Generic competency development activities (GCDAs) help students develop critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, creativity, communication and social skills. This study evaluated students' acceptance of a machine learning-assisted recommendation system (MARS) developed to recommend GCDAs for students in a higher education institution. This…

Although many anecdotes suggest that creative insights often arise during mind wandering, empirical research is still sparse. In this study, the number reduction task (NRT) was used to assess whether insightful solutions were related to mind wandering during the incubation stage of the creative process. An experience sampling paradigm was used to…

This study investigated the effects of working in dyads and their associated gender composition on performance (solution rate and time) and process variables (number of impasses, number of passed solutions, and number of problem solving suggestions and interactions) in a set of classic insight problem solving tasks. Two types of insight problems…

Building passion and potential for creative learning in higher education involves deliberately seeking to understand, appreciate, and teach for creativity. Recognizing the urgent need for creativity and problem solving skills, and understanding that instructors must embrace creative learning for themselves first, is central. Creativity cannot be…

This paper examines how team creativity can be developed using the Synectics creative problem-solving approach by taking stickiness into account. Stickiness represents the difficulty learners experience in internalising knowledge and skills to perform a task productively. Using a quasi-experimental design learners' perceived change in team…

The concept of creativity was explored in focus groups with 12 nursing students and 2 faculty. Their perceptions centered on the theme of striving for balance, which enabled them to be most creative. Strategies for fostering creativity were related to this theme and three subthemes: enhancing self-esteem, working within structure, and making time…

Proposes a simple approach for including exercises into the freshman level classroom to help first and second semester students approach and solve problems in novel and inventive ways. (Author/CCM)

Examines the effects of a creativity training workshop on the behaviorally defined creative responses (fluency, flexibility, and originality on both unusual uses and problem-solution exercises) of 14 college students. (CM)

This essay describes the use of I Ching hexagrams as a focus to improve the ability of college student groups to evolve creative solutions and improve decision-making skills. The philosophy of I Ching is briefly explained, and examples are given of hexagram interpretations which are applicable to group discussion and problem solving. (DB)

A 2-year sequence in creative problem solving for college students had no significant effect on memory or evaluation operations, but significantly improved divergent production, convergent production, and cognition. The data support a multidimensional analysis of creativity, involving idea finding, knowing, judging, and implementing ideas.…

This article describes a six-week course for design students called "Needs Awareness and Design" which stresses the development of creative thinking skills. Brainstorming is recommended for identifying many ideas, and synectics is stressed for actual problem solving. (DB)

Courses designed to teach problem-solving and creativity, which are relatively new additions to college curricula, are discussed, along with their intellectual foundations and research on these two processes. The teaching of these processes involves the following course goals: teaching a specific subject, generally useful skills, and professional…

Whether a college course for teachers and teacher trainees could affect attitudes in creative problem solving was determined. Results showed that students enrolled in the creative emphasis course did have definite attitude changes in favor of creativity. There were no statistically significant changes found for the control group. (Author/AL)

A study of 74 undergraduates examined whether creativity training and interpersonal problem-solving training are equivalent or complementary. Results showed the training programs were complementary. Each training program specifically affected performance only on related measures of performance. A combination of the training programs affected both…

The function of the university is shown to be not only to train people but to educate them. The importance of creativity, longevity, and humor are discussed. Short conversations with Charles A. Beard, Albert Schweitzer, Nehru, and Krushchev reveal the essence of "What I've Learned." (MLW)