ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education, 3(1) Nguyên et al.

(2019)

Enhancing Vietnamese Students’ Entrepreneurial Mindset Article history

Received
and Creativity by Design Thinking Application 17 April 2019
Received in revised form
14 July 2019
Accepted
18 July 2019
Published online
3 September 2019
Phan Quốc Nguyên, School of Law, Vietnam National University
Lê Thị Hồng Duyên, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University,
Đào Thị Diệu Linh, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University
Nguyễn Thị Thư, Centre of Physical Education and Sports, Vietnam National University
Lư Thị Thanh Lê, University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University
Lê Thanh Huyền, University of Education, Vietnam National University

Abstract:
In recent years, more and more attention and concerns are paid on how students should be educated as global citizens with
required characteristics of the unforeseen future society. Among the most crucial competencies that future workforce should
acquire, it is necessary to focus on developing students’ creativity and entrepreneurial mindset. In this paper, authors-lecturers
from different universities in Vietnam National University (VNU) have piloted the model of Design Thinking in different
disciplines at different member universities of Vietnam National University, Hanoi with the purpose to foster such essential
skills for Vietnamese students in the 21st century. With the illustration of applying Design Thinking in different scenarios such
as psychology, education, physical training, folklore and information technology, this paper reports the initial and positive
results of Design Thinking application at Vietnam National University context. It is recommended from the paper that if lecturers
introduce and encourage students to apply Design Thinking process in their learning, it will help to foster their creativity and
entrepreneurial mindset, which are essential for students to succeed in the 21st century.

Keywords: Design thinking, creativity, entrepreneurial mindset, Vietnamese students, Vietnamese university, higher education

approach, experiential learning, etc. to help students

Introduction master such required skills. Among those trends, in
Education plays an important role in developing recent years, Design Thinking seems to gain keen and
human resources. It equips people with essential wide interest of educators and administrators in
competencies to perform well in their future workplace. different countries in the world (Skaggs et al, 2009;
Education is not just limited to the provision of Kwek, 2011; Scheer et al, 2011; Anderson, 2012; Watson,
knowledge but the development of skills, attitudes, and 2015) because it “holds the potential for enhancing skills
behaviours of individuals. A country cannot develop such as creativity, problem-solving, communication, and
sustainably without a strong and well-prepared labour teamwork as well as empower students to develop
force. empathy for others within and beyond the community”
With the rapidly changing speed of our society and its (Retna, 2018, p.5 ).
demanding requirements in the 21st century, the In Vietnam, however, the scale of Design Thinking
teaching of requisite skills for students to survive and application seems not to be widespread. This requires
develop personally and professionally is extremely educators in Vietnam to connect and network with each
important. Based on such global quest, the question of other to learn and share the models in their community.
how to teach students “in a world that doesn’t yet exist” In this paper, a group of lecturers from different member
(Lor, 2018, p.36) seems to urge educators to seek for universities of Vietnam National University share initial
innovations in education. In fact, they keep searching for and positive results they have gained in their pilot of
different approaches such as project-based learning, 4Cs Design Thinking model in their teaching contexts.
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Phan Quốc Nguyên 1, L. T. H., Duyên2, Đ. T. D., Linh2, N. T., Thư3, L.T. T., Lê4, L. T., Huyền5 (2019)Enhancing Vietnamese Student’s Entrepreneurial Mindset and
Creativity by Design Thinking Application ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education, 3(1), 50-60
ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

