Design thinking applied to I-STEM education as a trigger for developing creativity: A prototype for monitoring indoor air quality

Abstract This study explores how students’ creativity emerges from their engagement in the Design Thinking (DT) process as part of an I-STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) learning sequence. A group of thirty twelfth-grade students (aged 16–18) from a secondary school participated in the study, collaborating to design and construct a prototype for monitoring indoor air quality. Data collection included observations, student prototypes, written records, photographs, and video recordings, which were analyzed to map students’ progression through the DT process and to assess the emergence of Cognitive (Divergent and Convergent Thinking) and Functional (Relevance and Effectiveness, Novelty, Elegance, Resilience) creativity. The findings demonstratedthat students engaged with the DT process in a dynamic and iterative manner, frequently revisiting previous phases to refine their ideas and improve their prototypes. Divergent thinking was most evident during brainstorming, while convergent thinking emerged during design evaluation and improvement. Functional creativity was particularly visible during the construction and evaluation phases, with teams producing solutions that demonstrated novelty, usefulness, and adaptation to context and challenges. The complexity of a team’s iterative process was a strong predictor of their creative success, with non-linear pathways leading to greater resilience and more innovative solutions. Overall, this study contributes to understanding the dynamic interplay between the iterative DT process and the development of cognitive and functional creativity in I-STEM education, offering practical implications for educators seeking to enhance students’ problem-solving skills and creative potential.