The Relationship Between Design Thinking and Active Learning Attitudes Among Chinese University Students: The Moderating Role of Perceived Stress

The study examined the impact of design thinking on active learning attitudes among 1,112 students enrolled at a vocational college in Heze, Shandong Province, China and investigated the moderating role of perceived stress. Design thinking was measured through five subcomponents: integrative thinking, collaboration, experimentalism, empathy and optimism. Active learning attitudes were assessed based on learning engagement and academic self-efficacy. The analysis revealed that design thinking significantly influenced both components of active learning attitudes, with experimentalism and optimism emerging as the strongest predictors. In contrast, integrative thinking negatively affected learning engagement and had no significant effect on academic self-efficacy. Perceived stress was found to have a negative impact on active learning attitudes and its moderating effect was confirmed in the relationship between design thinking and academic self-efficacy. These findings suggest that design thinking may serve as a psychological resource that helps students maintain confidence in their academic abilities even in stressful situations. This study offers practical implications for designing instructional strategies that foster creative and self-directed learning by empirically examining the educational effects of design thinking and its interaction with psychological factors. Future studies should compare diverse educational and cultural contexts to better understand how design thinking functions across learning environments.