Table Of ContentDesign Thinking for Education
Joyce Hwee Ling Koh (cid:129) Ching Sing Chai (cid:129)
Benjamin Wong (cid:129) Huang-Yao Hong
Design Thinking
for Education
Conceptions and Applications in Teaching
and Learning
JoyceHweeLingKoh ChingSingChai
NationalInstituteofEducation NationalInstituteofEducation
Singapore,Singapore Singapore,Singapore
BenjaminWong Huang-YaoHong
NationalInstituteofEducation NationalChengchiUniversity
Singapore,Singapore Taipei,Taiwan
ISBN978-981-287-443-6 ISBN978-981-287-444-3 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-981-287-444-3
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015934714
SpringerSingaporeHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon
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Preface
Inthefast-pacedknowledgeeconomiesoftoday,workersareconstantlyconfronted
with complex problems that require them to engage in the design of innovative
solutions.Theabilitytoinquireintoproblems,createcontextualizedknowledgeof
problem situations and design plausible solutions are important competencies
requiredoftwenty-firstcenturyworkers.Designthinkingcharacterizesthemental
processes that practitioners use as they frame, explore and re-frame ill-structured
problems to derive design solutions. In recent years, professional fields such as
engineering,architectureandbusinessarerecognizingthatdesignthinkingcanbe
more effective for solving the complex and ill-defined problems than systematic
problem-solving processes. Yet, in the field of education, design thinking has not
yetseenwidespreadpermeationintothepedagogicalvocabulariesofstudentsand
teachers. There is a need to better understand the potential applications of design
thinkingineducationalsettings.
This book therefore explores, through eight chapters, how design thinking
vocabulary can be interpreted and employed in educational contexts. Chap. 1
examines the role that design thinking can play in today’s educational contexts.
This is followed by Chap. 2 that provides a critical examination of three perspec-
tivesofdesignanddesignthinkingfromtheworksofHerbertSimon,DonaldSch€on
and Nigel Cross. With the cultivation of twenty-first century competencies
being advocated as an important educational goal for schools, Chap. 3
examines how design thinking can be used as a means for supporting such goals.
Chaps. 4, 5 and 6 examine design thinking in action through empirical studies
characterizing the design thinking of children, pre-service teachers and in-service
teachers.Thesecasesdescribehoweachgroupapproachdesigntasksandhighlight
theirspecificchallengeswithdesignthinking.Referencingtotheuniquechallenges
facedbythesegroups,Chap.7examinesthemethodsfordevelopingandevaluating
designthinking.Thefinalchapterofthebookdiscussesthefuturedirectionsforthe
incorporationofdesignthinkingintoeducationalsettings.
v
vi Preface
Through these chapters, we hope that this book will be beneficial for teachers,
teacher educators and university instructors who are using or considering how
design thinking can be applied to their specific educational contexts. We also
hope that this book will stimulate critical conversation among educational
researcherstofurtherdeveloptheuseofdesignthinkingineducationalcontexts.
Singapore,Singapore JoyceHweeLingKoh
Singapore,Singapore ChingSingChai
Singapore,Singapore BenjaminWong
Taipei,Taiwan Huang-YaoHong
Acknowledgements
Wewouldliketothanktheteachersandstudentswhohaveallowedustoparticipate
andshareintheirdesignexperiences,fromwhomwehavelearntmuch.Weliketo
acknowledgethefollowingagencies:
Chapter 4—Data was taken from the research project “Building epistemic reper-
toire through computer-supported knowledge creation among primary school
students”(NRF2011-EDU002-EL005(CI1)),fundedbytheNationalResearch
Fund, eduLab Programme, jointly administered by the Ministry of Education,
Singapore,andtheNationalInstituteofEducation(NIE),NanyangTechnolog-
ical University, Singapore. The views expressed in this paper are the authors’
anddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofthefundingagencies.
Chapter5—Datawastakenfromtheresearchproject“Researchanddevelopment
of idea-centred design theory in computer-supported collaborative learning
environments”(NSC101-2628-S-004-001-MY3)fundedbyMinistryofScience
andTechnology,Taiwan.Theviewsexpressedinthispaperaretheauthors’and
donotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofthefundingagencies.
Chapters1,3,6—Datawastakenfromtheresearchproject“Developingteachers’
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for 21st Century Learning
(TPACK- 21CL) Through Design Thinking” (OER5/13/KHL), funded by the
EducationResearchFundingProgramme,NationalInstituteofEducation(NIE),
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The views expressed in this
paperaretheauthors’anddonotnecessarilyrepresenttheviewsofNIE.
vii
Contents
1 DesignThinkingandEducation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 DesignandDesignThinking. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . 2
1.3 SituatingDesignThinkinginaProvisional
ConceptualFramework. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Education:TheOldDesignandItsProblems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Education:TheNewDesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2 CriticalPerspectivesonDesignandDesignThinking. . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.2 ThreeMajorTheoristsofDesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.1 HerbertSimon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
2.2.2 DonaldSch€on. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.2.3 NigelCross. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . 23
2.3 Design:History,Culture,andEthics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
3 DesignThinkingand21stCenturySkills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3.2 TheDimensionsof21stCenturyLearning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.1 TheOrganizationforEconomicCooperation
andDevelopment’sKeyCompetencies
forEducation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
3.2.2 TheAssessmentandTeachingof21stCenturySkills...... 35
3.2.3 EnGauge21stCenturySkills. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
3.2.4 ThePartnershipfor21stCenturyLearning. . . . . . . . . . . . 36
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