Systematic Creativity Tools for Product Concept Generation: Evaluation of Learning Experiences in Engineering Design Education

This study considers the use of systematic creativity tools for concept generation belonging to C-K theory and TRIZ, in addition to traditional ones used for product development. The aim of this study is twofold. On one hand, it aims to contribute to the improvement of the creative and innovation skills of engineering students and designers in general by the introduction of specific creativity enhancement tools. On the other hand, it proposes a method for evaluating the training and learning outcomes of the students involved in the courses based on Kirkpatrick\u2019s Four Levels of Evaluation and used a questionnaire to collect students' answers and opinions. This way, some practical cases are carried on and two of these are presented in detail: one concerning the ideation of a new kind of gym towel and one concerning the analysis of a knee implant for total knee replacement surgery for possible improvements. The questionnaire results show that students considered the training and learning experiences and the use of the two new methods in a positive way. In particular, TRIZ method represents the most appreciated at all, while C-K theory is revealed as the newest one and very promising for the students\u2019 future professional development

Creativity and Information Systems in a Hypercompetitive Environment: A Literature Review

In today’s hypercompetitive environment in which markets change rapidly and competitive advantages are difficult to sustain, companies are forced to innovate and identify new business opportunities. However, innovation requires ingenuity and creativity. Product and service development depends on the creativity of employees, but harvesting and bringing novel ideas to fruition is often a chaotic process, which underscores the importance of creativity management within organizations. In this article, we review the literature on creativity in an effort to summarize state-of-the-art knowledge on how to stimulate creativity and spur innovation in modern organizations. For that purpose, we use Rhodes’ 4-Ps model (1961) distinguishing between creative environments (called press), people, products, and processes. Through a review of 110 journals on the AIS journal list, this article offers insights―based on eighty-eight articles―into how creativity can be stimulated and supported by attending to each of these components. The literature teaches us how to utilize, evaluate, and strategize about creativity in organizational settings. Managers are advised to advance creativity and ideation processes, for example by building virtual environments that strengthen collaboration and creativity across organizational boundaries. Researchers are encouraged to investigate the relationship between strategy and information systems (IS) usage in fostering creativity

Digital Creativity in Dementia Care Support

This paper reports the application of digital creativity to the care for people with dementia. A digital app was developed for use by staff in residential homes caring for people with dementia. The app invokes a set of computational services to undertake creative work, the results of which are presented to encourage and support cognitive creativity by care staff. The services undertake computational work such as retrieving resolutions to care problems encountered previously, matching care situations to situations in analogical domains such as parenting, teaching and prison life, and automatically generating customized creativity prompts. The app was designed so that care staff can generate contributions to resident care plans that are novel and hence individualized to the resident as part of a shift towards more person-centred care

Development of predicting model for safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment

The increasing trend of occupational accident due to unsafe act and unsafe condition especially in construction site suggests the need for more proactive safety assessment model. Therefore this research aimed to establish a prediction model of safety behaviour based on safety psychology and working environment factors in construction site. Theory of Planned Behaviour (TpB) was adapted to examine on the prediction model of safety behaviour among construction workers using safety psychology representing unsafe act and working environment factors representing unsafe condition. A modified perception questionnaire named Safety Psychometric Model (SPM) was proposed based on TpB questionnaire and safety attitude questionnaire (SQA). Previously, the approach has successfully applied in health care and manufacturing sector. The questionnaire has been validated by three industrial and academic experts. A total of 554 respondents among 92 construction site were selected as the subjects for analysis. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) was use for analysis purpose which involve correlation, regression and structural equation analysis. The results demonstrated that safety psychology and work environment factor was related positively with safety behaviour intention. The elements of workers’ attitude, subjective norm and perceived control that form the safety psychology context found to be significantly has the ability to predict safety behaviour. The demographics variances of personal and education background, working experiences and training background also determine as the factors of safety behaviour of the construction workers. The research also successfully established a safety behaviour prediction model that named Safety Psychometric Model. The model can be benefited by safety practitioners, organizations and researchers to explore the safety behaviour prediction. It also enhanced the knowledge in the area of employee behaviour prediction and modelling

From creativity to innovation:Understanding and improving the evaluation and selection of ideas in educational settings

Creativity gives students the ability to generate novel and useful ideas for complex problems, but generating creative ideas alone is not enough to solve complex problems. It requires that students are able to evaluate their own and others’ ideas, select ideas to develop further, and abandon those that are unlikely to be successful. However, prior research has shown that students do not recognize creative ideas and have a tendency to reject highly creative ideas, and are more likely to select ideas that are consistent with social norms, and easy to understand. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether the evaluation and selection of ideas can be improved in educational settings. The research found that students’ ability to evaluate creativity in products depends strongly on their discipline. Furthermore, by exposing students to the task before evaluating others’ ideas they become better able to recognize the creative and original ideas. However, students discard original ideas immediately when they know that they have to implement those ideas

Creativity Enhancement Methods for Adults: A Meta-Analysis

This meta-analysis synthesizes 332 effect sizes of various methods to enhance creativity. We clustered all studies into twelve methods to identify the most effective creativity enhancement methods. We found that, on average, creativity can be enhanced, Hedges’ g = 0.53, 95%-CI [0.44, 0.61], with 70.09% of the participants in the enhancement conditions being more creative than the average person in the control conditions. Complex training courses, meditation and cultural exposure were most effective (gs = 0.66), while the use of cognitive manipulation drugs was least and also non-effective, g = 0.10. The type of training material was also important. For instance, figural methods were more effective in enhancing creativity, and enhancing converging thinking was more effective than enhancing divergent thinking. Study effect sizes varied considerably across all studies and for many subgroup analyses, suggesting that researchers can plausibly expect to find reversed effects occasionally. We found no evidence of publication bias. We discuss theoretical implications and suggest future directions for best practice in enhancing creativity.Peer Reviewe