Using computer‐based cognitive mapping to improve students' divergent thinking for creativity development

Abstract

AbstractCreativity is increasingly considered to be an important goal of education. While creativity can be influenced by many noncognitive factors (eg, personality and motivation), creative thinking remains the most important source of creativity. Creative thinking combines several cognitive processes leading to the generation and selection of new and useful ideas or solutions. Divergent thinking or the ability to generate a range of alternative ideas, is a necessary component of creative thinking. Research has explored cognitive strategies to activate divergent thinking. However, such strategies are often abstract and difficult to implement. This study proposes a computer‐based cognitive mapping approach to improving divergent thinking as a response to this challenge. The approach enables students to build a computer‐based cognitive map that can foster divergent thinking by associating unrelated concept, object or situation (COS), by decomposing a COS into rich details for viewing it from divergent perspectives, and by combining and changing COSs. A quasi‐experiment was conducted with high school students. The results have shown promising effects of the approach on improving students' performance and perceived competence in divergent thinking. Practitioner NotesWhat is already known about this topic Divergent thinking is an important part of the cognitive processes that may lead to creativity. Divergent thinking can be enhanced by training in cognitive strategies, but these strategies involve complex cognitive processes that are abstract and difficult to implement. Cognitive mapping can facilitate complex thinking and cognitive processes. What this paper adds This study proposes a computer‐based cognitive mapping approach as a divergent thinking tool that may help students visualize the process of applying divergent thinking strategies (association, decomposition, and combination and adjustment) when performing creativity‐related tasks. The approach is effective in improving high school students' divergent thinking performance in terms of idea fluency, flexibility and originality, in addition to perceived competence in divergent thinking. Implications for practice and/or policy It is important to provide learners with effective thinking tools that facilitate the complex cognitive processes of applying divergent thinking strategies. Divergent thinking processes can be facilitated by associating unrelated concept, object or situation (COS), by decomposing a COS into rich details for viewing it from divergent perspectives, and by combining and changing COSs.