Construction and practice of design-based learning model for cultivating creative thinking: A case study of STEM courses in junior high school

Creative thinking is a core competency for cultivating innovative talents in the 21st century. Design-based learning (DBL), an emerging instructional model, emphasizes iterative project refinement through student-driven inquiry and design, thereby fostering the construction of meaningful knowledge. Although previous research has demonstrated the potential of the DBL model to enhance students’ creative thinking, clear and systematic procedures for implementing DBL in middle school contexts remain insufficiently specified. To address these gaps, this study first constructed a preliminary DBL model aimed at fostering creative thinking. The final DBL model was empirically derived from two rounds of practice in the STEM course at L Middle School in China. A mixed-method approach was employed to examine how the proposed DBL model supported students’ learning performance, digital works, creative thinking, and learning experiences across the two rounds of activities. The results demonstrated a marked improvement in the creativity of students’ digital work, accompanied by progressive improvement in learning performance and a significant increase in creative thinking skills. Furthermore, student feedback indicated a strong preference for the DBL model and a belief in its effectiveness in nurturing their creative thinking. This case study provided both a validated practical instructional model and conceptual insights for developing DBL to cultivate students’ creative thinking in K-12 education.