Effectiveness of a Constructivist Design Thinking Instructional Model on Undergraduate Students' Creative Product Design Ability

Creativity is a central learning outcome in undergraduate product design education, yet empirically validated instructional models that support systematic creativity development in authentic classroom contexts remain limited. This study investigates the effectiveness of an instructional model integrating constructivist theory with a design thinking approach. The model was implemented over one academic semester with 24 third-year undergraduate product design students in China. Using a single-group repeated-measures design, students' creativity product design ability was evaluated four times through Task 1, Task 2, Task 3, and a final post-test using a performance-based rubric that operationalized domain-specific creative competence across observable design abilities. Results from repeated-measures ANOVA indicated significant developmental gains over time (partial η² = 0.89), with mean scores increasing from 30.98 at the first formative assessment (Task1) to 49.63 at post-test. Improvements were observed across all assessed ability domains. Further mixed-design analyses revealed different developmental patterns across initial ability levels. Students with high baseline achievement consistently maintained stronger performance. Students at the middle level showed steeper improvement over time. Students at the low level demonstrated steady developmental progress. As a result, performance gaps were partially narrowed by the post-test. Student satisfaction data corroborated these outcomes, indicating strong engagement with authentic projects, iterative feedback, and collaborative learning activities. The findings suggest that integrating constructivist pedagogy with design thinking provides a viable pathway for cultivating creativity as a developmental, domain-specific competence in product design education. By embedding iterative design cycles and formative assessment into regular coursework, the proposed model offers a replicable framework for creativity-oriented curriculum design and contributes empirical evidence to theory-informed instructional innovation in higher education.