From Classroom to Creation: Investigating How 'Learning Through Making' Shapes Engineering Design Thinking

Abstract

The growing integration of "Learning Through Making" in engineering education reflects a paradigm shift toward experiential, student-centered approaches to developing design thinking. This paper investigates how hands-on, iterative creation processes—commonly facilitated through makerspaces, fabrication labs, and project-based coursework—shape the cognitive and collaborative dimensions of engineering design thinking. Drawing on constructivist and constructionist theories, the study examines how making activities influence problem framing, ideation, prototyping, and iteration in undergraduate engineering students. A mixed-methods research design, incorporating observations, student interviews, and analysis of design artifacts, reveals that engaging in physical creation enhances students’ empathy, creativity, and resilience—key competencies in design thinking. Moreover, the findings suggest that learning environments emphasizing autonomy, play, and failure as part of the learning process foster a deeper engagement with design challenges. By bridging theory and practice, this research highlights the transformative potential of making as both a pedagogical strategy and a developmental pathway in engineering education. Implications for curriculum design and instructional practices are discussed, offering guidance for educators seeking to cultivate adaptive, innovative engineering thinkers.