Theoretical Background Design (d.school), Stanford University (2010), in each

What is design thinking? step, different actions are required:
The concept of Design Thinking originated from a Empathize. The first step of Design Thinking aims at a
seminal work of Herbert Simon (1969) called “Sciences deep understanding of the problems or situations that
of the Artificials”. In his work, he considers “design” as need to be solved. This requires the exploration of the
the “changing existing circumstances into preferred investigated phenomenon from different angles and
ones” (Mulder, 2017). Later on, in cooperation with other from different stakeholders through observation,
scientists, he worked on the conceptualization of “design interviews, document analysis or any type of information
thinking” as a creative process developed from building that can be collected around the problems. Empathy can
up ideas from the problems. This concept is not just be considered as the core component in the process
limited in the design field but also applied in every field because it encourages the researcher or designer to set
of life and every situation. From that time on, “design aside their presumptions of the problems and focus more
thinking” has been used more and more widely in on the needs of their “end-users”. From the findings of
different communities and has been considered as “a this phase, a large number of information related to the
mindset and approach to learning, collaboration, and situation is used to support the subsequent steps in
problem-solving” (Teaching & Learning Lab, Harvard order to achieve a unique and meaningful solution.
University). In particular, it is “an innovative, creative Define. In the second step, the problems identified in the
and human-centered process and mindset that employs first stage are placed together so as to provide the design
collaborative multidisciplinary teams in order to thinkers the whole picture of the status quo, from which
generate user-focused products, services or they can identify the prominent problem to be solved.
experiences” (Lor, 2018, p.36) While considering the problems, it is important for the
design thinkers to take the “end-users” in the centre and
Phases of the Design Thinking process avoid having their presumptions interfere with their
Since the original model of Simon and his colleagues, decision.
several variants of models of Design Thinking have been Ideate. At this stage, the design thinkers have a holistic
introduced and applied into different fields. The process view of the situation which they are seeking for
comprises different stages under three main phases: solutions. Based on the defined problem from the
Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation (Brown & previous step, they now imagine new solutions for their
Wyatt, 2010). Among different versions of the Design identified problem. This encourages them to think about
Thinking process, the most commonly used model is the as many solutions as possible. “Even the craziest ideas
five-step model created by Hasso Plattner Institute of are welcomed because they can often lead to the most
Design at Stanford University, which is also known as creative solutions” (Mulder, 2017).
d.school- one of the pioneers in developing this model in Prototype. When an idea is selected from the previous
education. It consists of five main steps as in the figure stage, it is then translated into physical products or
below: invisible services. At this step, it is not necessary to make
a perfect or expensive version of the imagined object or
service. More importantly, it helps the design thinkers to
link the imagination with the physical world and “see”
their solution, from which they can get some feedback
and make a more improved prototype. Several
prototypes can be made at this stage to help design
thinkers see different aspects of the solutions made for
the initially identified problems until they come up with
the final one.
Figure 1: Design thinking model (d.school, 2010)
Test. For the final step, the prototype can be tested
within a small circle of people as an experiment of
Although the model is made up of different steps, it is whether the proposed solutions meet the users’ needs.
not a linear framework but a very dynamic model which Such prototypes can be accepted and require
allows for iteration to happen during the process (Scheer improvement, or they can be rejected. Through the
et al, 2011). According to Hasso Plattner Institute of process, the designers gain more insight into how well
their product and service maximize the needs of their
users. At this point, the design thinkers have a chance to
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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

