Generating creative ideas is critical in the design process. Currently, massive amounts of design data are existing and effective use of data can stimulate inspiration. However, there has been relatively little research on large-scale design image materials and creative knowledge mining. Here we report a creative idea generation method based on…

STEM, the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects is a popular topic as schools grapple with how to best prepare students for an ever-evolving society. As societal and technological challenges emerge, design thinking has been lauded as a method to enable people to help tackle those challenges. The steps of the…

This paper exploring the impact of the utilization of Design Thinking tool in facilitating the development of a group of design undergraduates' creativity skills and motivation to think creatively. This study used a qualitative approach based on open-ended face-to-face interviews. A group of 55 design undergraduates from a Malaysian university was…

Creativity is an important skill in the 21st century, and design thinking has been proposed as a methodology for fostering creativity. Design creativity involves two non-rational aspects: motivation and empathy. However, little is known about how empathy and motivation work in synergy with creativity. This study explored the underlying mechanisms…

Design feedback is an essential pedagogical tool that can help young novice designers navigate divergent and convergent paths while designing. However, design feedback is often met with resistance, which counteracts its potential to help novice designers evaluate their design and generate new solution directions. In this paper, we report on the…

There is limited information about the design process and outcomes of novice industrial designers when working with different levels of problem abstraction. In this paper, we propose a new way of describing the cognitive processes of problem solving based on problem decomposition strategy studies and network-based cognitive maps. An empirical…

The main purpose of the living technology curriculum is to cultivate students' interest in learning science and technology, and further to utilize their experience of learning instructions and develop their ability to integrate interdisciplinary knowledge and skills. In recent years, as countries have begun to emphasize the concept of…

Can originality in real-world creative design thinking be improved through instruction and practice? Do such frequently-used measures of creative ideation as the Alternative Uses Task or Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking, or other factors predict students' performance on actual industry-based design-brief challenges? Results to date are weakly…

In learning biologically inspired design (BID), the mapping process from problem to biological inspirations is crucial for generating novel ideas. This study determines the effects of knowledge representations related to design problems and inspirations on students' novelty of ideas generated in BID. Forty-four industrial design undergraduates…

Creativity has an important role in many scientific processes which constitute a large and complex structure. It is difficult to identify and measure. Students' creativity can be enhanced through specific education programs. The aim of this study was to develop a science, technology, engineering, art, mathematics (STEAM) design process program for…

One of the primary goals of STEAM education is to equip students with the capability of creativity to solve problems. Creativity is believed to be closely related to the ability of making remote associations and combining unrelated concepts. This article explored the effects of three kinds of association interventions (i.e., remote association,…

In Aotearoa New Zealand, technology education is a means for teachers to introduce students to future-focused contexts and innovative approaches to learning. When viewed from this lens, there are opportunities for pedagogical practice to be responsive to student interests by developing creative and critical thinking in a variety of technological…

In this study, we designed and evaluated the effectiveness of a new course aimed at developing creativity as the cornerstone of technology and design education. This 14-hour synchronous online course was offered to secondary school students in the online format by the Open Educational Laboratory by the National Center of the Junior Academy of…

Design thinking holds the key to innovation processes, but is often difficult to detect because of its implicit nature. We undertook a study of novice designers engaged in team-based design exercises in order to explore the correlation between design thinking and designers' physical (observable) behavior and to identify new, objective, design…

Open-ended design problems have become an important component in our educational landscape (Grubbs and Strimel in J STEM Teach Educ 50(1):77-90, 2015; Jonassen et al. in J Eng Educ 95:139-151, 2006; National Research Council in Education for life and work: developing transferable knowledge and skills in the 21st Century, National Academies Press,…