Creative Problem Solving Workshop

Complete Process of Creative Problem Solving: Simplex. evaluate & select idea finding

2007

Innovation and enterprise depend for their success on the development of new ideas. But from where do new ideas come? How do they arise? Finding solutions to such questions is at the heart of creativity research and the solving of novel problems. Reflection, not only in cognitive processes but also in the non-cognitive ones used in solving novel mathematics problems, is uncovering a way in which the origins of new ideas occur. A study involving protocol analysis of five expert problem solvers identifies three critical elements. These elements have been employed to construct a framework of creative problem solving which may be used to foster creativity among young people under instruction and provide a cognitive explanation of the origin of new ideas. Creativity, problem solving, cognitive, non-cognitive, reflection A Working Definition of Creativity Many definitions of creativity can be found within the research literature on creativity. However one definition finding increasing acceptance in both education and psychology is that describing creativity as the production of effective novelty (Cropley, 1999; Lubart, 2001; Mumford, 2003a). This definition implies that for something to be creative it must be both original and useful. The National Advisory Committee on Creativity, Culture and Education in England, for example, advises that creativity is "Imaginative activity fashioned so as to produce outcomes that are both original and of value" (NACCCE, 1999, p.30). In the same vein cognitive psychology, adopting a more processed orientation, defines creativity as "the sequence of thoughts and actions that leads to a novel adaptive production" (Lubart, 2001, p.295). 44 Creativity in problem solving: Uncovering the origin of new ideas One definition that makes explicit the nature of thought and action within the creative process is that by Koberg and Bagnall (1976) who describe creativity as: both the art and the science of thinking and behaving with both subjectivity and objectivity. It is a combination of feeling and knowing: of alternating back and forth between what we sense and what we already know. (Koberg and Bagnall, 1976, p.8) This definition implies that not only is cognitive activity involved in the creative act but noncognitive activity as well. According to Koberg and Bagnall (1976), the act of creation, involves oscillating between what individuals think or know (namely, cognitive activity) and what they sense or feel (i.e. non-cognitive activity). This conceptualisation is significant in light of the protocols that are described below.

Creativity and Innovation Management, 1995

What is CPS? I agree with Magyari-Beck that CPS is one of the most successful methods in the creativity field and one of the most marketable achievements of applied studies in creativity. I cannot accept the assertion 'that the main characteristic of CPS is the sequence of idea generation and idea selection by the participants.' CPS is a methodological framework designed to assist problem solvers with using creativity to achieve goals, overcome obtacles and increase the likelihood of enhancing creative performance (Isaksen, Dorval & Treffinger, 1994). Therefore, its main characteristic includes a general framework consisting of a model of the overall process, its three main components (Understanding the Problem, Generating Ideas, and Planning for Action), and its six specific stages (Mess-, Data-, Problem-, Idea-, Solution-and Acceptance-finding). This cognitive, rational and semantic orientation provides the conceptual circumstances within which to differentiate the purposes and outcomes for the problem-solver's efforts. From an applied perspective, CPS is a general change methodology which organizes various techniques for divergent and convergent thinking. From a theoretical standpoint, CPS can be viewed as a bridging or linking construct for the cognitive sciences (Isaksen, In press). The current version of CPS is not an 'allpurpose' process or panacea. There are many times, places and tasks for which CPS is well-Volume 4 Number

2002

The human creativity has already been theorized in practically all sciences. Some privilege the cognitive aspects, emphasizing the architecture of the thought, while others focus the empiric approach, describing the creativity as a productive technique. This paper tries to reconcile these two visions, offering glimpses of the creativity as technique and of the involved mental processes. Finally, it proposes an "architecture of the creativity" focused on an integration in artificial intelligence systems for the learning of the creativity.

Creativity Research Journal, 1992

The structure has three parts: (1) an initial state with its well-known components, (2) a goal state with its yet unknown components, and, between the two, (3) a search space in which to construct a solution path.