# A Systematic Review on Design Thinking Integrated Learning in K-12 Education
## 1 Introduction  
Originating from design field, design thinking has attracted considerable interest from practitioners and academics alike, as it offers a novel approach to innovation and problem-solving [1, 2]. In the artificial world, design plays an indispensable role in the progress of human society by realizing \"the transformation of existing conditions into preferred ones\" [3]. In the field of design, design thinking is associated with the understanding of expertise in design, such as what constitutes expertise in design, and how to assist novice students to gain that expertise so that they can become expert and outstanding designers [4]. According to [PERSON]'s typology [5], design problems are usually among the most complex and ill-structured kinds of problems that are encountered in practice. Therefore, with their creative ways of solving problems, expert designers are seen as one group of innovative problem solvers, then they and their thinking have something important to offer for wider areas [1]. As an innovative problem-solving method, the concept of design thinking has gradually expanded from a professional concept to a more general one. Nowadays, \"Design Thinking\" is identified as an exciting new paradigm for dealing with problems in manysectors such as IT, Business, Education and Medicine [6]. Practitioners and researchers have put forward their views on design thinking. For example, in the fast-moving world of business, design thinking is defined as \"a discipline that uses the designer's sensibility and methods to match people's needs with what is technologically feasible and what a viable business strategy can convert into customer value and market opportunity\" [7]. A similar definition was proposed by the [PERSON] brothers, in which design thinking is seen as \"a way of finding human needs and creating new solutions using the tools and mindsets of design practitioners\" [8]. Researchers also explore design thinking's role and teaching in school. According to [9], design thinking is rooted in abductive reasoning and is the next competitive advantage. Some researchers in this cluster advocate that design thinking could (and should) be learned and adopted by non-designers [2]. For this reason, there is a growing interest in teaching design for business or management settings [1,10]. In addition to being valued in the adult world and higher education, design thinking has also been introduced into K-12 education as an innovative teaching approach [11]. K-12 is an American expression for kindergarten to 12 th grade school students. For younger students, design thinking is usually introduced by integrating with other subjects, such as science, engineering, technology, STEM, etc. [11, 12, 13, 14]. Consequently, rooted in design thinking, design thinking integrated learning (DTIL) refers to a new paradigm in non-professional design fields that aims to develop students' innovative problem-solving ability through design practice [15,16]. Through DTIL, students are expected to develop practical and thinking abilities, as well as domain knowledge. Moreover, design thinking is applied to prepare students for their future life and career by fostering competences such as creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking, or the so called 21 st century skills [16]. To help students better engage in the design thinking process and understand the core tenets of design thinking, more profound, different design thinking models are employed. Typical models, like the Stanford d.school's five iterative stages (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) [17], the IDEO process model (Discovery, Interpretation, Ideation, Experimentation, and Evolution) [18], the four-step Double Diamond model (Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver) [19], etc., have been adopted in education. Overall, as an innovative methodology, design thinking has been employed within an extensive field as high-leverage practice and K-12 education is no exception.