look back at the previous stages to refine their product Nguyễn Hoàng Duy Thiên, Trần Hoàng Nam, 2018). This
or service. They can even do supplementary to empathy situation reflects such a void in teaching methodology
to get more information they want and repeat the that needs to be filled, especially in the era where
process until they are satisfied with their solution. creativity and problem-solving skills are strongly
required of students of all levels.
Application of Design Thinking and its benefits
In a recent comprehensive review of Lor (2018) with How Design Thinking foster students’ creativity and
68 articles, 13 conference presentations, 4 books and a entrepreneurial mindset
good number of related magazines, the use of Design Tracing back the history, creativity or innovation has
Thinking has been spread from the design field some been introduced into the education system in different
decades ago to other walks of life such as business, countries for many years, from the early years of Steiner
engineering, technology and education in recent years. schools or Montessori philosophy. Up to know, creativity
In education, Design Thinking has been applied as a is still considered as one of the four essential 4Cs
new movement and innovation not only for K-12 schools (Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and
but also for higher education, ranging from education of Communication) in this 21st century.
art, design, and architect (Bruton, 2010; Donar, 2011; With regard to the concept of entrepreneurship, in
Lee & Wong, 2015; Watson, 2015) to technical courses recent years, it has attracted the attention of people from
(Skaggs, Fry & Howell, 2009; Alhamdani, 2016), different spheres of society, especially in education. It
business, management, and entrepreneurship calls for the training of students as citizens of the 21st
education(Dunne & Martin, 2006; Schlenker, 2014). It is century with the entrepreneurial mindset. According to
hailed as “an orientation to learning that encompasses the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship in the USA,
active problem solving and marshaling one’s ability to the entrepreneurial mindset can be defined as the set of
create impactful change. It builds on the development of attitudes, skills, and behaviors such as initiation, self-
creative confidence that is both resilient and highly direction, risk-taking, flexibility and adaptability,
optimistic.” (Kelly, 2012, p. 225). In other words, Design creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving. Such
Thinking promotes students’ problem solving, creativity attributes are necessary for students to succeed
and collaboration (Skaggs et al, 2009; Kwek, 2011; academically, personally and professionally. It is also
Scheer et al, 2011; Anderson, 2012; Watson, 2015). claimed that entrepreneurship is not innately born, but
In terms of the core features of the Design Thinking must be experienced and practiced to be learned.
and its benefits, it firstly helps the design thinkers Among different methods, the introduction of Design
resolve “wicked” and “ill-defined” problems. Besides, it Thinking can be seen as one of the best methods to foster
provides the framework for them to come up with more such a mindset of students. At each step of the Design
meaningful solutions from exploring given issues in a Thinking process, it helps learners to develop skills and
problematic context. From the rigorous and dynamic attitudes which are closely related to what is required for
process of Design Thinking mentioned before, another an entrepreneurial mindset. From the very first step of
benefit of this approach is to foster abductive reasoning, empathy that encourages students to explore the hidden
therefore triggers more creative solutions and problems around a phenomenon and from the
opportunities. To summarize the typical features of perspectives of different stakeholders, to defining the
Design Thinking, Serrat (2010) emphasizes it as problem, sketching out possible solutions and testing
“empathic, personal, subjective, interpretive, integrative, how well their final products meet their users’ needs.
experimental, synthetic, pictorial, dialectical, Through such a process, students are trained to be self-
opportunistic and optimistic” (p. 2). aware and believe in their own creativity (Scheer &
With all the benefits it serves, Design Thinking has Plattner, 2011). At the same time, different skills of
become the trendy movement at the moment. However, problem-solving, critical thinking, collaborating as well
the scale of application in Vietnamese contexts is still as communication are developed. It is similar to what Lor
limited. This approach of teaching seems to be (2018) reviewed on contexts where Design Thinking is
introduced more in single courses at private innovation applied that the main reason for schools to utilize this
centers rather than being embedded in school curricula. approach is “to teach empathy, foster creativity,
A rare example can be found and reported at Tra Vinh innovation, and a prototyping mindset” (p.56). He also
University when they apply Design Thinking in teaching confirms through his review that Design Thinking is
according to the approach of Conceive- Design- necessary “to teach the students to be adaptive rather
Implement- Operate (CDIO) (Phan Thị Phương Nam,
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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

than content-oriented for them to be better prepared for

the unknown future” (Lor, 2018, p.52).

