Becoming a Design Thinker: Assessing the Learning Process of Students in a Secondary Level Design Thinking Course

Abstract

Design thinking is a collaborative problem solving and human‐centric approach that fosters innovation by elevating participants’ creative thinking abilities. Design thinking techniques and practices have been implemented into different curricula in secondary and post‐secondary education to address the need for new skills to be learned for the twenty‐first century. However, little work has been conducted to clarify how to evaluate the students’ design thinking skills gained in these courses. This study reports on a successful evaluation of an interaction design thinking curriculum in secondary level education. Several types of data sources, including participant observation, open‐ended questions and document analysis were employed to gather extensive data on students’ skills gained during the course. The results of the study inform design thinking researchers about how to evaluate design thinking skills of students in a secondary level design thinking course.

Design thinking: Opinions and experiences of middle school students

“…Similarly, it is stated in the literature that design thinking contributes to ensuring and facilitating learning (Aflatoony & Wakkary, 2015;Cook & Bush, 2018;Painter, 2018;Vest, 2006), developing the 21st century skills (Anderson, 2012;Canestraro, 2017;Carroll, 2014;Cook & Bush, 2018;Retna, 2016;Rotherham & Willingham, 2009), preparing for the future and the profession (Rotherham & Willingham, 2009). Although these studies in the literature (Aflatoony & Wakkary, 2015;Aflatoony et al, 2018;Anderson, 2012;Canestraro, 2017;Carroll, 2014;Cook & Bush, 2018;Painter, 2018;Retna, 2016;Rotherham & Willingham, 2009;Vest, 2006) support the findings obtained within the scope of the current research in terms of the contributions of design thinking, the current research expands this literature by examining middle school students' views and experiences towards design thinking. For example, the study conducted by Aflatoony et al (2018) on design thinking was carried out to examine the development of design thinking skills (problem solving, collaboration, and being human-centred) in high school students.…”

“…However, since the implementation of design thinking in education has only been given importance in recent years (Lor, 2017), there are very few studies on the implementation of design thinking in education (Razzouk & Shute, 2012). It is observed that studies on the subject generally focus on the effect of design thinking on the 21st century skills such as creativity and innovation, communication and cooperation (Aflatoony, Wakkary & Neustaedter, 2018;Anderson, 2012;Carroll, Goldman, Britos, Koh, Royalty ve Hornstein, 2010), and teachers' perceptions, views and experiences towards the application of design thinking (Aflatoony & Wakkary, 2015;Painter, 2018;Retna, 2016). However, in the literature on the subject, no research examining the views and experiences of middle school students towards the design thinking approach has been found.…”

Developing an Instructional Design for the Field of ICT and Software for Gifted and Talented Students

“…as it encourages creativity and innovation with an empathic, flexible, and iterative approach (Henriksen, Richardson & Metha, 2017;Lor, 2016). It is known that DT is used as a method, process, and skillset in the field of education together with the search of a teaching strategy suitable for 21 st century skills, work habits, and character traits (Aflatoony & Wakkary, 2018;Carroll, 2014;Dukes & Koch, 2012). In creative programming activities, DT is used as a human-centered teaching method.…”

“…In the work of Duman and Kayali (2017), it is observed that teaching activities concentrating on the design thinking process were effective in the development of secondary school students' design thinking skills. The bottom line reached by Aflatoony et al (2018) shows that high school students develop their design thinking skills to a certain extent through the design thinking program established. The outcomes of this study coincide with the data obtained by Duman and Kayali (2017) and Aflatoony et al (2018).…”

“…The bottom line reached by Aflatoony et al (2018) shows that high school students develop their design thinking skills to a certain extent through the design thinking program established. The outcomes of this study coincide with the data obtained by Duman and Kayali (2017) and Aflatoony et al (2018).…”