Unpacking capabilities underlying design (thinking) process

Engineering graduates must know how to frame and solve non-routine problems. While design classes explicitly teach problem framing and solving, it is lacking throughout much of the rest of the engineering curriculum and is often relegated to capstone classes at the end of the students’ educational experience. This paper explores problem framing and solving through the lens of experiential learning theory. It captures core problem framing and solving approaches from critical, design and systems thinking and concludes with a table of learning outcomes that might be drawn upon in designing an engineering curriculum that more fully develops the problem framing and solving capabilities of its students

Designing a Design Thinking Approach to HRD

This article considers the value of design thinking as applied to a HRD context, Specifically, it demonstrates how design thinking can be employed through a case study drawn from the GETM3 programme. It reports on the design, development, and delivery of a design thinking workshop which was created to draw out and develop ideas from students and recent graduates about the fundamental training and skills requirements of future employment. While design thinking has been widely deployed in innovation and entrepreneurship, its application to HRD is still very much embryonic. Our overview illustrates how the key characteristics of the design thinking process resonate with those required from HRD (e.g. focus on end user, problem solving, feedback, and innovation). Our contribution stems from illuminating a replicable application of design system thinking including both the process and the outcomes of this application. We conclude that design thinking is likely to serve as a critical mind-set, tool, and strategy to facilitate HRD practitioners and advance HRD practice

Designing a design thinking approach to HRD

This article considers the value of design thinking as applied to a HRD context, Specifically, it demonstrates how design thinking can be employed through a case study drawn from the GETM3 programme. It reports on the design, development, and delivery of a design thinking workshop which was created to draw out and develop ideas from students and recent graduates about the fundamental training and skills requirements of future employment. While design thinking has been widely deployed in innovation and entrepreneurship, its application to HRD is still very much embryonic. Our overview illustrates how the key characteristics of the design thinking process resonate with those required from HRD (e.g. focus on end user, problem solving, feedback, and innovation). Our contribution stems from illuminating a replicable application of design system thinking including both the process and the outcomes of this application. We conclude that design thinking is likely to serve as a critical mind-set, tool, and strategy to facilitate HRD practitioners and advance HRD practice

DESIGN THINKING: AN ANALYSIS IN BUSINESS EDUCATION

Design Thinking is not only a tool applied to foster innovation in business, it is also a new and prominent approach in education. Being a creative process that enables academics to meet the needs of the world of work and to produce innovative individuals, it is emerging as a contemporary pedagogical tool, which can be used at all levels of education with later career implications. Despite its growing importance, the application of Design Thinking into business education has been slow and partial, even though business education is currently in crisis as traditional pedagogical tools are unable to produce individuals capable of facing the challenges of the 21st century.st This study explores current trends in applying Design Thinking into higher education, with a particular focus on the strategies of leading schools. Using a case study approach, we provide a road map in the business strategies of educational institutions, and in particular for business schools, that seek to integrate this new tool into their curriculum

To Frame or Reframe: Where Might Design Thinking Research Go Next?

Design thinking is gaining widespread attention in the practitioner and academic literature. Successful implementation has been documented, and its value shown in empirical studies. There is little examination, however, of how design thinking practices fit with other approaches from which firms might choose to frame and solve problems such as agile, lean startup, scientific method, Six Sigma, critical thinking, and systems thinking. By digging into the basic capabilities underlying design thinking, academic researchers might better understand problem framing and solving in general and provide insight for practitioners as to where alternative approaches might be applied

IMPACT OF DESIGN THINKING ON CONCEPTUAL DESIGN IN INTERIOR DESIGN STUDIO COURSES

Design thinking has gained prominence in teaching interior design studio courses. Exploring the applications of design thinking can help interior design students understand the complexity and importance of conceptual design, while also supporting their discovery of unique design approaches and innovative design solutions. This paper provides a review of literature on design thinking and design education, examining the factors that imply influence on design thinking application in interior design studio courses. This paper also discusses the impact of design-thinking applications on the design process, as well as its influence on conceptual design development within the context of interior design undergraduate education

The conceptualisation, practice and value of Design Thinking in Entrepreneurship Education – an Educator’s Perspective