Research methodology
In this study, action research has been chosen as the
most suitable research method that fits the purpose of
the study. The following reasons are based on to justify
the employment of action research.
Firstly, action research requires the teacher to seek to
“clarify and resolve practical teaching issues and
problems” (Richards & Farrell, 2015, p. 171). Therefore,
action research appears to be one of the practical ways
to help teachers do research within their own context. In Figure 2: Cyclical AR model based on Kemmis and
fact, “contemporary education research has highlighted McTaggart (1988) (cited in Burns, 2010)
the importance of teachers continually analysing and
developing their own practice” (Roberts-Hull, Jensen & Results and discussions
Copper, 2015). In this study, the lecturers working at Being aware of great benefits Design Thinking brings
different contexts of Vietnam National University to learners, the authors of this paper have utilized
recognized the need to improve their own practices, experiences of educators in different countries (Bruton,
which could be done by doing research in their own 2010; Donar, 2011; Lee & Wong, 2015; Watson, 2015)
teaching settings. and applied Design Thinking process in their teaching
Secondly, according to Borg (2017), the focus of contexts. In this part, different scenarios are described in
teacher research, namely classroom-based research, detail about how Design Thinking stages are delivered
exploratory practice, self-study and action research, is to and what results they have achieved in their pilot
improve the quality of teaching and learning. Among application.
those, action research seemed to be the most preferable
method by teachers with the aim to improve their Scenario 1: Physical education
teaching quality This meets the mission of Vietnam The status quo of physical education at Vietnam National
National University as the pioneer in innovating teaching University (VNU)
methods among teachers’ community. At present, physical education in VNU fundamentally
Thirdly, in doing action research, teachers have meets the requirement and the learners’ needs to
opportunities to apply the change and innovative ways practice as well as the quality of the training, which are
to solve their identified problems (Burns, 2010). This demonstrated through students’ performance on their
quite fits the purpose of the authors in this study, that is midterm or final terms. However, there still exists a
to pilot Design Thinking in order to bring changes into number of limitations in facilities and teaching tools. In
their own teaching context. particular, students have to share one playground to
Finally, the steps of doing action research, which are practice different types of sports and teachers have to
planning, acting, observing and reflecting (Kemmis & take advantage of old equipment tools which are once
McTaggart, 1988), are relevant to the steps of the Design again shared within hundreds of students. Moreover,
Thinking process. Such a clear design of action research students’ attitudes and motivation towards the subject
is useful for the lecturers in this study to apply a new tool are not very high. Additionally, teachers seem to apply
in their teaching. traditional teaching methods which rely heavily on their
In this study, the lecturers applied the different phases experience. They seem not to diversify their teaching
of action research to verify the effectiveness of Design methods, which then easily affects students’ awareness
Thinking in fostering students’ creativity and and their scary attitudes towards physical education.
entrepreneurial mindset. In particular, depending on This also explains why students only consider this
each specific context of each research site, the lecturers subject as a minor one and they only learn passively what
conducted the research during a semester. Data were is required. Therefore, in order to meet students’ needs,
collected both quantitatively through questionnaire it is important for teachers to think about innovations in
surveys and qualitatively through students’ written education by approaching new ways to renew creativity
feedback. and entrepreneurial mindset so as to promote and
encourage the 21st-century students to learn sports as
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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

well as to nurture their passion in doing exercise and motives in studying. Therefore, it helps to engage
playing sports. Among the new teaching approach, students in the subject.
Design Thinking can be seen as one of the most effective Secondly, this activity also helps students to be more
ways. aware of the problems related to doing techniques in
sports. Importantly, their solutions come from every
Implementation member’s contribution. Therefore, they have
We have piloted to utilize Design Thinking in opportunities to come up with different ideas and
correcting students’ mistakes in playing basketball, in understand that such ideas come from a deep empathy
particular with the technique of throwing the ball with with other people through observing, listening, and
one hand from their shoulder. In the lesson, students are understanding them as well as their wishes. By this way,
divided into six groups. Students are required to observe they can see the problem and solutions from others’
the other groups to throw the ball. At this phase, students perspectives. Obviously, creativity, in this case, comes
are guided to apply different stages of Design Thinking, from Empathy.
namely empathy, define, ideate, prototype, and test. Thirdly, working in groups can help students to
Empathize. Students in each group are asked to write improve their personal skills such as communication,
down all the problems that they observe from the other problem-solving, persuasion and leadership. From that,
groups’ demonstration. Then, they gather all of the they can open up more network with other students of
information related to the problem. Through this the same as well as of different universities within
activity, students are required to understand deeply Vietnam National University.
about the technique of throwing a ball from one hand on
their shoulder. As for the teacher, he/she has a clear idea Recommendations
about students’ understanding of this subject. From this It is recommended from our scenario that teachers
empathy, students can also learn from their classmates’ should apply Design Thinking in their lesson of physical
mistakes so that they can improve their practice. education by assigning students to work in groups to
Define. After the empathy phase, group members solve a certain problem such as the technique of hitting
discuss their observed mistakes to decide what is the the ball with the dominant hand when playing table
most common problem that most people note in their tennis or studying about the history or the rule of certain
book. Therefore, they can have a better understanding of sports. By that way, students are provided with a lot of
the mistakes of throwing a basketball. learning opportunities.
Ideate. By identifying the problem, students are then
required to imagine the ways to correct such mistakes Scenario 2: Teacher education
and how they can practice avoiding such mistakes. The status quo of the subject “Teaching-learning
Prototype. In the previous phase, students have methodologies and technology”
different ideas on how to correct the mistake. They then The subject “Teaching-learning methodologies and
try on their solutions until they can avoid the identified technology” is considered as a compulsory subject with 3
mistake. credits covering the theories of the teaching process and
Test. Students continue to practice the technique until its component, updated theories about education,
they feel satisfied with their solution. They are also knowledge about ICT application in teaching. The
required to film every step of doing the technique and objectives of the subject are to provide students with
send the video to the teacher or they can demonstrate in knowledge, skills and help students form appropriate
front of the class after they go through all steps of Design attitudes so as to meet the standard output as required
thinking process. by the university. This subject has been assessed as an
important section which features the typical attributes of
Results from the application of Design Thinking students of the University of Education (VNU-UED).
Firstly, by asking students to go through different steps However, there are a number of problems with this
in the Design Thinking process, students’ awareness is subject. First, this subject is basic and fundamental in the
raised regarding the importance of health so that they teacher education program at VNU-UED which provides
have treasured it as the most precious thing in their life. a background of learning theories and teaching
Besides, it helps the students understand more about methodology and technology. The learning outcome of
how to do the technique properly and its effect on their this subject can be continuously served, represented or
health. From that, students gradually build up their integrated into several subjects in the program such as
Teaching literature methodology, Integrated learning,
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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

