An Investigation into Design Thinking Skills of Social Studies Teachers

Abstract

The aim of design thinking approach is to provide students with skills that they can use in daily life. In this context, it can be said that design thinking is an approach that can be used in the teaching of social studies course, which aims to provide students with knowledge and skills related to daily life. Equipping students with design thinking skills in social studies course is possible if social studies teachers have design thinking skills. This study aimed to investigate social studies teachers’ levels of design thinking skills and collect their views on reflecting their design thinking skills on their daily lives. Explanatory sequential design, one of the mixed method research methods, was used in the study. A total of 256 social studies teachers from different regions of Turkey and with different qualifications participated in the study. There are two groups of participants in the study. Maximum variation sampling method was used for collecting quantitative data, and the criterion sampling method was used for collecting qualitative data. The statistical data of the study were collected with the design thinking scale in teaching, and the qualitative data were collected with a semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers. To analyze the data, t-test for independent samples, one-way ANOVA, and descriptive analysis techniques were used. It was concluded that the levels of design thinking skills of social studies teachers were high. On the other hand, it was determined that the design thinking skill levels of social studies teachers did not differ in terms of gender, age, region of employment, work experience, type of institution, and use of technology level. In addition, it was investigated that most social studies teachers reflect the relationship, process, ethics, and individual-oriented skills related to design thinking skills on their daily lives. Various suggestions were made to the researchers, the Ministry of National Education, and the Higher Education Institution based on the findings of the study.