What Instructors Learn When Teaching Design Thinking to Beginners

Design thinking is increasingly used in higher education, yet little is known about how instructors manage the daily realities of teaching it to beginners. This study examines a 16-week undergraduate course in which students from multiple majors partnered with an NCI-designated cancer center to improve how clinical trial invitations are discussed at the moment of diagnosis. Each week, the two co-instructors recorded reflective conversations about what was taught, how students responded, and where progress stalled or accelerated. The transcripts were coded and compared to identify recurring patterns in teaching and learning. Three findings stood out. First, teaching worked best when instructors acted as co-designers who modeled the same practices they asked students to use and adjusted class rhythm as needs emerged. Second, students advanced when uncertainty was acknowledged early, synthesis was made explicit, and teams were guided to move intentionally between divergence and convergence. Third, course culture and problem choice mattered: a real stakeholder, authentic constraints, and transparent routines generated commitment that generic projects did not. The study offers a grounded account of how instructors can teach and steadily improve introductory design thinking courses.