Creative Problem Solving Process Research Articles

Fostering meta-moral cognitive skills among pre-service teachers using creative problem-solving processes

Acknowledging strengths and weaknesses of an ethical judgment, called meta-moral cognitive skills, enables pre-service teachers to make better decisions. Engaging in critical thinking with creative problem-solving can critically evaluate ethical decision-making processes by analysing their different stages. Thus, this study investigated whether creative problem-solving can foster meta-moral cognitive skills. The researchers analysed solutions for a vignette based on real-life experience involving an ethical issue by 51 pre-service teachers using creative problem-solving processes: problem definition, information gathering, concept selection, conceptual combination and reorganization, idea generation, idea evaluation, solution monitoring, and implementation planning. A qualitative analysis of the responses showed that creative problem-solving supported pre-service teachers in identifying the rationale and criticisms of their ethical judgments and limitations in their proposed solutions. The implication is that it is crucial for prospective teachers to undergo training in creative problem-solving of various ethical dilemmas as part of their curriculum.

Problem Solving in Dance/Movement Therapy Research: Developing an Intervention Protocol for Adults Living with Treatment Resistant Depression

Dance/movement therapy (DMT) research requires creative and innovative thinking; this paper includes two parts demonstrating this. Part one describes and delves into the creative problem solving process undertaken over 2.5 years. Four main steps were followed towards developing an intervention session plan for a first-of-its-kind DMT study in treatment resistant depression: (i) Examining pre-existing knowledge: Reviewing insights gained from clinical practice and formal literature. (ii) Assessing the need for preliminary studies: This step demonstrates how to determine and navigate the potential need for preliminary studies in novel research. (iii) Integrating existing and new research: I discuss Watson’s (Watson, Sociological Research Online 25:66–83, 2020) braiding technique and how it may help integrate insights from steps one and two. (iv) Reviewing outputs: This includes examining the developed session plan by conducting a fidelity and biases check. Each step presents reflective questions that ultimately contributed towards protocol development. The questions listed may also be a beneficial guide to novice DMT researchers embarking on novel research.

2E5-5 Modeling of the dialogue between humans and ChatGPT during creative problem-solving process

2E5-5 Modeling of the dialogue between humans and ChatGPT during creative problem-solving process

An instrument for measuring scientific empathy in students’ disciplinary engagement: the scientific empathy index

A crucial component of disciplinary engagement for learners in science is that of scientific empathy—in other words, the metaphysical connection between the student and the object of study, as scientists embody when deeply engaged in their work. Scientific empathy is the factor that stimulates and maintains students’ desire to inquire and that elicits creative problem-solving in their “doing” science as a distinctive disposition from general empathy. As such, in this study, the scientific empathy index (SEI) was developed to measure these traits of scientific empathy. For this purpose, two-rounds of factor analyses were conducted in the preliminary and the main tests of SEI. To prove the validity of the main test, correlation and mediated analysis were additionally conducted between other problem-solving scales and Final SEI. The first-factor analysis was conducted on 1,048 elementary, middle, and high school students as a preliminary test for extracting SEI questions. Based on the preliminary test results, 956 K-12 students were newly recruited, and the validity of the main test was confirmed through a second-factor analysis. Through these analyses, it was identified that the scale comprised five factors: sensitivity, situational interest, scientific imagination, empathetic concern, and empathetic understanding of others. Each scientific empathy factor revealed both cognitive and affective process dimensions including individual and social interrelations of students’ empathy in doing science. SEI was more highly correlated than the general empathy scale in the process of creative problem-solving and science process skills. In addition, it was found to exhibit a mediating effect between creative problem-solving and scientific inquiry. These findings validate the newly developed SEI and how it contributes to providing science learners with a useful tool for quick and easy measurement of scientific empathy and its components for the empathized involvement process between the student and their research subject.

Reimagining the Rheumatology Fellowship Interview: Using Participatory Design-Thinking Process to Create a More Applicant-Centered Experience.

