Design thinking to enhance transformative learning

Abstract

Design thinking is seen as a new paradigm for dealing with problems in various sectors, such as business or education, to meet the challenges of Industry 4.0 and to develop 21st Century skills. Despite its popularity and prevalence in various disciplines, numerous researchers reported pedagogical problems in design thinking. It is likely that ineffective design thinking teaching and learning could be the underlying problem. This study aims to investigate design thinking for transformative learning in a Creative Technical Workshops elective subject in the Faculty of Education at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. A sample of 76 pre-service teachers from two consecutive years of study was selected. Statistical analysis revealed significant (p < 0.05) differences in post-test/pre-test scores in the majority of the constructs of design thinking. The findings indicate that design thinking, supported by transformative learning theory, can be conducive for developing higher order thinking skills and meaningful learning experiences that influence a pedagogical shift and perspective of pre-service teachers from a variety of majors. Based on the results, a model could be created for facilitating pedagogical change in the context of higher education across different study programmes