The Influence of Teaching and Learning Through Design Thinking on Creative Thinking for High Vocational Students

Creativity is a vital skill in the 21st century, significantly influencing work, education, and everyday experiences. However, students face challenges with creativity, hesitating to think or do new things. Therefore, the current research aimed to examine the influence of teaching and learning using design thinking on enhancing creativity and to compare students’ creativity based on gender and major subject. The sample comprised 472 students enrolled in the Digital Business Technology, Digital Business, Digital Media, Business Mobile Application, and E-Commerce Business programs, who were selected through stratified sampling. A questionnaire was employed as the research instrument, which was validated the reliability. The findings revealed that teaching using design thinking significantly enhanced students’ creativity at a high level. Teaching media for teaching and learning using design thinking had a higher effect on students’ creativity. Instructors, teaching approach, and content also positively impacted on students’ creativity. Additionally, comparative analysis showed female students have higher cognitive fluency than male students, while male students have higher cognitive flexibility than female. Therefore, educators or teachers can apply the current findings by designing suitable knowledge content, instructional media, teaching methods, which motivate students’ creative thinking.