Taking Design Thinking to Classroom: A Systematic Literature Review Over a Past Decade

Abstract

Design thinking (DT) is not only well known in the business field as a user-oriented product design approach. Still, it has also penetrated the field of engineering education as an innovative tool to promote various skills. This paper aims to provide a systematic literature review on the implementation of DT in educat ion that outl ines tr ends and comprehensive content analysis to give more study direction for researchers and educators. A total of 23 papers addressing DT in education published between 2010 and 2021 from Springer were analyzed. The researchers reviewed the distribution of publications in DT by year, journals in which DT studies were published, educational areas of selected papers, the typology of chosen articles, the DT mindsets, and content analysis of DT implication to skills development. The results show that DT publications have fluctuated in number in the last decade and peaked in 2020 with 11 articles. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Journal of Formative Design in Learning, and TechTrends are the three journals that publish the most studies on DT in education. Teacher education is where DT is most often implemented among the reviewed papers, and educational experiments are identified as the dominant typology. Nine mindsets serve as the basis for implementing DT in education, with humancenteredness being the primary mindset. DT as innovative learning supported the development of various essential skills such as creativity, collaboration, problem-solving, teacher professional development, self-direction, empathy, communication, decision-making, digital skills, and global and intercultural awareness.