“Having an emotional response (affective) to another’s

emotional state and being able to reflect on that by perspective taking (cognitive) seems to be the core mechanism of empathy.” (Kouprie & Sleejsvik Visser, design researchers)

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In order to enhance the learning effect of a task, students should have the chance to talk about their experiences afterwards. By evaluating what they have been doing, they can think about the task from another perspective. Instead of being an active participant they take on the role of an observer. Through talking about what has been most important to them, they will form an individual learning outcome. They will be able to make their own connections and build opinions and values.  “empathyRipples” serves both as a reflection guide for step 5 when the whole workshop has been done and as a reflection guide when only some of the tasks have been conducted.