Design Thinking theorist and educator  Charles Burnette   has developed resources for applying design thinking to education at many levels and scales. Similar to other inquiry-based approaches to learning, design thinking is "a process of creative and critical thinking that allows information and ideas to be organized, decisions to be made, situations to be improved, and knowledge to be gained ( Burnette, 2005 )." It is especially useful for application to complex, real-world problems that do not allow for single or simple answers.
idesign logo sketch
Design Thinking can be scaled to course design as well as to the content and structure of the outcomes, assessments, and activities of the course. See Burnette's IDESIGN website for more information and active learning and assessment resources. One collaborative learning activity involving this model is to assign students to focus on particular roles within group projects.

Intender : Establishes the subject, need or project that the group will address; establishes circumstances and objectives and encourages input from other roles until success is achieved.

Definer : Identifies, specifies and/or provides the resources involved in a project.

Explorer : Investigates, conceptualizes, and analyses possibilities.

Suggester : Determines, presents and explains proposals and plans.

Innovater : The person who carries out the suggested plan of action to change the situation and produce the intended result.

Goalgetter : The person responsible for evaluating whether the outcome of innovation meets the goals of the project.

Knower : The person responsible for building knowledge and understandings of an experience for future use.