THE EFFECTS OF A LARGE-SCALE DESIGN THINKING COURSE ON STUDENT’S CREATIVE SELF-EFFICACY, AND MEDIATING ROLES OF CREATIVE MINDSETS

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of attending a large-scale design-thinking course on student’s creative self-efficacy, as well as the mediating roles of creative growth/fixed mindset. A Singaporean sample of 1661 university students were recruited from two courses – a design-thinking course (experimental group) and a non-design-thinking course (control group) – and were measured on their level of creative self-efficacy at 3 timepoints throughout the courses. Analyses revealed that students attending the design-thinking course exhibited significantly greater gains in creative self-efficacy compared to their peers in the non-design-thinking course. This change was found to be mediated through reduction in creative fixed mindset. Contributions and limitations of the study are discussed.