ADAPTING DESIGN THINKING APPROACH TO ENHANCE EFL STUDENTS' ACADEMIC WRITING PERFORMANCE AND CREATIVE THINKING SKILLS

Nowadays foreign language instructors have been implemented various pedagogical approaches in the classrooms, such as Design Thinking and Challenge-Based Learning etc, to enhance students' learning skills. Design thinking is a multi-step learning methodology that enhances creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving through practical projects. We aim to examine to assess the effectiveness of the Design Thinking process within the educational context to improve the academic writing performance and creative thinking skills of English as Foreign Language (EFL) students. This paper presents a structured pedagogical framework that incorporates the five stages of Design Thinking—Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test—into classroom instruction. The respondents of this qualitative study consist of both teachers and students from anonymous University in the English Language Program. The research data was collected through a six-consecutive week intervention involving 32 university students and 2 faculty members, and results were analyzed. The qualitative and quantitative mixed methods were applied, incorporating assessments of the learning process, classroom observations, categorization, focus interview, student reflections and teachers’ perspectives. The findings indicate that students noted that Design Thinking models played a significant role in enhancing their creative engagement and active participation in the academic setting. Furthermore, they expressed that this approach improved their problem-solving abilities, helping them effectively address real-life challenges. Educators have observed improvements in students' academic writing performances, particularly in generating ideas and project outcomes in the DT process. Additionally, they highlighted a significant improvement in students' creativity through both collaborative and individual problem-solving tasks.