Creative Problem Solving 6.1Novice LevelOffice of Gifted Education

Virginia Beach City Public Schools

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING?

• What is your background/understanding of Creative Problem Solving?– a) I am an expert at all the stages of CPS and

can effectively coach students through the entire process

– b) I can effectively use a couple of the generating and focusing tools with my students but would feel more comfortable having someone else co-teach the lesson

– c) I think I have heard of this before, but I need a detailed refresher course

– d) I have absolutely NO idea what you are talking about

INTRODUCTION TO CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING:Session Goals:•To understand an overview of Creative Problem Solving Model 6.1 and several tool components

•To understand the value and interrelationship of critical and creative thinking

•To practice using generating and focusing tools

•To reflect on current educational practice.

When do you need CPS?•Complex- contains many elements, requiring imagination, analysis, and extended effort

•Important- significant to you/your student, warrants the investment of time and effort that will be required

•Open-ended- need to generate solutions; might be possible to come up with many possibilities; not a task to which a pre-determined “correct” solution is already known to others

•In need of novelty- searching for fresh or original options or possibilities

•Within your scope of action- you have the authority and ability to take action

UNDERSTANDINGTHE CHALLENGE

ConstructingOpportunities

FramingProblems

ExploringData

PREPARINGFOR ACTION

DevelopingSolutions

BuildingAcceptance

GENERATINGIDEAS

Generating Ideas

DesigningProcess

PLANNINGYOUR APPROACH

AppraisingTasks

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING— CPS Version 6.1™

THE “HEARTBEAT” OF CREATIVE PROBLEM

SOLVING

Generating Many, Varied, and

Unusual Options

Focusing By Identifying a Promising Direction

or Theme

CREATIVE THINKING

• Many, varied possibilities • Unusual or original possibilities• Details to expand or enrich possibilities

Encountering gaps, paradoxes, opportunities, challenges, or concerns; then searching for meaningful new connections by generating—

GENERATING GUIDELINES

GENERATING GUIDELINES

• Brainstorming• SCAMPER• Morphological Matrix• Attribute Listing• Force-Fitting

GENERATING TOOLS

CRITICAL THINKING

• Organizing and analyzing possibilities• Refining and developing promising

possibilities • Ranking or prioritizing options• Choosing or deciding on certain options

Examining possibilities carefully, fairly, and constructively; then focusing your thoughts and actions by—

FOCUSING GUIDELINES

FOCUSING GUIDELINES

THE FOCUSING PHASE• After you have generated many ideas, you

need to sort them out and decide which one you want to carry forward.– Which of the ideas are most intriguing to me? – Which ones are the most promising possibilities?– Which ones might be best to refine and develop in

ways that will help us move forward to a solution and a plan of action?

FOCUSING TOOLS

• Hits and Hot Spots• ALoU• Paired Comparisons• Evaluation Matrix• Sequencing (S-M-L)

Try it Out!

• Access the wikispace www.pamsinstructionaltraining.wikispaces.com

• Click on 2014-2015• Look for today’s lesson. Download the hand-

out. Save it to your desktop.

Attribute Listing

• generating tool• systematic approach to generating possibilities

by first identifying the main characteristics of an option, problem, or task and then exploring new, interesting, or unusual variations of those attributes

• applicable to any task, challenge, or problem that can be readily analyzed or broken down into several principal dimensions, elements, or parts

Morphological Matrix

• generating tool• a structured way to generate a large number

of possibilities• involves identifying three to five major

dimensions of a task, identifying possible attributes each parameter might have, and then exploring random combinations of attributes

Evaluation Matrix• Focusing option• Evaluates many options against a number of specific

criteria• Involves making a matrix listing your options on one axis

and identifying key criteria on the other• Sometimes used to obtain numerical evaluations or scores

to select one “best” option from many possibilities• Can examine promising options such as locating potential

areas of concern in otherwise promising options, discovering opportunities to combine options and to use the strengths of one option to offset the limitations of another

When do I finish?

• The ebb-and-flow nature of problem-solving determines when one moves into the next stage of CPS. It might be that a plan of action needs to be formulated and--– more data needs to be explored;– ideas need to be fleshed out further;– acceptance of ideas by the powers-that-be need

to be earned

Where can I find more information?

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Creative Problem Solving: An Introduction, 4th Edition by Donald J. Treffinger, Ph.D., et.al. (2006)

Practice Problems for Creative Problem Solving by Donald J. Treffinger, Ph.D. (2000)

Check with your building’s GRT for these resources.

Reflection: Creative Problem Solving—The Rest of the Tools April, 2015

Teacher Name_______________________ Teaching Assignment___________________

1. In what ways are students able to explore problem-solving through creative and critical thinking in your classroom? Give an example of an open-ended problem your students have had to wrestle with to solve.

2. What real-world connections can you make with Creative Problem Solving and your curriculum?

3. In what ways can the GRT assist you in planning an activity using Creative Problem Solving?