Design thinking is a creative problem-solving process used to better understand users' needs and experiences so that a product or service can be improved. Its emphasis on empathy, iterative prototyping, and participatory collaboration make it an ideal methodology for innovation in medical education. We apply this framework to the virtual rheumatology fellowship interview process so that interviews can become more applicant centered. This educational quality improvement project uses a design-thinking framework to identify opportunities and challenges for rheumatology fellowship applicants. The investigators use the 5-step process (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test) and incorporate rapid qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews to innovate the interview experience. The iterative and collaborative nature of this process has empowered participants to codesign an applicant-centered interview experience. Interviews with fellowship applicants (n=9), fellow physicians (n=4), and faculty members (n=3) identified three major dynamics of the interview process: (1) Is it a safe environment to ask questions? (2) How do I exchange information effectively? and (3) How do I fit all these data into the bigger picture? Creative brainstorming techniques at a series of three workshops yielded four prototypes emphasizing customization, hybridization, facilitation, and preparation. A finalized applicant-centered interview template was devised in preparation for the 2023-2024 application season. Design thinking has yielded insights into three important dynamics that drive applicant experiences. These insights allow for a redesign of processes so that virtual interviews can be more applicant centered. This framework allows for further iterations and modifications as the needs of applicants and programs evolve over time.

Conflicting Problem Representations and Creativity: Effects on Problem Construction

ABSTRACT Contradictions and competing demands are common in everyday problems. To address these problems, individuals need to both recognize and integrate these contradictions during problem-solving to find creative solutions. We propose that recognition and integration take place in the problem construction phase of the creative problem-solving process. During problem construction, individuals work to develop their own understanding of the problem at hand. To do so, they sort through and combine problem representations activated through cues in the problem. We argue that the integration of conflicting and paradoxical elements in their understanding of the problem during problem construction is related to the originality and quality of proposed solutions beyond their initial ability to identify these elements. In a laboratory study, participants solved two different problems. We found that individuals identified more conflicting elements in the problem construction phase, but retained fewer of them in the problem-solving phase. Larger conflict between elements retained for problem solving resulted in more original and higher quality solutions to the problems.

A Care Plan for Nursing

What could be learned if we viewed our profession with the same compassion and understanding that we give to our patients? Applying caring science theory to the nursing profession offers a framework that is broad enough to hold the complex and broad narratives of every nurse. Using the caritas process of loving kindness and creative problem-solving, a care plan for the nursing profession evolved. A care plan for nursing provides nurses with a common lens, invites them to heal their profession from their own praxis, and creates hope and optimism for a collective path forward.

Training for sustainability through biomimicry and creative problem-solving processes

Biomimicry is a sustainable design strategy that harnesses the understanding of nature and its efficient resource utilization. However, the academic literature needs comprehensive methodologies for applying biomimicry across various fields of study and professions. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of teaching a fusion of biomimicry and Creative Problem Solving (CPS) processes to management students tasked with designing eco-innovative products.Equipped with prior training in sustainability, biomimicry, creativity, and innovation, the students undertook a challenge to create a sustainable backpack using biomimicry within the CPS framework. To evaluate the training's effectiveness, systematic content analysis was applied to assess the usefulness and features of students’ output. Additionally, a survey was administered to gauge the impact of this experience on the students’ learning.The results suggest that the CPS approach effectively facilitated the students’ development of sustainable products, even without a background in natural sciences, resource availability, or technology. These findings encourage the development of training workshops for future managers who may initially doubt their ability to propose sustainable products. Furthermore, insights from these pilot courses may inspire educators and the broader academic community to incorporate sustainable design strategies into their curriculum, leveraging valuable creative skills to address global challenges and future employment opportunities.

