The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated instructional model for Creative Problem Solving with an online support system in a collegiate course, and to improve the principles and guidelines of the model by the formative research methodolog...
The purpose of this study is to develop an integrated instructional model for Creative Problem Solving with an online support system in a collegiate course, and to improve the principles and guidelines of the model by the formative research methodology. A model was developed by following three steps: finding out general principles from the relevant literature reviews; extracting theoretical components for the model; and finally, developing specific guidelines from those theoretical components. Six general design principles and three theoretical components could be identified and a model was developed with a bunch of specific guidelines. A college-level course was developed and implemented for investigating the strengths and weaknesses of the model and suggesting improvements of the model by the formative research methodology. Research site was an undergraduate course in A university and the participants were 33 students and the final interviewees were 10. The instructional model included e-Learning contents for explaining the main characteristics and thinking tools of the Creative Problem Solving, and an online support system which guided the CPS process and provided such convergent and divergent thinking tools as brainstorming, attribute list, hits, PMI, and evaluation matrix. The participants` responses in the course satisfaction survey and interviews were analyzed to investigate the strengths, weaknesses, and improvements of the model. The strengths included ‘providing blended learning environments’, ‘implementing a team project’, and ‘utilizing the CPS support system’. The weaknesses and improvements included ‘making participants select appropriate thinking tools for CPS’, ‘explaining the CPS process in detail’, ‘providing a flexible and proper schedule for problem solving’, and ‘evaluating the final product from the perspective of creativity.