Helping Students Generate
Creative Ideas
Jim Flowers
Ball State University
1. Brainstorming
 Good
for a flood of ideas
 Limited by what’s in the lake
Rules:
 (Assumption:
Clear problem definition)
 Defer judgment.
 Aim for quantity and variety.
 Record all responses.
Options
 Present
examples?
 Allow incubation time?
 Set a time limit?
 Vary the number of brainstormers?
Typical procedure:
 State
rules
 Present problem statement
 (List examples)
 Allow for incubation
 Say “Go”
 Record all responses.
5 Brainstorming Examples
 Individual
 Whole-group
 Small
group
 Relay
 Round
robin
Individual Brainstorming

(Get ready to write
your responses.)
Topic: Uses for Animal Skin
 Common
response: leather shoe
 Uncommon response: to hold animals
together
Whole class brainstorming
 (Get
ready to call out your responses.)
Topic: Types of Ships

Common response:
battleship
 Uncommon
response:
penmanship
Small Group Brainstorming

(Collaborate with
your group
members.)
Topic:
 “How
can you use a barometer to help
determine the height of a building?”
Relay Brainstorming

Each team member
must respond in
order.
 Responses cannot
be used twice.
 No helping is
allowed.
 Teams compete.
Relay Brainstorming
 (Who
responds first?)
 (Get ready to respond.)
Topic: Things that support
other things.
 (You
must list the thing that supports
and the thing supported.)
 Common response: A foundation
supports a building.
 Uncommon response: Parents support
the PTA.
Round Robin Brainstorming

Respond quickly.
 Respond only during
your turn.
 Step back when you
are asked.
Topic:

“New uses for
discarded
automobile tires”
5 Brainstorming Examples
 Individual
 Whole-group
 Small
group
 Relay
 Round
robin
Common Aspects of
Brainstorming Sessions

Many ideas
 Wide variety of ideas
 Limited
 Defer judgment (no killer phrases allowed)
 Quick
 Active
 Creative
Brainstorming sessions differ
regarding:
 Size
of group
 Time limits
 Competition
 Mode of expression
 Noisiness
 Pressure
Is it right to put students under
pressure when we ask them to
be creative?
Use brainstorming:
 To
generate possible solutions.
 To help generate problem statements.
 As a break in a class.
 To introduce or break the ice.
 Where creative responses are
appropriate.
Beyond brainstorming
2. Forced Questioning
 Problem
solvers use terms to help them
formulate original questions regarding a
topic.
Basic Question Terms
 Who
 What
 Where
 When
 Why
 How
Sample Problem:
 Design
a system for packaging an egg
so that it can withstand being released
20’ above the ground without breaking.
Questions for Egg Drop
 What
packaging shapes absorb impact?
 When, during the egg’s descent, should
our system act?
 What other technologies are designed
to minimize injury due to impact?
 Why are we assuming the egg is to fall?
Question Dice & Question
Wheels
Second Set of Terms
 Did
 Will
 Might
 Would
 Could
 Should
Typical 2-Dice Terms
 Who
could…
 When will…
 What might…
What can you do with a piece
of paper?

Write notes.
 Draw pictures.
 Scribble.
 Work out math
problems.
 Draw maps.
3. Attribute Listing
 List
all of the attributes or properties of
an object so that unintended uses
appear.
Paper:
 White
 Thin
(0.004”)
 90-degree corners
 Translucent
4. Manipulative Verbs
 Help
us consider a certain change in
physical objects or concepts.
Reverse (Push/Pull)
Manipulative Verbs

Adapt
 Modify
 Substitute
 Magnify
 Minify
 Rearrange
 Reverse
 Combine
 (Other)

(Alex Osborn)
Manipulative verbs:
 Can
be applied to solutions
 Can be applied to problem statements
Problem Statement Reversal
 State
the opposite of your goal:
 “How can we get people to hate our
web site and leave it right away?”
5. Forced Lateral Thinking
 Violates
tacit assumptions
 (Assumption Smashing)
 E.g., how can our competitive robot
store more balls than its rival?
 Can become
 How can our robot get one ball and
destroy the rival?
6. Thinking Assignments
“Six thinking hats” (Edward deBono)
 White Hat Thinking: facts
 Red: intuitions and emotions
 Black: judgment and caution
 Yellow: logical positive; finding the good in
each option
 Green: creative alternatives
 Blue: control; metacognition

