Creativity: what does it mean?

Priyadarshi Patnaik
Professor
MOOC
Soft skills Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
development Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
 Overview

• Body language
• Visual presentation
• Slides and PPTs
• Summary
• References
 Quiz: How creative are you?

• How creative are you? (Mindtools)

https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/creativity-quiz.htm

Please enter your self-assessment scores in the Discussion Forum Link

provided so that we can know what is the general level of communication
skills of this class.
 Defining creativity

• It is the ability to make or otherwise bring into

existence something new, whether a new
solution to a problem, a new method or
device, or a new artistic object or form.
Encyclopedia Britannica

Creating novel useful products…

Wikipedia
• Creativity – as conventionally understood
• Scientist, Artist
– Combination of creativity, skills, intelligence,
natural abilities
• But the ability to generate new ideas is relatively
easy
 Models
Graham Wallas: Art of Thought, 1926
• (i) preparation (preparatory work on a problem that focuses
the individual's mind on the problem and explores the
problem's dimensions)
• (ii) incubation (where the problem is internalized into the
unconscious mind and nothing appears externally to be
happening)
• (iii) intimation (the creative person gets a "feeling" that a
solution is on its way)
• (iv) illumination or insight (where the creative idea bursts
forth from its preconscious processing into conscious
awareness)
• (v) verification (where the idea is consciously verified,
elaborated, and then applied).
 James C. Kaufman and Beghetto:

• personally meaningful interpretations of experiences, actions

and insights
• everyday problem solving and creative expression
• Traits exhibited by people who are professionally or
vocationally creative though not necessarily eminent
• creativity considered great in the given field

Little C & Big C

• J. P. Guilford: The Nature of Human Intelligence,
1967.

• Convergent thinking
• Divergent thinking / flexible thinking
 Hellis and Sun, 2010:
Explicit-Implicit Interaction

• Explicit and implicit processing of information and

their relation
• Computationally oriented
 IQ vs. Creativity
• De Bono’s critique: Intelligence is not enough
• Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman
• Creativity tests:
• Plot test, uncommon word association test,
figure, remote association, etc (Guilford and
others)
 Important features highlighted…
• Fluency – The total number of interpretable,
meaningful and relevant ideas generated in
response to the stimulus.
• Originality – The statistical rarity of the
responses among the test subjects.
• Elaboration – The amount of detail in the
responses.
• Visual, auditory, associative, etc…
• Eg: Cricket – googly, helicopter shot
 Brain and creativity
• Brain activity during creative behavior:
• creative innovation might require coactivation
and communication between regions of the brain
that ordinarily are not strongly connected.
• Highly creative people:
• they have a high level of specialized knowledge,
• they are capable of divergent thinking mediated
by the frontal lobe
• they are able to modulate neurotransmitters in
their brains Kenneth M Heilman, MD, Stephen E. Nadeau,
MD, and David Q. Beversdorf, MD. "Creative
Innovation: Possible Brain Mechanisms"
Neurocase (2003)
 Cultural differences in approaches
• Western creativity – more focus on the individual
• Eastern – collective cultures – social impact
• Africa and certain other places of the world do not have word
equivalents to creativity, yet can possess creative arts
• Some countries associate creativity with the ability of coping
with life
• Others may focus on just one aspect of creativity – say
divergent thinking or problem solving…

• How do we, Indians, define creativity?

 Still difficult to define…

• Intellect - intuition
• Conscious - unconscious
• Order - disorder
• Conventional -unconventional
• Left-brain - right-brain

• Originality, uniqueness, the different

 Artistic vs. scientific

• Individual expression
• Divorce from social reality
• Expressive

• Disciplined
• Logical thinking
 Problem-solving

• Two boys of different age are playing

badminton. The older one is a more skilled
player, and therefore it is predictable for the
outcome of usual matches who will be the
winner. After some time and several defeats
the younger boy finally loses interest in
playing, and the older boy faces a problem…
• What’s the solution?
 Solution by the older boy

• He proposes that they should try to keep the bird in

play as long as possible - and thus changing from a
game of competition to one of cooperation. They'd
start with easy shots and make them harder as their
success increases, counting the number of
consecutive hits. The proposal is happily accepted
and the game is on again.