Failing to Learn: Design Thinking and the Development of a Failure-Positive Mindset in the University Classroom

Meaningful and impactful learning experiences are rife with failure. And yet, students struggle with framing, tolerating and attributing failure in a positive manner within the post secondary learning context. This paper explores whether using design thinking as a pedagogical approach might help students learn to tolerate, reframe and attribute failure in a more productive way. Findings from this comparative study of 600 undergraduate business students enrolled in a common first year marketing class reveal the ways in which design thinking-based learning approaches might be used to re-orient student’s conceptions of failure as a part of their creative problem-solving skill development process. Students were surveyed to learn more about how they perceived the concept of failure within their learning, to whom they attributed failures within their learning, and how well they tolerated failure as a part of their learning experience. Results from the nearly 400 responses to the online survey suggest that integrating design thinking focused approaches to learning into the post secondary classroom has a positive impact on the development of a student’s self-reported failure tolerance and may change the way that failure is attributed and framed in students’ descriptions of their individual learning. I find that design thinking-based learning might be used as an effective pedagogical approach in classes where the development of a failure-positive mindset is considered an essential competency or learning objective, and I offer practical recommendations for educators seeking to develop a failure-positive mindset within their learning communities.

Creative Problem Solving Process Instructional Design in the Context of Blended Learning in Higher Education

The Creative Problem Solving (CPS) process is a conceptual model that focuses on using higher-order thinking skills in order to overcome authentic problems during learning. The CPS process offers a structured methodology to enhance every learner's solid critical, creative, and innovative thinking skill. The application of the CPS method has been growing, including its implementation in the blended learning environment in universities. However, its application still requires a strategic framework that is by the blended learning conceptual model to facilitate the CPS process. Properly organized instructional design is an important element in maintaining the success of the CPS process in blended learning to encourage and promote learner creativity to solve problems. The application of the CPS method in the context of blended learning is integrated through synchronous and asynchronous patterns facilitated by the Moodle LMS-based e-Learning facility. This research aims to produce a CPS process instructional design in a blended learning context that is valid, practical, and effective and can systematically guide instructors or lecturers in facilitating students to be skilled in critical thinking and creative thinking in problem-solving processes. This development process is based on the incorporation of ideas related to the conceptual model of blended learning with the principles of the CPS process design strategy that has been developed. Instructional design was developed by applying the Research and Development (R&D) method, which implements several stages between Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. The validity of the resulting model product was measured using a validation sheet of learning design experts, learning technology, media, materials, and linguists with the title of professor. Questionnaire responses from lecturers and students measured the product's practicality, and the product's effectiveness was measured by conducting testing of critical and creative thinking skills. The research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics to provide a quality score on the resulting instructional design. Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that this learning design is valid, practical, and effective in improving the thinking skills of prospective teacher students. This proves that the instructional design developed has the feasibility to be used in learning, which can effectively improve the creative problem-solving process in the context of blended learning.

Framework for Fostering Mathematical Creativity among Engineering Undergraduates

The use of Creative Problem Solving skills to solve open-ended mathematical problems can be added to the curriculum to help improve the mathematical creativity of engineering undergraduates and assist them to better solve real-world problems in the future. To date, there is no such framework used to foster mathematical creativity through Creative Problem Solving processes with the use of open-ended mathematical problems among engineering undergraduates. Therefore, there is a need to establish a workable framework to foster mathematical creativity among engineering undergraduates. This research is a case study which employed a qualitative exploratory research design to find out the Creative Problem Solving processes carried out by engineering undergraduates, and to investigate their mathematical creativity while they are engaged in solving twelve open-ended mathematical problems. The study included final year Mechanical engineering undergraduates in Unversiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia and analyzed for 3 months. The qualitative data were analyzed from the recording sheets, audio transcripts, and documents. All three different data collection methods were also used to verify the data and it can be implied that creative ideas generated by engineering undergraduates were related to their creative solutions. Their creative ideas were linked to their mathematical creativity. A relationship was found between the Creative Problem Solving and mathematical creativity fostered. This study is significant in such a way that it is used to construct and design a framework for fostering mathematical creativity among engineering undergraduates in solving open-ended mathematical problems with the use of Creative Problem Solving skills. The framework can be used as a guideline to help engineering undergraduates to solve open-ended mathematical problems. Scholars and instructors may also find the results useful for the purpose of curriculum improvement in undergraduates’ engineering and mathematics education.

