Design Thinking in Science Education: Enhancing Undergraduate Students' Motivation and Achievement in Learning Biology

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a design-thinking-based teaching method on optimizing students’ motivation and understanding of cell biology. This method is based on creativity and creating solutions and is primarily human focused. It involves a five-step process: discovery, explanation, thinking, experimenting, and developing. In this study, the researchers employed empathy in redesigning the content after each class based on student feedback and reflections. The sample included 92 female students: 50 in a design-thinking classroom and 42 in a conventional classroom. Three instruments were developed: a teachers’ guide, an achievement test, and a questionnaire on students’ motivation toward learning biology. Data were analyzed using the mean, standard deviation, an ANCOVA test, and size effect. The results showed that there were statistically significant differences in students’ increased motivation and achievement of biology in favor of the design-thinking classes. Although the results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference for teaching by the design-thinking method in improving students’ achievement according to students’ GPA, the results did not indicate a statistically significant difference in enhancing students’ motivation toward learning biology according to GPA. Therefore, instructors and curriculum developers should restructure the contents of their courses according to the design-thinking model to optimize students’ motivation and understanding of cell biology.