Review Article Stefanie Panke* Design Thinking in Education: Perspectives, Opportunities and Challenges

2 Theoretical Overview
While the concept of design thinking within the academic 
dialogue of design has been under discussion for more 
than 30 years, its recent adoption as an innovation 
method has led to its popularity in various disciplines 
(Wrigley & Straker, 2017). As Goldschmidt (2017) stated, 
the term design thinking means different things to 
different communities. The author distinguishes two 
facets: (1) Descriptive models of the design process, based 
on observational research of real-life or laboratory design 
activities by individuals or teams; (2) a method to be 
practiced in industries that strive to introduce innovative 
products or services. 
2.1 Terminology
Interest in how designers work and think progressively 
moved from the purview of designers and architects to 
the field of management and business administration 
(Elsbach & Stigliani, 2018). Both communities emphasize 
iterative processes, collaboration, speed of concept 
modeling and testing through prototyping, and interaction 
with users. However, as Goldschmidt (2017) emphasized, 
the difference between cognitive models and facilitation 
methods should not be overlooked. Similarly, Wrigley and 
Straker (2017) note a shift from discussing and studying 
design thinking as cognitive processes designers use, to 

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a specific way in which non-designers evaluate and use 
design methods – a shift “from design as a science to design 
as a mindset” (Wrigley & Straker, 2017, p. 2). Johansson‐
Sköldberg et al. (2013) describe this difference in terms of 
“designerly thinking” vs. design thinking: 
“A simple way of discussing the discourse of design thinking 
is as two distinct discourses: One we call ‘designerly thinking’. 
This refers to the academic construction of the professional 
designer’s practice (practical skills and competence) and 
theoretical reflections around how to interpret and characterize 
this non-verbal competence of the designers. [...] The other 
discourse is ‘design thinking’. We reserve this term for the 
discourse where design practice and competence are used 
beyond the design context (including art and architecture), 
for and with people without a scholarly background in design,