Cognitive Psychology by Wikibook contributors, 2004-

2006.<http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and_Cognit
ive_Neuroscience>
 Insight

• Solution to a problem based on past experience

• Solution which needs a radical new way of

looking at things, a restructuring, nonobvious
• Ah! Light Bulb!

• Sometimes earlier knowledge or familiarity can

make the problem for difficult – fixation
 Why intelligence is not enough?
Edward De Bono
• Intelligence or mental ability?
• IQ tests
– Ability – perception
– Application – focus
• Intelligence is a potential
– The car and driver analogy
• Intelligence
– Ego
– Ability to defend cogently
– Loss of opportunity to learn and explore
– Over confidence
– Analysis
– Argument
– Attack
To prove easily that someone is wrong – is this
intelligent?
• Patterns and new patterns
– Drop a random word to generate an whole range
of new ideas!
– Main roads and side roads
– New possibilities
• Most creative ideas look logical when we look
back at them? Why?
• But why do they sometimes look ridiculous at
the beginning:
– Large Computer – PC
– Vaccination…
• New ways of thinking; new ways of teaching
– De Bono; Sougato Mitra
– Arguments
– Search for truth
– Logic

– Are they good enough for all situations…

convergent thinking?
• Perception vs. logic
• David Perkins: Errors – perceptual or assumptive?
• Heuristic thinking
• Cognitive biases…
– Bandwagon effect
• The mind is lazy

Changing perception is not a matter of intelligence but

willingness…the possibilities are endless
• Design vs. analysis
– Intelligence – truth
– Design – possibilities and relevance
 References and acknowledgement

• De Bono, Edward. Intelligence is not enough. Black Hall

Publishing. Reprint. 2007.
• Many of the slides are based on the webpage on creativity
and problem solving at: <www.crinnology.com>
• Encyclopedia Britannica 2007, Deluxe Edition.
• Cognitive Psychology by Wikibook contributors, 2004-
2006.http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_and
_Cognitive_Neuroscience
• Helie S.; Sun R. (2010). "Incubation, insight, and creative
problem solving: A unified theory and a connectionist
model". Psychological Review 117: 994–1024.
Creativity:
A detailed
exploration

Damodar Suar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Kharagpur
E-mail:[email protected]
 Objective
• What is creativity?
• Creative persons, and
• Creative process
• The challenge of 21 century is to have more innovation and creativity
in every sphere of life—technology, heath, education, agriculture,
industry, environment, etc.
• Creative ideas from group and individuals are scarce.
For example students of business schools know how to develop
models but they do not have knowledge of creative process and how
to develop creative solution. Example- General food from USA,
market plan to boost the plunging sale of “Sugar-free-cool-aid”.
• Creativity is the production of new and original ideas. It
encompasses novelty, originality, and usefulness. Creativity
implemented is innovation. It is popularly known as out-of-box
thinking and mindmix procedure.
 Are the two parts of the brain different?
• Why out-of-box? Inside the box we feel safe, everyone stays there
with boundary of knowledge structure in mind. Out of box is
invisible, it is accountable for divergent thinking.
• The right hemisphere in brain processes divergent, non-linear,
intuitive, visual-spatial, inductive and qualitative thoughts and
responsible for creativity. The left hemisphere processes convergent,
linear, rational/analytical, verbal, deductive, quantitative thought.
• Right brain-idea generation; left brain-Idea evaluation and analysis;
Both brains involved in idea protection and improvement. Mindmix
for innovation.
• Socialization process and learning system condition us to use our left
brain frequently, conform to the norm, write answer logically to fetch
marks in exam, read a story and answer from the story and do not
write similar new stories. Everybody has the right brain, recognize,
respect, accept odd ideas, take steps to nurture and protect ideas
 Creativity: Two tests
(1) Alternative Uses Test(Guilford, 1967)
Tell me as many unusual ways you could use a
1. Knife
2. Automobile Tire
3. Chair
4. Key
5. Pencil
6. Telephone book
 Example
Name all the uses for a brick:
1. A paperweight
2. A doorstop
3. A mock coffin at a Barbie funeral
4. To throw threw a window
5. To use as a weapon
6. To hit my sister on the head with
Scoring is comprised of four components:
1. Originality - each response it compared to the total amount of
responses from all of the people you gave the test to. Reponses that
were given by only 5% of your group are unusual (1 point), responses
that were given by only 1% of your group are unique - 2 points). Total
all the point. Higher scores indicate creativity*
2. Fluency - total. Just add up all the responses. In this example it is 6.
3. Flexibility - or different categories. In this case there are five different
categories (weapon and hit sister are from the same general idea of
weapon)
4. Elaboration - amount of detail (for Example "a doorstop" = 0 whereas
"a door stop to prevent a door slamming shut in a strong wind" = 2
(one for explanation of door slamming, two for further detail about the
wind).
• *You might have noticed that the higher fluency the higher the
originality (if you did "good for you!") This is a contamination problem
and can be corrected by using a corrective calculation for originality
(originality = originality/fluency).
(2) Consequences Test: Two forms with 5
items in each form(Guilford et al., 1980)
This is a test of your ability to think of a large number of ideas in
connection with a new and unusual situation.
Below is a sample question:
What would be the results if people no longer needed or wanted
sleep?
SAMPLE RESULTS:
1. Get more work done.
2. Alarm clocks not necessary.
3. No need for lullaby song books.
4. Sleeping pills no longer used.
5. _______________________
• What would be the result if none of us needed food any more in
order to live?
• What would be the results if all the people in the world lost the
ability to reproduce offspring?
• What would be the results if human life continued on earth without
death?
Scoring:
Each judge was asked to rate the total pool of responses obtained for
each problem (Runco &Mraz, 1992) on a 5-point scale ranging from 1
(low) to 5 (high) reflecting (1) quality, (2) originality, (3) time frame,
(4) realism, (5) complexity, and (6) use of general principles. Two
other divergent-thinking skills, (7) presence of positive consequences
and (8) presence of negative consequences, were categorically rated
yes (if present) or no (if not present).
What is the relation between IQ and Creativity? The relation between
the two holds up to IQ 120.
 Creative people:
• are divergent thinkers; newspaper reading; tongue cleaner--> cleaning
tongue. Unusual ways how the items can be used.
• have cognitive complexity, terrorizing imagination, have preference for
elaborate, intricate and complex stimuli and thinking
• are different from usual people, philosophical, mystiques. Capable,
confident, clever, intelligent, egotistic, humorous, informal, individualistic,
insightful, reflective, resourceful, sexy. They have wide range of interests,
are independent, interested in abstract problems, have tolerance of
ambiguity. Big five personality--Openness to experience (curiosity, flexibility,
imaginativeness, openness to change, and unconventional ideas). They are
more vulnerable to loosing touch with reality that they are akin to madness.
• have exceptional mental and physical energy for pursuing their activity of
interest. Inventors have a knack for persisting after failures as Thomas
Edison tried countless substances for his light- bulb filament.
• are Intrinsically motivated; challenge of the task is more important than
money, meeting deadline, secure job, etc.
 Creative thinking process
(1) Preparation: All education is a preparation for creativity. Einstein
might not have discovered the theories of relativity and
thermodynamics, had he not first learned the advanced physics and
mathematics. Engineering problem-solving. Much trial and error like
your term paper.
(2) Incubation: banking or booking the ideas into the brain and thinking
about the problem. Absence of overt activity and problem is solved
unconsciously in mind. This is the stage where people go for reading
light literature, engage in games, marry-making, go for sleeping. This
continuance of associational activities, once stated , is refer to as
perseverance (steady efforts to fulfill aims). So much engaged that
do not get out, and some forget the problems.
(3) Inspiration or illumination: This is the stage of sudden flash or
insight. Creative ideas come suddenly –in dreaming, bathing,
gardening, gossiping, etc. Archimedes law of bouncy, during bathing,
Kekule hexagonal shape of the Benzene[C6H6], a snake eating its own
tail.
(4) Verification: evaluate, test, and perhaps revise the ideas. Is the idea
workable, useful, logical?
Everyone can be creative with proper training, zeal, and community
and organizational encouragement and support. THANK YOU
Creativity: Activities

