Citation: Bariˇ cevi´ c, M.; Lui´ c, L. From Active Learning to Innovative Thinking: The Influence of Learning the Design Thinking Process among Students. Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/ educsci13050455 Academic Editor: Lisa Bendixen Received: 2 March 2023 Revised: 16 April 2023 Accepted: 25 April 2023 Published: 28 April 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). education sciences Article From Active Learning to Innovative Thinking: The Influence of Learning the Design Thinking Process among Students Martina Bariˇ cevi´ c* and Ljerka Lui´ c University North, 48000 Koprivnica, Croatia * Correspondence: mabaricevic@unin.hr; Tel.: +385-991925467 Abstract: Active learning is a set of activities that allow the student to actively participate in the learning process. Active learning can be implemented using various methods and strategies. design thinking is a creative human-centric approach used for innovation. In this article, the authors consider learning the design thinking process as a strategy for active learning. After performing a thorough literature review, the authors display the results of pilot research conducted with business economics graduate students enrolled in the Disruptive Innovations and Design Thinking elective course. The research consisted of a survey and an experiment, and it was executed as part of the project “a/AR- Learning: Active learning by applying augmented reality”. The goal was to study the effects of learning the design thinking process and whether it could be used as an active learning method in order to influence the development of innovative thinking among students. The research question was, “How does learning the design thinking process affect the development of students’ innovative way of thinking?” The results of the pilot study confirmed all three hypotheses (H1 = After learning the design thinking process, students recognize the main characteristics of innovation; H2 = Active learning of the design thinking process affects critical assessment; H3 = The innovative way of thinking developed through active learning of the design thinking process differs among students), as well as showing effectiveness and a change in critical assessment, but also the need for an even more active approach. The authors suggest that broader research be undertaken involving a bigger sample and a larger scale. Keywords: active learning; innovation; innovative thinking; design thinking course; students 1. Introduction Bonwell and Eison defined strategies that promote active learning as “instructional activities involving students in doing thinks and thinking about what they are doing” [1]. Active learning allows students to “do something other than taking notes or following directions ... they participate in activities” [2]. According to Letina, active learning aims to achieve a higher degree of independence among students and, by applying different thinking strategies, attempts to develop specific cognitive skills, thus “enabling (students) to notice the important, analyze and compare information, connect it with existing knowl- edge and critically assess their meaning” [3]. Various approaches and strategies have been considered over the years in regard to active learning, ranging from active class discus- sions to decision making based on case studies [1], as well as new approaches such as the application of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) in higher education teaching [4]. This article studies the effects of active learning through learning the design thinking process. design thinking is a process used in solving “wicked problems” [5]: multidi- mensional, complex, open problems that require creative solutions based on collaborative methodologies and non-linear thinking. Design thinking is not the only approach for this type of problem, but it is the approach that was considered in this article. The design thinking process consists of five steps: defining the problem, need finding and synthesis, ideation, prototyping, and testing [6]. It is a non-linear iterating process, meaning that after Educ. Sci. 2023, 13, 455. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050455 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/education