Competence-based learning in teaching literature, etc. next step of “Best project nomination” among their 3
Second, it is a practical subject which requires students projects.
to apply what they learn from theories and ICT in their Test (at the end of week 4). Students prepare for the
teaching. However, students normally join in “imagined” presentation of their own project within 20 minutes and
projects, discuss things and projects in their class. This get feedback from other groups in their class. After that,
obviously limits their creativity and motivation for the the class votes for the best project, most impressive and
subject. For this subject, students do not have feasible one to implement in reality. Finally, the whole
opportunities to develop their ideas and attach them to class anticipates the chosen project as a common task for
reality. Therefore, we always wonder about how to help all.
our students change their mindset of being not only
teachers but also entrepreneurial educators. According Results from the application of Design Thinking
to one of our surveys with 50 students and 12 teachers After the Test phase, our students have come up with
at our university, they seem not to capture the full three services closely related to the application of ICT in
meaning of the entrepreneurship concept. This situation teaching, namely workshops of applying ICT in teaching
gives us the motivation to find solutions for our according to 4.0 industry, the contest of applying
problematic context. And Design Thinking process is a interactive technology in learning online service and
good solution for us to solve the mentioned problems. training workshop of ICT for final year students.
Reflecting on the whole process of applying Design
Implementation Thinking to encourage students to start up their own
service, it can be seen that the limitation mentioned
Before we start with our own project, we have trained
before about this subject has been minimized because it
them carefully each step in the Design Thinking process,
provides students opportunities to be creative and to
which will help them to change their mindset and
attach their ideas to reality. According to our survey after
motivate them to make products/services that suit the
the pilot phase, students are more eager to learn this
needs of their “customers”. We also divide students into
subject and are more ready to join in future projects.
different groups and assign a practical task of producing
technological solutions for students of this university.
Scenario 3: Teaching Vietnamese folklore
Empathize (Week 1). Students are required to work in
The status quo of teaching Vietnamese folklore at Vietnam
their group (3 groups) and interview at least 20 students
National University, Hanoi (VNU - Hanoi)
at their university regarding needs, rationales, and what
Traditionally, the Vietnamese folklore course is taught
they concern. They may create a common questionnaire
by us at VNU-Hanoi in a way that educators share
for the whole group and each member may
knowledge and information at classes and students read,
independently seek for their “customers”.
learn and share their knowledge through papers and
Define (Week 2). Groups of students then have
presentations. Upon completion of the Vietnamese
discussions about different information collected from
Folklore course, they will move to other modules and
the empathy phase to analyze the needs and interests of
have little or no condition to continue studying or
customers. At this stage, different groups also need to
implementing folklore application projects, except for a
analyze the pains and gains of customers. At the same
small number of students who will conduct their
time, they might also take into account the advantages
graduation thesis in the field of folklore. Basically, in the
and disadvantages of group members to prepare for the
Vietnamese folklore course, educators often focus on
subsequent steps.
teaching knowledge but not paying attention to the
Ideate (Week 3). At this step, groups of students think
development of creativity and entrepreneurial mindset
of their own solutions based on the identified issues from
for the students. By introducing the Design Thinking
previous steps. They can consult with the teacher to
process, educators can motivate students to explore,
check if their project works or not. If they have problems
think, and present ideas and solutions to current issues
with the feasibility of the project, the teacher encourages
in the field of folklore. The course with the application of
them to turn back to the Empathy, Define and Ideate until
design thinking enables students not only to acquire
they feel satisfied with their choice that meets their
knowledge but also to create knowledge, products, and
customers’ needs.
solutions which are useful for the community in the field
Prototype (during week 4). In this stage, the students
of folklore.
have been requested to make a detailed plan, activities,
timeline, framework for each project and prepare for the