When Does External Knowledge Benefit Team Creativity? The Role of Internal Team Network Structure and Task Complexity

Creativity in teams is spurred by members’ access to diverse knowledge, often from interactions with external sources. However, not all teams that have the capabilities to acquire such external knowledge are equally creative. Integrating theories of absorptive capacity and creative synthesis in teams, we propose that teams’ external knowledge acquisition capabilities in securing a wide variety of knowledge resources need to be complemented by internal knowledge integration capabilities that facilitate balanced/equal participation of all team members in the creative problem-solving process. In turn, this combination enables effective information elaboration processes underlying the generation of truly creative team outcomes. We test these ideas in two field studies. First, in a sample of 81 research and development teams in three organizations in science and technology fields, we find that teams’ connections with a wide range of external parties—indicating their external knowledge acquisition capability—benefit their creativity, but only when the team’s internal team member problem-solving network structure—an indicator of the team’s knowledge integration capability—is less centralized (i.e., not controlled by one or few members). We further demonstrate that these effects are more salient when the team’s task is more complex. Replicating these findings in a second sample of 57 project teams in an energy manufacturing and services firm, we show that these effects are mediated by the team’s information elaboration processes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. Funding: This research was supported by grants received by C. Tang and her colleagues at UCAS, from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Projects 71974178, 71932009], MOE Social Science Laboratory of Digital Economic Forecasts and Policy Simulation at UCAS, and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [Project E2E40806X2]. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2023.1661 .

An affordance-based framework for the design and analysis of learning activities in playful educational robotics contexts

ABSTRACT Taking into account the profound impact of technology on modern education, especially during the covid19 pandemic, increasing academic interest has focused towards the design and application of such tools on different learning contexts. A specific area of Human–Computer Interaction, called affordance theory, focuses on the perception, design and use of different technologies by educators and learners in learning contexts. This paper explores the impact of affordances in the process of creative problem in the context of playful educational robotics, with an intension of informing the design of future educational experiences around the field. The study capitalizes upon previous affordance propositions and frameworks in order to establish an affordance-based framework in the scope of playful educational robotics contexts, through the adoption of a qualitative research methodology, which was considered more appropriate as an exploratory tool. As part of the qualitative analysis, the study is mapping different types of affordances, related to such technologies, as well as an iterative creative problem-solving process that stems from learners’ interactions with robotic artifacts, like the CreaCube playful robotics activity, which is presented in this study.

The future of creativity research: Where are we, and where should we go

Over the course of the last thirty years, we have made substantial progress in our understanding of creative problem-solving and creative performance. As is always the case, however, progress in our research raises as many new questions as answers. In the present effort, we examine key findings that have emerged in key areas of creativity research including abilities, creative problem-solving processes, creative thinking skills, personality, social interactions, work climate, and environmental context. In each area we examine new questions arising from prior research. Directions for future research on creative performance are also discussed.

Clarifying the role of the creative problem solving process on improving the competitiveness of architectural design

Clarifying the role of the creative problem solving process on improving the competitiveness of architectural design

Polanyi and the Revised Taxonomy: Teaching Technology for High-Level Creative Thinking and Risk Taking

This paper presents a model for mastery learning. The framework for this model overlays the cognitive and knowledge dimensions from Krathwohl’s revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy, the Revised Taxonomy, with Polanyi's theory of personal knowledge. A simplified framework integrates Polanyi's concepts of subsidiary and focal awareness with the Revised Taxonomy levels of knowledge acquisition to form a new model consisting of two dynamic parts: base thought and elevated thought. The base/elevated thought framework serves as a model for mastery learning with regards to the usefulness, application, and integration of technology into the creative problem-solving process. Allocating base knowledge to other means of instruction (for example, online tutorials or flipped classroom techniques) frees up the instructor's time and allows the expert (teacher) to engage novices (students) in more direct student-instructor contextual learning requiring higher levels of cognitive thinking. While this paper proposes the use of the framework within the context of a technology-focused model, its application has potential for other learning scenarios.

