TEACHING DESIGN THINKING: EVOLUTION OF A TEACHING COLLABORATION ACROSS DISCIPLINARY, ACADEMIC AND CULTURAL BOUNDARIES

This paper’s aim is to describe the collaborative efforts of two designers/educators who have been teaching the application of mindsets and methodologies associated with design thinking during the last eleven years. This journey started with a request to one of the authors to co-teach a course in the engineering training program at NASA in 2004 and has taken both authors through multiple iterations of courses in academic and professional environments. Several dimensions of the design-thinking curriculum are then detailed, explaining the evolution of the courses as the processes, methodologies and tools become increasingly recognized as useful tools to address complex challenges in which analytical approaches offer limited results. Participation of multiple disciplines, contexts and delivery methods are also discussed.