Priyadarshi Patnaik
Professor
MOOC
Soft skills Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
development Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
 Overview

• Key points
• Games
• Summary
• References
 Remember

• Separate generation of ideas from evaluation

• Assumptions need to be questioned
• Patterned thinking is best avoid - habitual
• Create new perspectives
• Negative thinking – the less the better
• Take careful risks
B Vangundy
 Game 1: Combo Chatter
Also known as ‘Semantic Intuition’ Schaude, 1978

• To help participants develop as many creative ideas as possible

• Eg. Assume that an ice cream company wants a new ice cream
flavor – Kool Congo. It may list ideas under, say, two categories:
• Packaging
• People who might have this ice-cream

• Make a list of five or six ideas under each category

• Link the ideas to come up with new concepts

B Vangundy
 Game 2: I like it I like that

• To help participants develop as many creative ideas as

possible

• Problem: How to get more students interested in learning

• This problem is like
– Making the dog interested in playing with you
– Asking a child to learn a new game
– Asking an old person to learn use of computers…

B Vangundy
 Some more methods

• Trial and error

• Means-end analysis
• Analogies
• Schema
• Divergent thinking
 Analogies

• One uses an analogy when one says, “this is like

that” (in some respects but not in others). For
example: a plane is like an bird – they both fly, they
both have wings, they can both travel for a long way
without landing, and both can sense where they are
going; but they are not similar in that they have
different means of propulsion, are made of different
things, etc.
• Analogies can be used creatively. For instance,
biological analogies are often used to solve
mechanical problems.
• “Identify what it is you want ideas for, and try to find
a core verb phrase that captures the essential
functional nature of what you are looking for - e.g.:
'How to make X'. 'How to prevent Y', 'How to speed
up Z', 'How to become better at A'.”
• “For each verb phrase generate a list of items
(people, situations, objects, processes, actions,
places, etc.) that is 'like' it in some way - e.g.
analogies to 'making X' (having a baby, making a
pudding, the Genesis creation story, a robot car
factory, ...etc.).”
• Identify analogies that look interesting - ideally from
different domains.
• Describe the analogue:
Actions – how it works, what it does, what effects it
has, how it is used.
Passive dimensions: size, position, etc.
• Can you relate these to find ideas relevant to your
problem?
• Does the comparison be used directly?
• Do the differences suggest other possible ways of
exploring your problem?
 Attribute listing

• Attribute listing is a technique from the early 1930s.

• Take an existing system or product
• Break it down into small parts or subsets
• Identify various ways of getting these parts
• Can these be recombined to form new products of
systems?
• One can identify products one wishes to improve.
• List its attributes. Say a pen:
– Material, Shape, Target market, Colours, Textures,
etc.
• Choose, say, 7-8 of these attributes that seem
particularly interesting or important.
• Identify alternative ways to achieve each attribute.
 Brainstorming
• Brainstorming and creative thinking often used
interchangeably.
• Group-based generation of ideas
• Suspended
• A group of betwee 4-8 ideally
• Write the initial topic on a flipboard or whiteboard so
that all can see it
• Clearly articulated problem can yield better solutions
• Has everyone understood the problem?
• Avoid criticising ideas / suspend judgement
• All ideas are equally valid
• Lots of ideas
• Don’t criticize
• Listen to others, use their ideas to extend yours
• Avoid discussion that may stop the flow of ideas
• Someone should jot down the ideas
• Generate ideas
• Ideas should then be examined, classified, and the
best options kept aside for further discussion
 Free Association

• In serial association, start with a trigger, you record

the flow of ideas that come to mind, each idea
triggering the next, ultimately reaching a potentially
useful one. It is like the stream of consciousness.
• Centred association: focus on one central trigger,
around which ideas build up.
• Suspend judgement. Encourage ideas that you
generally suspend to also come up.
• Follow the fascinating and intriguing idea:
• They may not seem instantly apt, but may develop into
meaningful ideas later.
• Use solution-oriented phrasing.
• ‘Could we colour it red?’
• ‘In what ways might I make it ‘red?’
• ‘I wish it were ‘redder’
• ‘How might it help it if were redder’?’
• Makes the idea ‘red’ potentially a more useful one.
 Six Thinking Hats

• Early in the 1980s Dr. Edward de Bono invented the

Six Thinking Hats method. The method is a
framework for thinking and can incorporate lateral or
divergent thinking.
• The six hats stand for six modes of thinking. They are
directions to think or encouragements to think in
certain ways.
• It encourages Parallel Thinking
• It encourage full-spectrum thinking
• It separate ego/individual from performance
• White Hat thinking

• This covers facts, figures, information needs

and gaps. Drop all arguments, look at facts
and figures.
• Red Hat thinking
• Intuitions, feelings, emotions.
• Don’t try to justify gut feelings, just state them.
• Full permission for coming forward with one’s
subjective feelings without the support of logic.
• Black Hat thinking
• Judgement, caution.
• Logical
• Use it to point out why something may not succeed
• Yellow Hat thinking

• Logical and positive.

• Look forward to something potential or look at
something positive that has happened, and
• Green Hat thinking

• Creativity, alternatives, proposals,

provocations, changes, etc.
• Blue Hat thinking

• Overview or process control

• Self-reflexive, looks at itself or the process of the
different hat thinking.
 References and acknowledgement

• Many of the slides are based on the webpage on creativity

and problem solving at: <www.crinnology.com>
• Encyclopedia Britannica 2007, Deluxe Edition.
• Cognitive Psychology by Wikibook contributors, 2004-
2006.<http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cognitive_Psychology_an
d_Cognitive_Neuroscience>
• Vangundy, A. B. 101 Activities for teaching creativity and
problem solving. Pfeiffer. A Willey Imprint. 2005
 References

• Turk, Christopher (2003). Effective Speaking, London: Spon

Press.
• Walters, D. Eric & G. C (2003). Scientists Must Speak,
Routledge & Kegan Paul 2003.
• Pease, Allan & Bararbara Pease (2003). The Definitive Book of
Body Language. Pease International.
 Creativity or Innovation at Workplace

Objectives:
Creativity and innovation
Innovation at workplace
Techniques for idea generation

Damodar Suar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Kharagpur
E-mail: [email protected]
--Workplace creativity is generally framed in the context
of organizational products, services, processes, and
procedures and focuses on the production of new and
useful ideas (Amabile, 1996; Oldham & Cummings,
1996; Zhou, 1998).
-- Implementation of creative ideas in workplace =
innovation at workplace.
--Creative persons, groups, organizations (input)
creative process in situation/environment
(transformation) products, services, process (output)
-- Innovation is the interplay between individual creativity
and environmental creativity that is the driving force of
innovation in any organization
 New Challenge
• A company manufactures glassware. The last step of the
process is to wrap glasses individually in used newspapers
and then place them in a specially designed box. The box
is then sealed. Management notices low productivity with
this last step, observing that workers occasionally stop, to
read the newspapers? What can management do to
increase productivity?
 Technology
developments Changes in
the external
Market knowledge environment Company
strategies
Knowledge of
customer Scientific advances
needs
IDEAS

OPPORTUNITY
IDENTIFICATION MARKET
PENETRATION
CONCEPT/ AND
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT

SCREENING AND
BUSINESS ANALYSIS
DEVELOPMENT
Innovation: Not AND
COMMERCIALIZATION
a linear Process
 Benefits of increased innovation …

• Increased synergy from information sharing, joint initiatives,

integrated policy, investment in R & D and benchmarking
• Better efficiency and cheaper products and services which are
more attractive than those offered by competitors
• To foster innovation: Ensuring that organizational structures
and processes optimize both creativity and innovation;
• Developing the creative capacity of staff through training.
--How many organizations that exist today but that are not open
to creativity and innovation and willing to change will still
exist in 10 years time? None!
-- There is need of continuous innovations for sustainability and
profitability of organizations.
 Understanding creativity and innovation
involves understanding …

• Exactly what is involved in the specific context

of the organisation;
• What behaviour needs to be fostered;
• What supports and what inhibits creativity
and innovation.
 Some false assumptions …
• Some people are creative while others are not;
• Creativity is something people have or don’t have;
• Creativity is disruptive and counter-productive;
• Creativity is only relevant in certain departments
(e.g., design, publicity, marketing)
 Six barriers
to organisational innovation …
1. Lack of organizational slack
2. Bureaucracy
3. Structure
4. Poor Communication
5. The ‘imported talent’ syndrome
6. Financial aversion to risk taking
 To overcome barriers …
• Remove fear, encourage trust and sharing through better
communication
• Make innovation part of everyone’s performance review system
• Build in enough looseness for staff to explore new possibilities and
collaborate with others both within and outside the system
• Train staff to scan the environment for new trends, technologies
and changes in clients’ mindsets
• Encourage staff and raise awareness on the critical importance of
diversity of thinking styles, experience, perspectives and expertise
• Develop an idea management system that captures ideas—
suggestion box, quality circles
 Additional elements to consider …
• Flexibility – to adapt according to the context, culture and
sensitivity of those involved;
• On-going development of the initiative, if possible by means
of self-reflection and self-evaluation and, if possible, action
research to evaluate, constructively criticise and modify
strategies in order to continually improve them;
• Motivation on the part of the key people involved;
• The establishment of a creative climate where mutual trust
and self-confidence are developed. --“Building a creative
climate involves systematic development of organisational
structures, communication policies and procedures, reward
and recognition systems, training policy, accounting and
measurement systems and deployment of strategy.” (Tidd,
Bessant and Pavitt, Managing Innovation)
Entrepreneurship is closely linked to creativity
and innovation …
• encouraging and developing the entrepreneurial spirit of staff
• the entrepreneurial spirit can be nurtured and developed through the
use of simple and effective methods such as the Lateral Thinking
techniques
• most people will benefit by adopting a basic set of entrepreneurial
practices in their working lives and, where possible, also applying them
to the social, civic and commercial institutions within which they are
active
Ideas are the currency of success. They separate you from your
competition. Edward de Bono
• Techniques of idea generation in group: among the
stakeholders of the issue
• Overcoming limited information
• Active learning process
• Countering personal bias
• Acceptance of the solution
• Techniques of idea generation: Slipcard writing,
Brainstorming, Alternative Growth and Stretch matrix, How-
to-sessions, Successive filtration of ideas, Nominal group,
Delphi technique, GD support systems
• Slipcard writing: Each member of the group receives a pad containing 25 slips or cards. The
facilitator can ask the members to write as many alternatives as possible within five minutes.
Each alternative must be written on a separate slip or card. Keep the ‘how to…’ problem as
specific as possible. Before and during slip writing, keep hurrying group members and telling
them to write as many alternatives as coming to their minds. Instruct “Do not stop to think;
you are already thinking. Write whatever comes into your head”.
• Brainstorming: Four rules govern the brainstorming process. First, all criticisms are ruled
out. No one is allowed to judge or question any idea until the idea generation process is
completed. Second, ‘freewheeling’ is welcomed. The emphasis is on creativity and
imagination, the wilder the ideas, the better. Third, quantity of alternative solutions is
encouraged without reference to quality. The more the alternatives are generated, the
greater the likelihood of useful alternatives. Fourth, ‘piggy-backing’ is good. Everyone is
encouraged to suggest how others’ ideas can be turned into new ideas and how two or
more ideas can be combined to form a new idea.
• Alternative Growth and Stretch Matrix: The problem can be further elaborated and
stretched for alternatives by tagging different quantitative and qualitative questions (see
Table 1). Then the facilitator asks the members in the group to answer these questions.
• How to session : Each participant is asked: “Write down on a piece of paper all the different
ways you see this problem, also beginning with the words, how to…”. The alternative
solutions are recorded without censoring.
• Successive Filtration of Ideas: Successive filtration of ideas is a funnel-type of idea-selection
procedure till the important messages are discerned to sort out an issue or implement a
project with procedural details. It is a participant-centred approach.
• Face-to-face Interacting Group: In face-to-face interacting group,
discussants retrieve ideas, images and thoughts in the form of
information from memory, to evaluate the alternative solutions to
an issue.
• Nominal Group: First, the problem is presented verbally (such as
narrating the issue and then posing the question: how can the
overtime be reduced and regulated?), pictorially, or written on a flip
chart or a blackboard. Second, before any discussion takes place,
each member is asked to write an idea/solution independently on
the paper for the issue in a fixed time. Third, when all members
complete the writing silently, each member takes his/her turn,
around the table, presenting a single idea until ideas of all members
in the group have been presented and recorded (typically on a flip
chart or chalkboard). No discussion takes place until all ideas have
been recorded. Each group member is asked to rank the ideas
independently according to their importance (from most to least
important), assess each idea’s usefulness (useful = 2, neutral = 1,
not useful = 0), and ease of implementation (easy to implant = 2,
somehow easy = 1, not at all easy to implement = 0).
• Delphi Technique : First, the problem is identified. A penal of experts is identified on the
basis of their knowledge about and experience on the issue. Second, a questionnaire is
carefully prepared in the context of the issue/problem to elicit the possible solutions from
the experts with the reasons there of. The questionnaire is sent to each expert and each one
is asked to provide potential solutions. Each expert anonymously and independently
completes the first questionnaire. Third, responses to the questionnaire are sent to the
coordinator at a central location. The coordinator transcribes, analyses, and summarises the
responses. Four, the coordinator again sends the analysis and summary of responses along
with the questionnaire to experts. Five, after viewing the summary, experts are again asked
for their responses. It typically triggers new solutions and causes change in the previous
solution(s) to the same issue. Lastly, summary of replies along with the questionnaire are
sent to experts as often as necessary until a consensual decision/solution emerges from
experts.
• GD Support System: GD support module is like the nominal group and Delphi technique.
Issues are presented to group members through the computer. Group members use
personal computers to enter/type responses/replies on computer screen at will, either
through simultaneous interaction or over a period of time. The assisted software has many
functions such as survey, pooling, voting, and analysis of responses with intuitive and
advanced graphics. Depending on requirements of the decision task, the software instantly
compile comments, summarise texts, aggregate votes, average ranks, and disseminate
solutions. The final responses flash on the screen of all personal computers at the push of
the keyboard. Thank you.
Critical Thinking and Problems Solving