Deepening students' experiences with problem identification and definition in an empathetic approach: lessons from a university design-thinking program

PurposeThis study explored students' experiences of creative problem-solving using a design thinking approach in higher education, mainly focusing on the importance of empathetic approach in the problem identification and definition phase.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a descriptive qualitative research design and thematic analysis, in which observation and 27 semi-structured reports were used to reveal the impact of design thinking on undergraduate students' experience of creative problem-solving.FindingsThe authors found multiple themes in students' responses concerning problem identification and definition in design thinking, which could be described as a systematic innovation process. Four major themes were identified. They included identifying and defining problems in a real-world context, empathizing with people from the target beneficiary group as a process of problem identification and definition, working with a team to expand the empathizing view, and perceiving the need for deep exploration in the empathetic process and defining a problem.Research limitations/implicationsThis study examined the perceived role of empathy in students' creative problem-solving process. However, the main limitation of this study was the small sample size, which can limit the generalizability of the results of the study. Nonetheless, this study provides valuable insights into understanding the role of empathy and problem identification as an essential process in creative problem-solving.Practical implicationsIt is worthwhile to integrate design thinking as an effective teaching and learning strategy in university education, particularly for fostering empathy and creative problem-solving skills in students. Among the processes of design thinking, empathy is critical in the problem identification and definition phase.Originality/valueThis study adds to existing knowledge by examining the role and ways of perceiving real-world problems in a human-centered mindset in university programs.

Computational Scientific Discovery in Psychology

Scientific discovery is a driving force for progress involving creative problem-solving processes to further our understanding of the world. The process of scientific discovery has historically been intensive and time-consuming; however, advances in computational power and algorithms have provided an efficient route to make new discoveries. Complex tools using artificial intelligence (AI) can efficiently analyze data as well as generate new hypotheses and theories. Along with AI becoming increasingly prevalent in our daily lives and the services we access, its application to different scientific domains is becoming more widespread. For example, AI has been used for the early detection of medical conditions, identifying treatments and vaccines (e.g., against COVID-19), and predicting protein structure. The application of AI in psychological science has started to become popular. AI can assist in new discoveries both as a tool that allows more freedom to scientists to generate new theories and by making creative discoveries autonomously. Conversely, psychological concepts such as heuristics have refined and improved artificial systems. With such powerful systems, however, there are key ethical and practical issues to consider. This article addresses the current and future directions of computational scientific discovery generally and its applications in psychological science more specifically.

Collaborative Knowledge Platform: when the learning route provides data for the Knowledge-based System

ABSTRACT The Digital Age has brought not only new tools but also several new methods. A Collaborative Knowledge Platform with a hybrid intelligent system may be the appropriate base of a knowledge management system to ensure inspiration and new knowledge for a professional group of individuals. The introduced concept contributes to Knowledge Collaboration and Knowledge Engineering. The method is a special form of Knowledge Engineering which involves combining machine learning algorithms with cased-based reasoning and the result is the transformation of personal knowledge to widely adaptable explicit knowledge. Individuals can learn informally while their learning route automatically generates data for reductive reasoning process, which finally leads to the opportunity of experience mining. A concept and an approach are suggested to improve the knowledge collaboration in innovative communities, and a creative problem solving process delivers the outcome in the development of a Knowledge Management System. Finally, some partial results of the design phase of an application are presented.

Creative problem solving and facial expressions: A stage based comparison.

A wealth of research indicates that emotions play an instrumental role in creative problem-solving. However, most of these studies have relied primarily on diary studies and self-report scales when measuring emotions during the creative processes. There has been a need to capture in-the-moment emotional experiences of individuals during the creative process using an automated emotion recognition tool. The experiment in this study examined the process-related difference between the creative problem solving (CPS) and simple problem solving (SPS) processes using protocol analysis and Markov’s chains. Further, this experiment introduced a novel method for measuring in-the-moment emotional experiences of individuals during the CPS and SPS processes using facial expressions and machine learning algorithms. The experiment described in this study employed 64 participants to solve different tasks while wearing camera-mounted headgear. Using retrospective analysis, the participants verbally reported their thoughts using video-stimulated recall. Our results indicate differences in the cognitive efforts spent at different stages during the CPS and SPS processes. We also found that most of the creative stages were associated with ambivalent emotions whereas the stage of block was associated with negative emotions.