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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

Implementation Results from the application of Design Thinking

In the Vietnamese Folklore course, we have instructed It can be seen that within the field of Vietnamese
our students to apply the design thinking process to find folklore teaching, educators can encourage students to
out folklore products which might be appropriate to the apply design thinking to find out many problems which
needs of youngsters in the contemporary world. The are present in social life related to folklore. Instead of the
class of 60 students is divided into six groups to do their traditional way of teaching which let students passively
tasks. absorbing knowledge, the course with the application of
Empathize: Together with doing research on the design thinking allows students to become the nucleus of
computers, they were allowed to go to out of the class to creativity. They can capture the demands of life and
work on empathy to understand the needs of young proactively offer solutions that meet the needs of
people about the reception, enjoyment of Vietnamese contemporary society. This helps them understand the
folklore. They did about 20 interviews per group on the ability to mobilize the knowledge of folklore that they
topic. learn in the course to serve the needs of people. Through
Define: From empathy phase, they could determine the design thinking, they can find opportunities for creativity
problems. They sit together and discuss all the facts they or entrepreneurship, thereby they are motivated to carry
have gained during the empathy phase. For example, one out individual or team projects while being in the course
group shared the facts about the routines of youngsters or even when they finish the course. They are given the
of reading folktales, whether they want to read in the chance to share knowledge or create useful products for
papers or watch it in films, whether they want to enjoy it the community.
online or offline, etc
Ideate: Knowing the facts about the potential Recommendations
customers of their products of folklore, the groups of The Design Thinking process helps them to contribute
students propose ideas of their future products which to the preservation and development of Vietnamese
might best suit their needs. At this stage, many different folklore by their own creativity and innovation ideas.
ideas are suggested by the students. Therefore, in teaching Vietnamese folklore and other
Prototype. Each group of students chooses one cultural subjects, educators should encourage their
common idea of folklore product from many. This idea students to apply Design Thinking to foster their
represents creativity. The students have to negotiate and creativity and entrepreneurial mindset.
agree on the making of their prototype of folklore
products. For example, a group of students has Scenario 4: Psychology
investigated and found that young people enjoy The status quo of teaching psychology at ULIS, VNU
watching movies better than reading folk tales; they also Psychology is an essential subject not only for students
did research and found that in the world, many countries of teacher education but also for students of different
have put their stories, epics, myths into the cinema, but disciplines. However, the teaching of psychology in
in Vietnam almost no film is adapted from such folklore Vietnam still reveals a lot of limitations. In one of the
treasures. They proposed to launch the project of surveys with teachers and students at Hanoi National
transforming epic tales into films for young people to University of Education with regard to their difficulties
learn about ancient Vietnamese tales through a modern in teaching and learning psychology, it is reported by the
media, cinema. Another group proposed the re-creation teachers that the most challenging issues for them lie ina
of Vietnamese folk tales in animated cartoons with newly lot of theories in the subject and lack of practicality
created music to make it appeal to young people. There (44.4%); to the lack of teaching materials (40%). Some
is another group give an idea of developing portals, fan other obstacles evolve around curriculum issues such as
pages with creative content inspired by the Vietnamese the limited timeframe for equipping students’ skills or
folklore treasure to attract young people and increase students’ demotivation. In students’ points of view, the
their understanding of Vietnamese folklore, etc. difficulties are the limited ability to search for
Test: The students test their idea of a proposed product information related to the subject (65,8%); lack of
with their potential customers to know whether it is materials and course books for the subject (64,7%); too
suitable or it needs improvements. Then they continue to many theories and lack of application of the subject into
develop their prototype. reality (50%). Other challenges are heavy but not deeply
cultivated contents, heavy allocation of contents,
outdated information and unattractive teaching
methodology. Therefore, in order to make a substantial
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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

