Case study
Design Thinking was tested with 10th grade high school students (aged 15-17: tenth grade is the last general school year before College in Germany) in order to analyse and evaluate Design Thinking as a teaching method in comparison to Dewey’s recommendations. The students and teachers motivation, the learning atmosphere and the development of cognitive and social competencies were the main criteria for analysis. An empirical study was set up to prove the above stated hypotheses with the use of quantitative questionnaires and the Inventory of Social Competence – ISK (Kanning 2009). A three-day case study took place in a secondary school in Potsdam, Germany, involving 125 students and a team of twelve teachers and coaches (assigned by coincidence, Dewey groups were school teacher, Design Thinking groups were coached by d.school coaches, all the coaches chosen to be similar characters (end twenties, highly motivated, open for new methodologies and experts in their domains (project teaching with students/Design Thinking coaching), all of them participated in a briefing to