7. Forced Analogy &
Metaphorical Thinking
 Our
company as a life preserver
 My family seems like candle
 Love is like a whetstone
 The Internet is our conscience
 (Later
elaborations)
8. Sketching &
Sketchstorming
 Fast
sketchstorming
 Slower, more detailed sketching
 Sketching while manipulating a 3D
object
9. Constructing / 3D Modeling
/ Tinkering
 Allow
physical objects to stimulate
ideas.
 Have students generate solutions by
helping them with visualization.
 Help student with visualization by
having them generate solutions.
10. Thought Book / Diary / Log
 “Last
night, in a dream, I had this great
idea for a new invention. I remembered
the idea when I first awoke, but I can’t
recall it now.”
11. Stream of Consciousness
12. Association
 Stream
of terms
 Pairs of terms
 (Random input method)
Paired Term Association
Example
 Term Asked
Response
 Egg
yolk
pedal
leaf
delay
 Break
 Fall
 Time
Forced Connections (Hybrid
Ideas)
 Making
a connection between two
seemingly unrelated terms, concepts or
objects.
 Conceptual: In-line skates
 Physical: Swiss army knife
Forced Connections: New
Product Ideas

Eagle
 Dog
 Chair
 Broom
 Sun
 Water
 Oil
 Poetry
13. Morphological Charts
 List
different properties (shapes) as
column headings and the possible
choices below; select a path through the
chart.
Chair Chart
 Matl
Color
 Wood
black
 Metal
brown
 Plastic white

blue
Rock
yes
no
Height
tall
regular
adjustable
Chair Chart
 Matl
Color
 Wood
black
 Metal
brown
 Plastic white

blue
Rock
yes
no
Height
tall
regular
adjustable
14. Mind Mapping
 Tony
Buzan
15. Other graphic displays
 Storyboarding
 Venn
Diagrams
 Flowcharting
 Lotus Blossom
 Thinkpak
by
 Michael Michalko
16. Fooling your mind
 Putting
it on the back burner
 “Unconscious
 Walking
Problem Solving”
around
 Frequent
disruptions may promote
alternatives.
 Cf “The Discontinuity Principle”
17. Research!!!

Visit the library.
 Read.
 Search the Internet.
 Ask experts.
 Conduct experiments.
 Visit the competition. (Imitation)
 Read more.
 Assess previous attempts.
 Discuss what you know.
 Read.
18. Question the Problem and
its Assumptions
 Kirk
reprogrammed the computer.
 Peaches will not grow everywhere.
 “Maybe it’s not a (blank) problem at all;
maybe it’s really a (blank) problem,
instead.”
Promoting critical thought
 Pay
them to:
 Find
a mistake
 Add to a list
 Double
their credit if they:
 Find
a mistake on a test
 Post a correction of a web site
 Make
mistakes on purpose
5 Examples of
 1.
Brainstorming
 Individual
 Whole-group
 Small
group
 Relay
 Round
robin
Other Ideation Techniques
 2.
Forced Questioning
 Question
Dice & Question Wheels
 3. Attribute
Listing
 4. Manipulative Verbs
 5. Forced Lateral Thinking
 6. Thinking Assignments
 7. Forced Analogy & Metaphorical
More Ideation Techniques
 8.
Sketching & Sketchstorming
 9. Constructing / 3D Modeling /
Tinkering
 10. Thought Book / Diary / Log
 11. Stream of Consciousness
 12. Association
 Forced
Connections
More Ideation Techniques
 13.
Morphological Charts
 14. Mind Mapping
 15. Other graphic displays
 16. Fooling your mind
 17. Research
 18. Question the Problem and its
Assumptions
Helping Students Generate
Creative Ideas
Jim Flowers
Ball State University