change in teaching psychology, it requires the teachers to analyzing the solutions in order to pick up the most
alter both teaching contents and their teaching satisfactory solution.
methodology. In terms of contents, heavy theories Prototype. At this phase, students can think of
should be reduced and replaced by practical application designing a project, a program or a concrete product or a
into real-life situations. Regarding teaching pedagogy, model to realize their imagined ideas. For example, one
traditional ways of teaching should be changed into a group designed a mobile application model called SASE
more updated one which can trigger students’ curiosity (Safe sex, save lives) to help students have a safer and
and creativity. It is also important that the teaching of healthier sex life. Another outstanding example can be
psychology should equip students with essential skills seen as a group of Japanese language students designed
such as communication, creativity, collaboration, and a facebook page called "Vietnam Miền Ngon" (good food
critical thinking so that they can quickly respond to the in Vietnam) in Japanese and Vietnamese to help Japanese
demanding requirement of our society, especially in the students easily find suitable dishes when coming to
current era of technology. Therefore, we are convinced Vietnam. At the same time, this facebook page also helps
that the application of Design Thinking in teaching them have more opportunities to chat with native
psychology not only minimizes the limitation of the speakers and improve their Japanese efficiency.
subject but also helps to foster students’ crucial skills in Test. During the application of different stages in the
the 21st century. Design Thinking process, improvement can be made
based on the feedback from their customers for their
Implementation pilot products or services.
For this subject, we have implemented different steps
in Design Thinking process as follows:
Results from the application of Design Thinking
Empathize. Instead of receiving knowledge passively
from the teacher, students are required to do their own When applying this approach, students have obtained
investigation to figure out the real needs of different a number of benefits. Firstly, they understand more
stakeholders such as students, pupils, teachers, citizens, deeply the basic concepts in psychology and apply such
etc., from which they can identify the existing problems concepts into real-life situations naturally through
and further develop them into real projects. The empathy, building up ideas and turning ideas into
empathy process can be done through observation, products or services. Secondly, students are more aware
interviews, document analysis, and other social media. of giving solutions that originate from problems in
The problems they collect are the ones from others’ reality. They are more open to problems and take each
perspectives rather than from their own subjective problematic issue as an opportunity to start up their own
viewpoints. For example, in our lesson about mental business. Thirdly, Design Thinking also enhances
health or some difficulties in students’ life, students are students’ creativity because of its dynamic steps in the
required to explore the importance of such issues to process, which facilitate students’ freedom in proposing
students at our university. Instead of imposing their own their own ideas to the group without any fear from
ideas, they have to get out of the class and interview their judgment. Fourthly, from each phase of the process,
friends and other students on the campus to understand different skills such as critical thinking, creativity,
their concerns and wishes. communication and collaboration, and presentation are
developed.
Define. From empathy activity, students can identify
their users’ problems from different angles and compare
Recommendations
with results from their partners in the group. From the
In order to implement and maximize the benefits of
list, they altogether look at the patterns of the problems
Design Thinking in teaching different subjects, it is also
and agree upon selecting a certain prominent problem,
necessary to have support from school administration In
for instance, the concern about mental health, worries
particular, teachers should be facilitated in the following
about relationship or difficulties in the study.
aspects:
Ideate. Based on the selected problem that students
First, classrooms should be large enough and equipped
have chosen by the group, they continue to build up their
with modern facilities such as projectors and other
ideas and solutions around the problem. At this stage,
required equipment.
students are encouraged to give as many solutions as
Second, class size should not be so crowded so that
possible. Then, from different solutions, they continue
teachers can organize activities effectively.

