Design thinking with constructivist learning increases the learning motivation and wicked problem-solving capability—An empirical research in Taiwan

Abstract

In the 21st century, one of the cruxes in education is to enhance students’ competencies to solve wicked problems that prepare students to confront misrepresentation, information confusion, value conflicts, no definite formula, and intertwined issues. Design thinking is a student-centered approach to interacting with students and teachers in a constructivist learning environment. That transforms students’ learning process to link up real-world experiences, problem-solving foundations, and multiple reflections and reconstructions. Design thinking allows students to face ambiguous and unsuccessful situations comfortably by implementing the five steps progressively to test solutions or prototypes for solving wicked problems. Previous research has focused on how learning motivation can be enhanced with constructivist learning, and critical thinking and problem-solving skills can be improved via the design thinking approach. However, there needs to be an in-depth theoretical discussion of the rationale for enhancing learning motivation or wicked problem-solving capabilities. Therefore, self-determination theory and wicked problem-solving theory are applied to explain profoundly that design thinking can increase students’ learning motivation and wicked problem-solving capabilities. The empirical results support the hypotheses. This study contributes to the theoretical extension and empirical verification of the literature on constructivist learning, design thinking, and problem-solving capability.