Design Thinking Applied in Higher Education: Exploring Participant Experiences

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor in Counseling, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, United States.

2 Graduate Student in Counseling, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, United States.

3 Associate Professor in Counseling, Slippery Rock University, Slippery Rock, United States.

Abstract

Higher Education is facing challenges that necessitate innovative problem-solving approaches. Design Thinking is an effective approach to address problems universities are facing. This exploratory study used a qualitative approach to survey individuals involved in the Design Thinking group and further explore their experiences participating in a Design Thinking project at a mid-sized university in the Midwest. For this study, the data was collected through open-ended questions, which were sent by email to participants with a link to a Qualtrics survey. The participants were chosen frommembers of campus community, who then formed a Design Thinking group. The findings criteria contain positive interaction, teamwork/collaboration, problem-solving, structure, facilitator and group size. Conclusions and future considerations that are discussed, comprise the importance of including student perspective, Design Thinking as a method for innovation to work towards solving problems in Higher Education as well as the importance of exploring participant experiences with Design Thinking.

Keywords

References

Aydemir, A., & Cetin, T. (2018). Pre-Service Social Studies teachers’ views on design thinking
approach. International Journal of Erasia Social Sciences, 9(34), p. 2289-2302.
Brown, T., & Wyatt, J. (2010). Design Thinking for Social Innovation. Stanford Social Innovation Review,
8(1), p. 30-35.
Dam, R., & Siang, T. (2018). 5 Stages inThe Design Thinking Process. The Interaction Design Foundation.
Available at: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/5-stages-in-the-design-thinking-process
Dorst, K. (2011). The core of design thinking and its application. Design Studies, 32, p. 521-532.
Dunne, F. (2018). Implementing design thinking in organizations: an exploratory study. Journal of
Organization Design, 7(16), p. 1-16.
Kimbell, L. (2009). The Turn to Service Design. In Julier, G., & Moor, L. (Eds.), Design and Creativity:
Policy, Management and Practice, p. 157–73. Oxford: Berg.
Liedtka, J. (2018). Why Design Thinking Works? Harvard Business Review, p. 72-79.
Luka, I. (2014). Design Thinking in Pedagogy. Journal of Education, Culture, and Society, 2, p. 63-74. 
Riverdale & IDEO. (2012). Design Thinking for Educators. 2nd Edition. Available in:
http://www.designthinkingforeducators.com/toolkit//
Design Thinking Applied in Higher Education: Exploring Participant Experiences JDT, Vol. 2, No. 1, June 2021 44
Scheer, A., Noweski, C. & Meinel, C. (2012). Transforming Constructivist Learning into Action: Design
Thinking in Education. In Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 17(3). p.8-19.
Thienen, J. P. A. von, Meinel, C. & Nicolai, C. (2014). How design thinking tools help to solve wicked
problems. In Plattner, H., Meinel, C., & Leifer, L. (Eeds.), Design thinking research. Building innovation
eco-systems, p. 97-102. Berlin: Springer.
Tierney, W., & Lanford, M. (2016). Conceptualizing Innovation in Higher Education. In Paulsen, M.B.
(Ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, p. 1-40. Springer International Publishing:
Switzerland.
Tschimmel, K., Santos, J. Loyens, D., Jacinto, A. Monteiro, R., & Valença, M. (2015). Research Report
D-Think. Design Thinking Applied to Education and Training. Erasmus, KA2 Strategic
Partnership. Matosinhos: Ed. ESAD. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.1.1049.0643. Available in: http://www.dthink.eu/downloads.html
Zenke, P.F. (2014). Higher education leaders as designers. In Hokanson, B., & Gibbons, A. (Eds.), Design
in Educational Technology: Design Thinking, Design Process, and the Design Studio, p. 249-259. London:
Springer International.
Journal of Design Thinking
Volume 2, Issue 1
June 2021
Pages 37-44

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics