Complete thesis - Murdoch University

with the value of conventional behaviour, well-defined problems and good grades emphasised(Albert, 1996). In addition, many cultures encourage respect for the past and discouragedisruptive innovations: promoting widespread creativity raises expectations that may changeemployment patterns, educational systems, and community norms.In higher education, creativity is generally accorded higher order ability status: a problemrequiring a creative solution is likely to be challenging, and therefore may create motivationalproblems. For example, some individuals may be disinclined towards creativity because of afear of failure, and a lack of confidence. Similarly, Gardner (1999) argues that creativity is acoincidence of many factors, which includes the discipline to master a domain and a lack ofhindrance from the fear of failure.While creativity is certainly demonstrated in well-defined problems such as theorem provingand chess, ill-defined problems such as design require creativity quintessentially (Akin, 1990;Thomas et al, 2002).There has been considerable research into how designers carry out design activities. Akin(1990) identifies three classic conditions in creative acts such as design:• the recognition step – the ‘aha!’ response• the restructuring step – a change in viewpoint leads to a major breakthrough• development of procedural knowledge – regarding solution strategies.These accord with Wallis (1926)’ Model of the Creative Process, which identifies preparation,incubation, illumination, and verification as occurring in all creative activity. Csikszentmihalyi(1996)’s analysis emphasised the social nature of creativity. He stresses the benefits ofconsultations with other domain experts, receiving empathic encouragement from emotionalsupporters, and the necessity for dissemination within the field.Common characteristics of creative individuals have been identified by researchers such asGuindon (1989, 1990) and Maccoby et al (1991), with similar ways of thinking and workingexhibited. Most are ‘holistic thinkers’ in the sense they look for an overall broad scope beforemoving into specific detail. Other studies indicate that designers often proposes severalcandidate solutions early on in order to better examine the problem, and impose constraintsthat reduce the number of solutions and help generate new concepts. Boden (1997) makes agood case for the claim that changing a constraint might be at the core of creative thinking.In summary:Declaration 8 ill defined problems require creativity quintessentially. However, the conditionsfor creativity, which include incubation (the ‘aha’ factor) may be125