EDN 553
Creativity, Creative Thinking &
Creative Problem-solving
2 Models of Creative Problem Solving
plus
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Additional Creative “Qualities”
Creativity is not:
The domain of a few individuals
– Not known to be linked to specific factors or
traits
 Exclusive of many individuals
– Shared by all, varies by many factors
 Exclusively “world-altering”
– Personal vs Cultural creativity
 Importance of distinguishing between these 2
 Need to develop Personal to achieve Cultural
Creativity is:
 Universal
– All people have this capacity, as with
intelligence
 Continuous
– Varies by degree, type, as with intelligence
 In Potential (subject to “training”)
– Identifiable via types of “performances”
– Performance competencies can be developed
2-Factor Model
 Novelty: Unique, distinct, “original”
responses to environment, experience,
circumstances
 Usefulness: Serves a purpose; responds to
perceived need; solves identified problem/s
4 Factor Model
 Fluency:
– Frequency of response; actual total number of
responses to a stimulus
 Flexibility:
– Frequency of categories of responses; actual total
number of types of responses
 Originality:
– Statistical infrequency of response for a given individual
in a given group at a given time
 Elaboration:
– Development of responses
– Completion of ideas
– Integration across ideas
– “Marketing” ideas/alternatives
Application of Models
 Working in your group, do the following:
 Identify a situation in a curriculum (content
to be taught/learned) in which you could
apply these models
 Briefly describe the instructional situation:
– Who, what, when, why, how long, what’s
expected…
 Plan/state an activity that would develop
each step of the 4 factor model
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
Getting Beyond the Aha!
E. P. Torrance & H. T. Safter (1990)
 What is the “aha”?
 Moments of “insight” “intuition” “revelation”
 Moments of “wholeness” or “oneness”
uniting with everything
 Rational vs Supra-rational view of Creativity
 Non-linear sequence/-ing of creative events
The Incubation Model of Teaching
 Creative “indicators” beyond the “big 4” factors: 13 additional “qualities”
– Highlighting the essence (abstract titles)
– Keeping open (resist premature closure)
– Emotional awareness
– Putting ideas into context
– Combining & synthesizing
– Visualize richly, colorfully
– Using fantasy
– Using movement & sound
– Unusual visual perspective/s
– Internal visualizations
– Extending/breaking through boundaries
– Using humor
– Getting glimpses of infinity
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
3 Additional Issues
 Problem-finding
– Pervasive impediment: Assuming the problem is known,
therefore, focus on finding the solution
 Producing Alternatives
– At all levels of problem-solving, increased fluency
supports the processes; the more alternatives, the
greater the probability of creative solution/s
 Originality: Acceptance of being “different”
– Adequate time
– Play with ambiguity/uncertainty
– Heightened awareness of importance
– Make legitimate
The Incubation Model:
Information Processing Strategies
for Creative Teaching & Learning
 Stage 1: Heightening Anticipation
 Stage 2: Deepening Expectations
 Stage 3: Keeping it Going
The Incubation Model:
Creative Teaching & Learning
 Stage 1: Heightening Anticipation (see p.9)
– Create desire to know
– Heighten anticipation/expectation
– Get attention
– Arouse curiosity
– Tickle imagination
– Give purpose/meaning
The Incubation Model:
Creative Teaching & Learning
 Stage 2: Deepening Expectations (see p.10)
– Digging deeper
– Looking twice
– Listening for smells
– Crossing out mistakes
– Cutting holes so see through
– Cutting corners
– Getting in deep water
– Getting out of locked doors
The Incubation Model:
Creative Teaching & Learning
 Stage 3: Keeping it Going (see pp.11-12)
– Having a ball
– Singing in one’s own key
– Building sand castles
– Plugging in the sun
– Shaking hands with tomorrow
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Highlighting the essence
– Retaining sense of importance
– Staying focused
– Discriminate relevant from irrelevant information
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Elaboration
– Add details
– Develop a plan
– Implement/sell a solution
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Keep Open
– Resistance to premature closure
– Need for & use of time
– Practice with ideas in variety of circumstances
w/o time constraints
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Emotional Awareness
– Acknowledge role/significance of affective
experience/s
– Adds to, not replaces, rational-cognitive
experience/s
– Personal insight/s
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Putting Ideas into Context
– Meaningful synthesis of ideas & experiences
– Personal, individual
– Abstract analysis/synthesis:
 Part-part relationships
 Part-whole relationships
 Generalizations across concepts
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Combine & Synthesize
– Combine types & modes of information
acquisition, processing & retrieval
– “Brain laterality”: Right- vs Left-brained
 Visualize Richly & Colorfully
– Alternative perceptions
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Using Fantasy
– Future possibilities
– Varying point-of-view
– Feeling comfortable with the “unknown”
– Unconstrained by “reality”
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Using Movement & Sound
– Experience via multiple modalities deepens
concept learning
– Kinesthetic & auditory experiences: Natural
modalities for children (& experienced adults)
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Unusual Visual Perspectives
– Ability to “see in different ways” heightens
experiences of innovation & inventiveness
 Internal Visualizations
– “Seeing the insides” of objects, events, people,
experiences can lead to new, deeper insights;
seeing “multiple perspectives”
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Extending/breaking through Boundaries
– Confronting the “what’s given” limitation/bias
– Recognizing that new possibilities always exist
– Acknowledging the potential for & ambiguity of
the “incomplete” idea, object, etc, & continuing
problem-solving work
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Using & Enjoying Humor
– Integrates or synthesizes physiological,
psychological & social processes
– Accepting/understanding perceptual, conceptual
incongruities
– Recognizing unusual, unexpected
combinations, surprises
The Incubation Model of Teaching:
13 Qualities
 Glimpses of Infinity
– Open-ended environment
– Positive focus on the future
– Actively engaging one’s self as part of
perceived future for ideas to transcend the
present
– Developing anticipation for an open-ended,
multi-possibility future
The Incubation Model of Teaching
 Creative “indicators” beyond the “big 4” factors: 13 additional “qualities”
– Highlighting the essence (abstract titles)
– Keeping open (resist premature closure)
– Emotional awareness
– Putting ideas into context
– Combining & synthesizing
– Visualize richly, colorfully
– Using fantasy
– Using movement & sound
– Unusual visual perspective/s
– Internal visualizations
– Extending/breaking through boundaries
– Using humor
– Getting glimpses of infinity