning to ideation when facing prototyping challenges. Lesson design quality improved significantly across all KB components, with particularly dramatic gains in actions design. The KBD model effectively operationalizes principle-based pedagogy through structured artifacts, addressing the persistent challenge of translating KB's robust theoretical foundation into practical classroom enactment. Findings demonstrate that collaborative, process-oriented professional development enabled by KBD can transform teachers' pedagogical capabilities for the AI era.