The thesis illustrates how entrepreneurship educators understand Design Thinking (conceptual understanding), how and on what level they apply it in their entrepreneurship teaching (educational practice) and why and for what perceived value they choose to do so (perceived value). By adopting a more critical and differentiated perspective on this integration than previously reported in the existing literature, this research study provides novel insights to the question of the conceptualization, practice and value of Design Thinking for Entrepreneurship Education – from an educator’s perspective. It follows an interpretive and qualitative approach, drawing upon semi-structured interviews from 29 entrepreneurship educators from Higher Education in the UK andNorthern Europe. Thus, the thesis demonstrates that entrepreneurship educators integrate Design Thinking in many ways and for different reasons.As a result, this thesis synthesises existing perspectives on Design Thinking (toolset, process, mindset) and defines a framework for the four forms (selective, idea-centric, procedural, holistic) of Design Thinking integration in the context of Entrepreneurship Education. The findings suggest that perceived values of Design Thinking could be explicit and implicit and that entrepreneurship educators integrate Design Thinking to provide value for their students’ learning but also to develop their own teaching practice. Overall, this study contributes to unfolding the Design Thinking concept and advocating a common ground among educators’ sense-making of a Design Thinking integration in Entrepreneurship Education. In conclusion, this study reaffirmed the wide application of Design Thinking within Entrepreneurship Education but presented the new centrality of the educator’s perspective at the core of the discussion on its utility and thus, moving towards convergence of a common understanding. The findings of this research would be of interest for entrepreneurshipeducators and entrepreneurship education researchers who seek a more profound and reflective integration of Design Thinking within Entrepreneurship Education

Design Thinking & the Entrepreneurial Mindset in the Collegiate Music Classroom

The purpose of this research study was to investigate the implementation of design thinking andan entrepreneurial mindset into a collegiate music classroom, where students have an interest in applying business acumen and entrepreneurship to their future plans as teaching and performing artists. The following questions guided this study: 1) are there benefits to introducing design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset to music students as they transition from student to professional?; 2) will the addition of these approaches give students greater confidence as arts entrepreneurs?; 3) how can design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset methodologies be successfully introduced and practiced throughout a one-semester course?; and 4) will students find these methodologies applicable to their entrepreneurial journey as performing and teaching artists? This qualitative study included two participant groups from the Business for Performing Artist class: in Spring 2021 which did not include design thinking, and from Spring 2023 that included the implementation of design thinking. Three Qualtrics surveys were conducted in Spring 2023 to follow participants’ understanding and growth of design thinking and entrepreneurship across the semester long course. An additional survey was given to participants from Spring 2021 as a follow-up to their experiences during the course and after graduation. Reflections of the researcher who facilitated the course were also included in the final results of the study. The data from the surveys and course materials showed that students were not able to connect with the practice of design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset with a fifteen-week course also dedicated to other business practices needed by young, performing artists. Study participants left with only a surface level understanding of design thinking and the entrepreneurial mindset, yet they were able to define the methodologies. With more time and practice implementing the methodologies in practical settings, participants would have the opportunity to put the methodologies into practice and see how they could apply to future projects and career endeavors. It also leaves room for continued research on the implementation of design thinking or the entrepreneurial mindset into both the collegiate music classroom and other performing arts spaces

An Empirical Study of the Creativity, Imagination, and Design Thinking of Taiwanese Design Undergraduates

Design thinking has been valued in business and education field. Design thinking uses creative approaches to problem solving, organizational development, and learning. For designers, the ultimate goal is to produce user-friendly and economic products that meet people’s needs and desires. In order to achieve that goal, creativity, imagination, and design thinking have become necessary capacities for designers to transform abstract ideas into useful products and services successfully. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship among creativity, imagination, and design thinking of Chinese design undergraduates. Two research questions are asked: What is the relationship among creativity, imagination, and design thinking of our participants? Do gender and age affect these relationships? Based on structural equation modeling, we found that the relationships among creativity, imagination, and design thinking were strong and positive. Additionally, age and gender did not affect in these relationships. Although some limitations were discussed in the current study, the results provide unique value for future research. Keywords:Challenge creativity, imagination, design thinking, structural equation modeling, Taiwanese undergraduates DOI: 10.7176/JEP/12-20-01 Publication date:July 31st 202