Design Thinking Among First-Year BSED-Filipino Pre-Service Teachers: Input for a Training Proposal

Abstract

Creative thinking is one of the least-developed skills among students nowadays. Pre-service teachers must be equipped with novel and innovative ideas in delivering instruction, preparing lesson plans, and instructional material development to navigate the challenges of today's education. With that, the present study assesses the level of design thinking among first-year BSEd-Filipino pre-service teachers at a State University in Bataan, Philippines, to serve as the basis for the proposal of training for design thinking. The level of design thinking of pre-service teachers is assessed based on the following domains: understanding (empathizing and defining), exploring (ideating and prototyping), and materializing (testing and implementing). Significant differences in their assessments of the said domains are also assessed in an attempt to propose corresponding training during their higher years. Fifty-four first-year BSEd-Filipino pre-service teachers are purposively selected to respond to an adopted survey questionnaire (Pecson & Romero, 2023). The data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, and F-test/ANOVA (Analysis of Variance). The data reveal that the first-year BSEd-Filipino pre-service teachers have a lower level of design thinking. More so, no significant differences are identified in their levels of design thinking in all domains, signaling their affirmation of the need to improve their skills. At the outset, a training proposal is presented to address the least-practiced design thinking skills of the pre-service teachers. The study results also serve as bases for further in-campus training for pre-service teachers before their actual deployment for the internship program, intensifying their preparation for future careers as educators and further attaining the tenets of SDG No. 4 for quality education.