This book seeks a more comprehensive understanding of “design thinking” through deeper inquiry about what this means to design educators, and how they see themselves teaching it in their disciplines. The following questions frame the areas of inquiry for this book:

• How do educators in higher design institutions conceive of design thinking?;
• How are these conceptions of design thinking being taught in the design studios of higher design institutions?; and
• How can designers’ perspectives of design thinking inform non-designers? 

This book advances the common core of design thinking amidst fragmented understandings within the design disciplines. It contributes to the conceptual development of design thinking by considering perspectives within the design disciplines, while also recognizing the emergence of human-centered approaches outside of the design disciplines. The various chapters examine designer-specific perspectives of design thinking and reasoning, discussing how they can inform design thinking practices outside of design disciplines, especially in education, business, and industry. This book also contributes to current research of higher design education through examining research and practice, presenting Synergized Design Thinking (SynDT) as an alternative basis for conceptualizing and teaching design thinking. It provides readers with the benefit of understanding and appropriating design thinking concepts from within the design disciplines, as well as case exemplars for reference. This book serves as a helpful resource for designers, design students who would be future designers, non-designers, design educators, K-12 schools, teachers, and adult educators who are seeking to integrate design thinking into their curriculums and teaching practice. 

Dr. Joyce Hwee Ling Koh is a professor at the School of Education, University of Waikato, New Zealand. She is widely published in the areas of design thinking and technology-enhanced learning, and is currently a senior associate editor of the journal Asia Pacific Educational Researcher. Her co-authored book “Design Thinking for Education: Conceptions and Applications in Teaching and Learning” (Springer, 2015) is a well-cited work, and she has been invited by universities and professional bodies to share her expertise in this area.