Immersive media and its influences on design thinking

Design thinking and virtual reality continue to infiltrate the K-12 landscape, with incredible promise for fostering deeper engagement with content. Design thinking in particular embodies maker education’s beliefs in learning through building, but with the added caveat of solving real-world problems with the consideration of others’ perspectives. For leveraging the benefits of design thinking, understanding the perspective of the other person can be crucial. In this phenomenological study, thirteen high school students participated in a Design Thinking class which used two different media— one immersive virtual reality video, and one non-immersive traditional documentary— as a means to kickstart the design thinking process. Results showed that the traditional documentary allowed students to brainstorm problems to solve, while a more immersive media evoked stronger feelings in students and prompted more action; both media appear to help gain perspective. This research provides implications on how media immersion influences problem solving with design thinking.