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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

Third, the syllabus of a certain subject should be Define. All groups discuss different information which
flexible for students and teachers so that they can is gathered from the Empathy phase to understand the
accomplish the framework in their own choice provided interests, problems, and concerns of clients. All groups
that they meet the standard output required for that also need to analyze the problems of clients. They also
subject. need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of
solving the problems for new products/services.
Scenario 5: Information Technology (IT) Ideate. All groups then draw out their solutions based
The status quo of the IT human resources in Vietnam on the identified problems and issues from Define step.
According VietnamWorks’ survey and statistics from The groups can consult with the instructor to check if
Institute for ICT Strategy, updated IT-related subjects their projects work or not. If any group has problems
like big data, mobile software development, with project feasibility, the instructors encourage them
breakthrough technology in start-up and open sources to turn back to the Empathy, Define and Ideate phases
are taught in Vietnam but IT human resources lack many until they feel satisfied with their solutions
soft skills, especially for skills to promote innovative (products/services) that meet their clients’ demands.
thinking including design thinking. The persons with a Prototype. After all, groups have a clear idea about
successful career and high position have to know more what products they manufacture or what services they
about communication and presentation skills, idea provide, all group shall map out a detailed plan for the
showing skill, understanding and convincing partners, project.
time and deadline management, etc. 75% persons Test. All groups present their project within 30
working in IT want to have chances to be trained. 72% of minutes and get feedback from other groups in their
IT students do not have practical experimental class. After that, all students vote for the most impressive
experience. 42% of them lack of teamwork skills. To raise and feasible project to implement in reality.
the competitiveness in the world market, IT human
resources need to have more skills such as analysis, Results from the application of Design Thinking
operation design, design thinking, etc1. Design Thinking encourages students to know
problems via Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach,
Implementation to strengthen weaknesses of students, to enhance
Being aware of the challenges, IT Faculty of University communication skills and to help them to set up a start-
of Engineering and Technology, VNU (VNU-UET) have up with their own products/services. It can not be denied
implemented Design Thinking short courses at IT that the limitation mentioned before about this subject
Faculty, VNU-UET. In such courses, students have trained has been minimized because it provides students
all steps in the Design Thinking process, which helps opportunities to be creative and innovative.
them to change their mindset and motivate them to make
products and services satisfying their clients’ demand. Conclusions and policy implications
The courses are implemented during 02 weeks including From our own experiences of applying Design
05 sessions via Video Conference and other contacts via Thinking in different contexts in Vietnam National
Skype and emails. Design Thinking is used to stimulate University, we believe that this approach is very useful
scientific passion and technological curiosity of students for problem-solving. If educators can apply it in their
(from the 3rd year) under the supervision of a lecturer. It teaching, it can bring about a lot of benefits in developing
is compulsory for students in the International standard students’ creativity and entrepreneurial mindset. Design
Program with almost full learning in English and for all Thinking helps to foster students’ empathy with the
students having the final thesis (in 6 months) instead of subjects that they contact at work and in real life, from
final exams (as in other 4 year universities in Vietnam). which they can understand deeply the problems hidden
Topics are chosen almost based on the cooperation with in any phenomena of life. When following the Design
partner institutions, companies, or organizations. Thinking process, students are encouraged to propose
Empathize. Students are divided into groups and seek their own ideas, solutions to solve real-life problems.
the ways to contact with other students at their faculty This will make learners to become actors or change
to know their interest and concern. agents of society right from the time they are at
university. In this paper, although we only report some

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ASEAN Journal of Engineering Education Nguyên et. al. (2019)

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