Transdisciplinary Design Education & Design Thinking

Abstract

The aim of this article is to examine the role of divergent thinking in creativity in the context of transdisciplinary design education. How should we design a process and an environment for crea-tive learning? The author argues that social interaction and the design-thinking process are keys to divergent thinking because students learn more effectively in a collaborative work environment con-ducive to social creativity, which can be supported by a systematized design process through team-work. Drawing upon existing conceptions of creativity and previous efforts to investigate the crea-tive process, this article presents a creativity education model that focuses on creative processes and social interactions. In addition, this paper presents a case study for developing and teaching founda-tion courses in an undergraduate transdisciplinary design program in author’s institution. Finally, describing a project as an exemplar, the author provides educators with useful guidelines that can be applied in the actual development and execution of a project-based class.