Facilitating the Shift From Teacher Centred to Student Centred University Teaching

Abstract

Design thinking is gaining momentum across the many fields of human endeavour, including education. Its use in education is predominantly to shape learning activities undertaken by students with the aim of nurturing the growth of desirable 21st century capabilities in students. There is relatively less attention given to the application of design thinking as a process for educators to engage in with the aim of developing curriculum and teaching practices that are characteristically student centred. In the present article, the author brings to the fore the suitability of design thinking as a process with the potential to further provoke the necessary shift in university teaching from teacher centred, instructive approaches towards the more desirable constructivist, and student centred approaches.