Integrating Biomimicry in Pre-service Biology Teacher Education: Impacts on Design Thinking Competencies -
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Abstract
The innovation-creation process through mimicking problem-solving in nature has been applied as a context for learning design thinking competencies in a biology course. This research aimed to study the effectiveness of applying biomimicry to enhance pre-service teachers’ design thinking competencies across two dimensions: 1) knowledge and understanding of the design thinking concept, and 2) design thinking process skills. The target group comprised 24 pre-service biology teachers who were selected by purposive sampling. The research instruments were design thinking concept test, fieldnote, experiment worksheet and workpiece. The data were collected, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and deductive analysis methods.
The findings indicated that the majority of pre-service teachers possessed a high level of understanding regarding core design thinking competencies, encompassing its definitions, the iterative process, and the application of biomimicry principles for problem-solving. Nonetheless, misconceptions persisted regarding the prototyping and testing phases. Regarding the design thinking process skills, the results showed that while all pre-service teachers excelled in the initial phases—empathizing, defining, and ideating—only a small number successfully transitioned to the prototyping and testing stages. These findings provide valuable insights into the challenges faced by student teachers and can be used to inform the sequence of experiences or activities to better enhance their design thinking competencies.
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