Investigating the Indicators of Design Thinking Mindset in Higher Education

Ebrahimpour, Maryam; Samadi, Parvin; Ahmadi, Parvin; Naraghizadeh,, Afsaneh

doi:10.22034/hecs.2025.402693.1864

Investigating the Indicators of Design Thinking Mindset in Higher Education

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

maryam ebrahimpour ¹

Parvin Samadi ²

parvin ahmadi ³

Afsaneh Naraghizadeh, ⁴

¹ PhD Student in Curriculum Planning , Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University,Tehran, Iran

² Professor of Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University,Tehran, Iran

³ associated Professor of Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University,Tehran, Iran.

⁴ Assistant Professor of Department of Educational Administration and Planning, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University,Tehran, Iran

10.22034/hecs.2025.402693.1864

Abstract

The quality of an educational system is closely related to the quality of its instructors. Attention to the professional competencies of instructors is one of the important elements of the curriculum. Mindset, as a set of design thinking competencies, plays a significant role in the development of individuals’ design thinking. The aim of the present study is to examine the indicators of design thinking mindset among the faculty members of Farhangian University. The research method is descriptive and of the survey type. The research tool is a design thinking mindset questionnaire consisting of 72 items across five indicators: “risk-taking,” “empathy,” “problem design processes,” “teamwork,” and “lifelong learner,” with a total Cronbach’s alpha of 0.958 obtained for the questionnaire. For data analysis, one-sample t-test, independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffé test, Kendall’s W test, and MICMAC analysis were used. The statistical population of this study includes all faculty members of Farhangian University in Tehran, which was obtained using stratified sampling from among the centers of Farhangian University in Tehran. The findings of the study indicated that the level of the five research indicators among the instructors is above average, and only two items from the risk-taking indicator did not show a significant difference from the theoretical mean. None of the design thinking indicators were significant based on the variables of gender and work experience; however, based on knowledge areas, the indicators of risk-taking and lifelong learner showed significant differences among the three knowledge areas. Additionally, Kendall’s W test indicates that the ranking of design thinking indicators is as follows: lifelong learner, teamwork, empathy, problem design processes, and risk-taking.

Keywords

mindset

design thinking

professors

higher education

Farhangian University

Subjects

Higher education curriculum planning

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