Fourteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

Design thinking is an approach, a methodology, a culture, and a philosophy that leads to creative problem solving, widely recognised as a valuable route to human-centred innovation. While design thinking education endows students with methodologies for creative work, a primary goal is to elicit mindset changes that aid creativity. Using Curriculum Innovation Canvas, under the influence of Creative Capacity Building Program (CCBP), our study examines the efficacy of design thinking to promote creativity among two groups of students (1) undergraduate art & design students, and (2) middle- and high-school students who take weekly design courses, by examining seven factors targeted in Arnold’s theory of the creative mindset, which include four Guilford factors of (1) problem sensitivity, (2) fluency, (3) flexibility, and (4) originality, and Arnold’s variables of daringness, drive, and confidence to to describe creative mindsets. The training combines two types of creativity approaches, Organised and Inspired: organised creativity approaches follow a step-by-step rational and brings about incremental change; inspired creativity approaches build on intuition or other loosely and relaxed controlled psychological processes.