Abstract:

The University Innovation Fellows Teaching and Learning Studio invited the authors and introduced the concept of Design Thinking (DT) in 2016 at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) at Stanford University. The "d.school" serves as a training ground for problem-solving for undergraduate and graduate students that "fosters creative confidence and pushes them beyond the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines." The five-point design thinking approach to problem-solving included "explore, empathize, define, ideate, prototype, test." Design thinking is an innovative process of generating unexpected, creative ideas for any problem imaginable. At the core of design, thinking is being human-centered and iteratively prototyping. In other words, design thinkers don't assume they know what problem they should be solving and how to solve it.

In addition, the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design trains faculty globally in collaborative teamwork to develop innovative solutions for complex problems and return to their home institutions.

This paper summarizes DT application to enhance student learning for undergraduates over six years, incorporating one form of tourism (hiking) to grow the local economy via team-based learning (TBL) divided into three phases (preparation, application with feedback, and culminating team project assessment. The DT case, The Awesome Hiking Experience, is a guided experiential exercise booklet that asks student teams to answer the question: How might we design an experience to extend the stay and increase the hospitality for out-of-towners traveling to Berea, Kentucky, to hike the Berea College Forest Pinnacles at Indian Fort Mountain? The Berea College Forest is one of the oldest managed private forests in the U.S.A.

As a simple TBL group work assignment, students complete first their day-hiking activity at Natural Bridge State Resort and Park and second a day-hiker of the first Daniel Boone Trace hike on National Trail Day in collaboration with the American Hiker Society.

As a culminating TBL complex assignment, student teams created a series of photo artifacts such as problem photos, brainstorm photos, insight photos, persona photos, customer vision statements, prototypes, WOW test, market validation, minimum awesome produce, and shark tank photo.

External judges critiqued the student culminating TBL awesome experiences that led to three outcomes:
(1) the College expanding the College Forestry center,
(2) the identification of the College Forest Pinnacles at Indian Fort Mountain in 2018 as the number 1 hiking venue in Kentucky and
(3) undergraduate research program conducted intercept surveys that validated the infra-red counters that measured increases in day hikers over six years from 65,000 to 108,000 annual day hikers and segmentation of residential versus lout-of-towners, and potential economic expenditures for hiker calorie replacement.

Lesson learned:
1) Integrating the team-based phases increase undergraduate students' competence to find solutions to complex problems;
2) demonstrating how undergraduate student increase their skills to conduct customer interviews leads to worthy solutions;
3) revealing how timely mastery learning and coaching is crucial to student success.

Keywords:

Design Thinking, Team Based Learning, Mastery Learning.