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

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align with both academic goals and industrial settings” 
(Gestwicki & McNely, 2012, p. 25). 
Making and Crafting in Makerspaces: Renard 
(2014) explored how knowledge gained through hands-on 
experimentation with raw material translates into better 
student outcomes in two consecutive courses on working 
with felt, that were grounded in design thinking and 
studio culture. The author described design thinking as 
intrinsically flexible and adaptable, allowing students to 
draw and develop their capacity to frame opportunities 
for change and form ideas that improve the status quo. 
4.2.3 Higher Education
Design thinking in higher education beyond the studio 
disciplines is still predominantly applied in marketing, 
business or entrepreneurship education, but its 
application across different subject areas is growing. The 
literature review identified a number of case studies from 
varied subject matter backgrounds such as engineering, 
medical education, writing studies, computer science, 
teacher education, public administration, as well as other 
academic functions, such as advising and mentoring.
Business and Management: Several case studies 
and position papers argue that design thinking is making 
valuable contributions to business and management 
education (Dunne & Martin, 2006; Glen, Suciu, Baughn, & 
Anson, 2015; Koria, Graff, & Karjalainen, 2011; Matthews 
& Wrigley, 2017; Mumford, Zoller, & Proforta, 2016; 
Schlenker, 2014; Sheehan, Gujarathi, Jones, & Phillips, 
2018). As Matthews and Wrigley (2017) observed, “the 
numbers of higher education programs that teach design 
thinking to business students, managers and executives 
are growing” (Matthews & Wrigley, 2017, p. 41). Glen et al. 
(2015) argued that it provides supplement to the analytic 
emphasis of business education, and benefits students 
who are accustomed to structured learning environments 
by showing them how the seemingly messy process of 
design thinking builds to a desired outcome. Koria et al. 
(2011) argued that the required culture of collaboration in 
the workplace is the key driver in learning design thinking, 
which means in practice multidisciplinary teamwork, 
often linked to multicultural aspects. Sheehan, Gujarathi, 
Jones, and Phillips (2018) described design thinking as an 
approach to create teaching cases for business education. 
Engineering: Altringer and Habbal (2015) presented 
a qualitative case study of curriculum development at 
the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), 
where faculty successfully transitioned the curriculum 
towards multidisciplinary education.