Examining the function and possible effects of the “Imaginative Design Thinking” courses created for postgraduate Master of Design (M.Des) students, this paper places its inception within the changing context of higher education. It is becoming more and more important to go beyond conventional, inflexible pedagogies and promote vital cognitive and interpersonal abilities like creativity, imagination, problem-solving, and teamwork as postgraduate students become more diverse and independent. This paper aims to define “Imaginative Design Thinking” courses and further infer the structure and pedagogical strategies that must be used to deploy these courses in various delivery contexts, as well as comparisons with similar international programs. It does this by drawing on national educational policies such as India’s NEP 2020, which promotes experiential, inquiry-driven, and holistic learning. Multidisciplinary content, active and collaborative learning, and thematic exploration of creativity in design, sustainability, and social transformation are all proposed for use in the course. To demonstrate how creative inquiry can question accepted wisdom and stimulate fresh viewpoints, a literary case study of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s writings is employed. According to the analysis, a course like this can greatly improve students’ capacity for innovation, adaptability, and personal development, preparing them to lead and navigate in challenging, quickly evolving work environments. In the end, the study makes the case that fostering the next generation of design leaders who can envision and bring about significant change requires incorporating imagination and creativity into postgraduate design education.
Roli Varma (Tue,) studied this question.