*3.5.1 Application to this project*

The findings and thoughts mentioned in the previous phase will be shared with instructors and go back to phase two to plan further implementations. The implementations which do not need preparation time were applied in the subsequent course, and the implementations which require time to prepare will be applied from the Fall 2020 semester.

### **4. Discussion**

Given its human-centered nature with a focus on the end users, design thinking can have a tremendous impact on curriculum development. The survey is undoubtedly a powerful tool to evaluate the current curriculum; however, it may not be sufficient for significant reform. Class observations and in-depth interviews, especially with extreme users, were powerful tools for the interpretation and ideation phases. Curricula are almost always made by instructors or administrators who have expertise in the area of study and also tend to believe what they are doing is good for their students. It is not always the case. Seeing a class from a student's point of view and having empathy with students are often missing in curriculum development. The curriculum should be designed for the end users, students in this case. In this project, the process of design thinking became a compass for curriculum development.

Even after thorough discussion and consideration of students' needs, the idea might not work as expected. In this project, for example, listening practice materials were newly created with the intention of offering input as many times as the students need. However, it turned out that merely repeating is not enough for some of the students. This shows the importance of the final phase, "Evolution." Changing once is not the final stage. The curriculum is and should be fluid and change often over time.

Design thinking also encourages collaboration. The views of multiple perspectives and great minds are always stronger when solving a challenge than just one [14]. In this project, fortunately, four instructors taught the same course. Their multiple viewpoints brought many great ideas to the table. Although it was hard to find time when everyone could meet during the semester, it was definitely worth having the meetings as a great team.

One problem arose during the process. As several works of literature point out, one of the main concerns of flipped learning is that if a student comes to class without any preparation, he/she gets behind easily. There were instances like that during the semester. Vices from these students are desperately needed to prevent that from happening; however, several requests for the interviews had never been responded to, and the interviews with these students never happened. It is not certain that they responded to the survey either due to the anonymity of the survey. Without hearing their voices, it is hard to accommodate their needs. Assuming the problems from their learning paths is the only thing that can be done. This could be one of the limitations of design thinking.

### **5. Conclusion**

In a traditional classroom, it was difficult to accommodate everyone in the class. The majority of the voices from the students might have been heard, but minor voices have often been ignored. Considering the limited in-class time and resources, it is reasonable for us to accommodate the majority. Now, with the advance of technology, the range of accommodation keeps expanding, and these minor voices can be heard. In this project, "the extreme users" provided us with inspiration that we probably could not gain from the survey.

Technological tools, which were adopted for this curriculum, were selected to accommodate a variety of students' needs; however, it does not mean that they are the best tools for any educational setting. Students from different student bodies in different learning environments may appreciate different tools. We are on a journey to *Utilizing Design Thinking as a Compass to Develop a Personalized Flipped Learning Curriculum DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109578*

finding an optimal curriculum with optimal tools in a given environment or situation. Technology keeps advancing, and our students keep changing; therefore, it is crucial to keep listening to what the students say and finding the best solution available with or without technology, which design thinking has lots to offer.