Damodar Suar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
IIT Kharagpur
E-mail:[email protected]
 Defining Critical Thinking
• Higher order thinking skills like critical thinking and problem solving
are considered necessary skills for 21st-century individuals.
• Critical thinking is the intellectually disciplined process of actively and
skilfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or
evaluating information gathered from, or generated by,
observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication,
as a guide to belief , judgement and action (Scriven, 1996 )
• Critical thinking is the purposeful, self-regulatory judgment which
results in interpretation, analysis, evaluation and inference.
• Critical thinking... means making reasoned judgments (Beyer, 1995).
In the book, Critical Thinking, Beyer (1995) elaborately explains what he sees as
essential aspects of critical thinking. These are:
• Dispositions: Critical thinkers are sceptical, open-minded, value fair-mindedness,
respect evidence and reasoning, respect clarity and precision, look at different
points of view.
• Criteria: Apply criteria. Need to have conditions that must be met for something
to be judged as believable.
• Argument: Is a statement or proposition with a supporting evidence. Critical
thinking involves identifying, evaluating, and constructing arguments.
• Reasoning: The ability to infer a conclusion from one or multiple premises. To do
so requires examining logical relationships among statements or data.
• Point of View: The way one views the world, which shapes one's construction of
meaning. In a search for understanding, critical thinkers view phenomena from
many different points of view.
• Procedures for Applying Criteria: Other types of thinking use a general procedure.
Critical thinking makes use of many procedures. These procedures include asking
questions, making judgments, and identifying assumptions.
Compared to rote memory tasks, critical thinking takes time.
• Several studies have established that the more proficient one
is in using critical thinking the greater one’s ability to
understand complex phenomena, make important decisions,
solve complex problems and resolve difficult issues (Facione
et al, 1996, 1998; Paul, 1990, 1992; Cance, 1986).
• Studies have shown that exercising critical thinking fosters a
higher level of reasoning and comprehension (Weistein,
1995).
• Critical thinking involves critical implication and discussion, which has
a crucial role in activating problem solving and decision making
processes (Chaffee, 1994). It goes with logic.
• Critical thinking is a constructivist analysis process to examine what is
going on in our environments. This analysis system can be used to
define problems, take actions towards an aim, make decisions and
conduct retrospective evaluations.
• Critical thinking problem
Compare the website of MIT Massachusetts with IIT Kharagpur
(gather information, analyze Format, Content, and Usability, make a
judgment)
Process of Critical thinking
 How to improve critical thinking?
• Seek out ideas- old and new
– Read books, periodicals, articles, etc. , study innovation, change,
and creativity
– Experiment, brainstorm, have discussions, attend exhibits.
• Take action
– Dare to be different, challenge assumptions
• Be open minded and flexible
• Apply ideas to every facet of your life
– Always ask, “How can this be done better?”
• Be curious and observant
– Look at situation through the eyes of a child
– Keep asking, “why?”
• Ask good questions
– Constantly reflect on each aspect
– Who, what, where, when, why, how, if, etc.
• Develop your reflective thinking skills
– Daydream about the situation
– Jump between logical, imaginative, and wild thinking
• Build your knowledge and intuition base
– Learn how to research and visualize
• Use triggers
– Find the time and place that help you think best
 Problem solving
• Critical thinking is an intentional and reflective way of looking at
things or circumstances, while problem solving focuses on a specific
situation.
• In every sphere of our life we always face problems those need to be
solved.
A problem is:
-a matter about which it is difficult to decide what to do.
- a difficult situation, matter, or person.
-any question or matter involving doubt, uncertainty, or difficulty.
-a question to be answered or solved.
Problem solving is a mental process that involved discovering,
analyzing, and solving problems to overcome obstacles and
find a solution that best resolves the issue.
The Steps to Problem Solving
1- Defining the problem: how to reduce absenteeism in in
industry x?
2- Gathering information: Multiple
3- Studying and analyzing the collected information
4- Suggest solutions
5- Evaluating the solutions
6- Implement solution
7. Evaluate the workability of the solution
• Group discussions, case studies, simulations, structured
exercises, critical incidents, controversial debates are some of
the tools that can be used in the class rooms to foster critical
thinking and problem solving.
• Critical thinkers and problems solvers are not the receivers of
information, but the users of information.
 Brain mechanisms
• The problem-solving techniques are most powerful when combined to
activate both the logical/rational and intuitive/creative parts of the
brain (Wonder & Donovan, 1984).
• Prefrontal Cortex is also involved in sophisticated interpersonal thinking
skills and the competence required for emotional well-being. In
general, both the left and right sides of the prefrontal cortex are equally
involved in social and interactive proficiency.
• Lower back portion of the frontal lobe on each side of the brain,
facilitates creative thinking.
• The temporal lobe is involved in reasoning skills, particularly the
elaborate task of reading.
• Skills for algebraic mathematical tasks and calculations are more
prevalent in the left parietal lobe, while skills for geometric perception
and manipulation of three-dimensional figures are more prevalent in
the right parietal lobe.
• Limbic system is involved in emotional memory and mood control.