Design Thinking as a Framework for Teaching Packaging Innovation

Students in scientific/technical-oriented disciplines struggle with achieving good levels of innovation when exposed to design problems. Research indicates the need for implementing alternative pedagogical approaches in technical curricula that enhance students’ creative skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of a cross-disciplinary pedagogical approach with a focus on teaching innovation in the field of packaging engineering at a university in the United States. A Design Thinking Project-Based Learning (DTPBL) approach was used to improve the levels of innovation in student work. Its outcomes were compared with those of a Traditional Project-Based Learning (TPBL) approach. The implementation of DTPBL across several courses took place between 2015 and 2018. TPBL was the norm in these courses between 2009 and 2014. National and international student design competitions were used to assess the level of innovation of student work externally. Statistically significant differences were found in the levels of innovation of student work between approaches. DTPBL projects placed higher in design competitions, and they were recognized more often by independent expert judges than TPBL projects. At a national level, TPBL generated 172 projects in 11 instances, obtaining 12 awards. DTPBL produced 61 projects in seven instances, and student work was recognized with 21 awards. At a global level, student work created with TPBL was never recognized, while student projects generated using DTPBL received seven recognitions in three participation instances. This study provides evidence that a Design Thinking Project-Based Learning (DTPBL) approach can be a successful pedagogical strategy to enhance students’ creative skills and produce innovative design solutions.

[1]  Andrew Peter Wallace McCarthy.  E DITOR ’ S C OMMENTS Diversity of Design Science Research , 2022 .

[2]  Rachel Dzombak,et al.  Building 21st century skills through development engineering , 2018 .

[3]  Mani Mina,et al.  Design thinking as a catalyst for changing teaching and learning practices in engineering , 2017, 2017 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE).

[4]  Nigel Cross,et al.  Expertise in Design: an overview , 2004 .

[5]  Katja Thoring,et al.  Understanding the creative mechanisms of design thinking: an evolutionary approach , 2011, DESIRE.

[6]  Martin R. Fellenz.  Toward Fairness in Assessing Student Groupwork: A Protocol for Peer Evaluation of Individual Contributions , 2006 .

[7]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Design thinking in development engineering , 2016 .

[8]  Clive L. Dym,et al.  The Key Ideas of MDW VIII: A Summary* , 2012 .

[9]  Vahid Sohrabpour.  Packaging Design and Development for Supply Chain Efficiency and Effectiveness , 2014 .

[10]  Jeffrey H. Johnson,et al.  Personality and learning preferences of students in design and design-related disciplines , 1996 .

[11]  Benjamin S. Bloom,et al.  A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives , 2000 .

[12]  Jan Ferri-Reed.  Leading a Multi-Generational Workforce: Quality, Conflict, and Communication Across the Generations , 2013 .

[13]  Alice M. Agogino,et al.  Teaching human-centered design innovation across engineering, humanities and social sciences , 2012 .

[14]  Marian Petre,et al.  How expert engineering teams use disciplines of innovation , 2004 .

[15]  Arne Collen.  The Foundation of Science , 1997 .

[16]  Nigel Cross,et al.  Creativity in the design process: co-evolution of problem–solution , 2001 .

[17]  Daniel D. Frey,et al.  Engineering design thinking, teaching, and learning , 2006 .

[18]  John C. Thomas,et al.  Cognitive Processes in Design. , 1980 .

[19]  Richard Buchanan,et al.  Wicked Problems in Design Thinking , 1992 .

[20]  B. Archer.  Whatever became of Design Methodology ? , 2022 .

[21]  H. Christiaans.  Creativity as a Design Criterion , 2002 .

[22]  Shanna R. Daly,et al.  Teaching Creativity in Engineering Courses , 2014 .

[23]  Tapio Salakoski,et al.  O-CDIO: emphasizing design Thinking in CDIO engineering cycle , 2016 .

[24]  Roger Martin.  The Design of Business: Why Design Thinking is the Next Competitive Advantage , 2009 .

[25]  Laura Bix,et al.  An Affordance‐Based Methodology for Package Design , 2015 .

[26]  Diana Twede,et al.  The Advent of University-Level Packaging Scholarship: The Time, the Place and the People , 2017 .

[27]  E. Sadler‐Smith.  Wallas’ Four-Stage Model of the Creative Process: More Than Meets the Eye? , 2015 .

[28]  H. Rittel,et al.  Dilemmas in a general theory of planning , 1973 .

[29]  N. Bonnardel,et al.  Evocation Processes by Novice and Expert Designers: Towards Stimulating Analogical Thinking , 2004 .

[30]  J. Farley,et al.  WICKED PROBLEMS , 2007 .

[31]  Mark M. Weislogel,et al.  Student Design Challenges in Capillary Flow , 2016 .

[32]  Shanna R. Daly,et al.  Design ethnography in capstone design: investigating student use and perceptions , 2014 .

[33]  Herbert A. Simon,et al.  The Science of Design: Creating the Artificial , 1988 .

[34]  Carla B. Zoltowski,et al.  Students' Ways of Experiencing Human‐Centered Design , 2012 .

[35]  H.H.C.M. Christiaans,et al.  Creativity in design: the role of domain knowledge in designing , 1992 .

[36]  Ade Mabogunje,et al.  Design thinking: A new foundational science for engineering , 2016 .

[37]  Marc Stickdorn,et al.  This is service design thinking : basics--tools--cases : 領域横断的アプローチによるビジネスモデルの設計 , 2012 .

[38]  Cynthia J. Atman,et al.  From research to action in the classroom: encouraging broad thinking in engineering design with significant learning experiences , 2018 .

[39]  Carolyn Conner Seepersad,et al.  An Experimental Investigation of the Innovation Capabilities of Undergraduate Engineering Students , 2012 .