The Needs of Design Thinking Practices among D&T Students Based on Teachers Perspective: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

Thinking skills are one of the six main aspirations of the Malaysian Education Development Plan to provide students with intellectual abilities, including critical, creative, logical and metacognitive thinking. Design thinking is an essential element in thinking skills, especially education today because it can help increase the creativity and innovation to solve a problem. Subjects such as Design and Technology and Reka Cipta are significant transformations in ensuring that students master theory, practical skills, and creative and critical thinking. Hence, this study explores the need to apply design thinking for Design and Technology subjects based on the teacher’s perspective? In this qualitative study, four D&T teachers in Sepang, Selangor, were selected as study participants using purposive sampling. Data were obtained through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The conclusions supported researchers to identify the problems and the need to apply design thinking in the teaching and learning process of D&T in secondary schools. Through data analysis, three principal themes were formed to explain the study's results in detail. Teachers were aware that the transformation of education and the application of design thinking could positively influence student development, particularly in terms of improving 21st-century skills, enhancing student understanding, designing a fun learning atmosphere, and applying elements across the curriculum.