Learning Model via Design Thinking to Enhance Creative Writing Ability of Higher Education Students

Abstract

The purposes of this research were as follows; 1) investigate preliminary information regarding the development of a design thinking-based learning model to enhance the creative writing abilities of higher education students, 2) develop the learning model, and 3) evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented learning model. The target groups of the study included experts and higher education students.The research instruments used were:1) questionnaires, 2) interviews, 3) the learning model, 4) a model evaluation form, 5) lesson plans based on the model, 6) a creative writing ability test, and 7) a satisfaction survey. The statistical methods employed in the research included the Index of Item - objective Congruence (IOC), mean ( ), standard deviation (S.D.), t-test for dependent samples, PNI_modified, and content analysis. The research findings revealed that: 1) higher education students demonstrated a need for developing creative writing abilities and for learning arrangements that support this development; 2) the design thinking-based learning model to enhance creative writing abilities consists of key components, including (1) principles and concepts, (2) objectives, (3) roles of instructors and students, (4) learning activity procedures, and (5) model-based evaluation. The learning process within this model comprises five essential steps: (1) Empathize, (2) Define, (3) Ideate, (4) Prototype, and (5) Test. The model evaluation by experts indicated a high level of appropriateness, and its implementation with students showed that their creative writing abilities significantly improved after the learning sessions, with statistical significance at the .05 level. The satisfaction towards the learning arrangements was rated as high.