creative research skills

Home › Study Tips › Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You

Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You

Published May 23, 2024

Research skills give you the ability to gather relevant information from different sources and analyse it critically in order to develop a comprehensive understanding of a subject. Thus, research skills are fundamental to academic success.

Developing these skills will improve your studies, helping you understand subjects better and positioning you for academic success.

That said, how can you develop important research skills? This will explore what research skills are, identify the core ones, and explain how you can develop them.

What Are Research Skills?

Research skills are a set of abilities that allow individuals to find and gather reliable information and then evaluate the information to find answers to questions.

Good research skills are important in academic settings, as finding and critically evaluating relevant information can help you gain a deeper understanding of a subject.

These skills are also important in professional and personal settings. When you graduate and are working in a professional capacity, you’ll often need to analyse sets of data to identify issues and determine how to solve them.

In personal contexts, you’ll always need to assess relevant information to make an informed decision. Whether you’re deciding on a major purchase, choosing a healthcare provider, or planning to make an investment, you’ll need to evaluate options to ensure better decision outcomes.

Different Types of Research Skills

Research skills are categorised into different sub-skills. The most common types are:

Quantitative Skills

Quantitative skills refer to the ability to work with numerical data and perform mathematical and statistical analyses to extract meaningful insights and draw conclusions.

When you have quantitative skills, you’ll be able to apply mathematical concepts and operations in research design and data analysis.

You’ll also be proficient in using statistical methods to analyse data and interpreting numerical data to draw meaningful conclusions.

Analytical Skills

Analytical skills refer to the ability to gather data, evaluate it, and draw sound conclusions. When you have analytical skills, you’ll be able to systematically analyse information to reach a reasonable conclusion.

Analytical skills are important in problem-solving. They help you to break down complex problems into more manageable components, think critically about the information at hand, analyse root causes, and develop effective solutions.

Qualitative Skills

Qualitative skills refer to the ability to collect, analyse, and interpret non-numerical data. When you have qualitative skills, you’ll be proficient in observation, interviewing, and other methods for collecting qualitative research data.

You’ll also be able to analyse non-numerical data, such as documents and images, to identify themes, patterns, and meanings.

Research Skills Examples

The core research skills you need for success in academic, professional, and personal contexts include:

Data Collection

Data is at the centre of every research, as data is what you assess to find the answers you seek. Thus, research starts with collecting relevant data.

Depending on the research, there are two broad categories of data you can collect: primary and secondary.

Primary data is generated by the researcher, like data from interviews, observations, or experiments. Secondary data is pre-existing data obtained from different existing databases, like published literature, government reports, etc.

Thus, data collection is more than gathering information from the Internet. Depending on the research, it can require more advanced skills for conducting experiments to generate your own data.

Source Evaluation

When doing research on any subject (especially when using the Internet), you’ll be amazed at the volume of information you’ll find. And a lot is pure garbage that can compromise your research work.

Thus, an important research skill is being able to dig through the garbage to get to the real facts. This is where source evaluation comes in!

Good research skills call for being able to identify biases, assess the authority of the author, and determine the accuracy of information before using it.

Time Management Skills

Have you ever felt that there is not enough time in a day for all that you need to do? When you already have so much to do, adding research can be overwhelming.

Good time management skills can help you find the time to do all you need to do, including relevant research work, making it an essential research skill.

Time management allows you to plan and manage your research project effectively. It includes breaking down research tasks into more manageable parts, setting priorities, and allocating time to the different stages of the research.

Communication Skills

Group of students communicating with each other

Communication is an important aspect of every research, as it aids in data collection and sharing research findings.

Important communication skills needed in research include active listening, active speaking, interviewing, report writing, data visualisation, and presentation, etc.

For example, when research involves collecting primary data via interviews, you must have sound speaking and listening skills.

When you conclude the research and need to share findings, you’ll need to write a research report and present key findings in easy-to-understand formats like charts.

Attention to Detail

Attention to detail is the ability to achieve thoroughness and accuracy when doing something. It requires focusing on every aspect of the tasks, even small ones.

Anything you miss during your research will affect the quality of your research findings. Thus, the ability to pay close attention to details is an important research skill.

You need attention to detail at every stage of the research process. During data collection, it helps you ensure reliable data.

During analysis, it reduces the risk of error to ensure your results are trustworthy. It also helps you express findings precisely to minimise ambiguity and facilitate understanding.

Note-Taking

Note-taking is exactly what it sounds like—writing down key information during the research process.

Remember that research involves sifting through and taking in a lot of information. It’s impossible to take in all the information and recall it from memory. This is where note-taking comes in!

Note-taking helps you capture key information, making it easier to remember and utilise for the research later. It also involves writing down where to look for important information.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and synthesise information in a thoughtful way. It is an important skill needed in virtually all stages of the research process.

For example, when collecting data, you need critical thinking to assess the quality and relevance of data. It can help you identify gaps in data to formulate your research question and hypothesis.

It can also help you to identify patterns and make reasonable connections when interpreting research findings.

Data Analysis

Data may not mean anything until you analyse it qualitatively or quantitatively (using techniques like Excel or SPSS). For this reason, data analysis analysis is an important research skill.

Researchers need to be able to build hypotheses and test these using appropriate research techniques. This helps to draw meaningful conclusions and gain a comprehensive understanding of research data.

Problem-Solving Skills

Research often involves addressing specific questions and solving problems. For this reason, problem-solving skills are important skills when conducting research.

Problem-solving skills refer to the ability to identify, analyse, and solve problems effectively.

With problem-solving skills, you’ll be able to assess a situation, consider various solutions, and choose the most appropriate course of action toward finding a solution.

Benefits of Research Skills

Research skills have many benefits, including:

Enhances Critical Thinking

Research skills and critical thinking are intertwined such that developing one enhances the other.

Research requires people to question assumptions, evaluate evidence, analyse information, and draw conclusions. These activities require you to think critically about the information at hand. Hence, engaging in research enhances critical thinking.

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Research helps you acquire a set of critical skills that are directly transferable to problem-solving.

For example, research fosters creative thinking, as it often requires synthesising data from different sources and connecting different concepts. After developing creative thinking via research, you can apply the skill to generate innovative solutions in problem-solving situations.

Helps in Knowledge Acquisition

Engaging in research is a powerful way to acquire knowledge. Research involves exploring new ideas, and this helps you expand your breadth of knowledge.

It also involves applying research methods and methodologies. So, you’ll acquire knowledge about research methods, enhancing your ability to design and conduct studies in your higher education or professional life.

Why Are Research Skills Important?

Strong research skills offer numerous benefits, especially for students’ academic learning and development.

When you develop good research skills, you’ll reap great academic rewards that include:

In-Depth Understanding

Conducting research allows you to delve deep into specific topics, helping you gain a thorough understanding of the subject matter beyond what is covered in standard coursework.

Critical Thinking Development

Research involves critical evaluation of information and making informed decisions. This builds your ability to think critically.

This skill will not only help you solve academic problems better, but it’s also crucial to your personal and professional growth.

Encouragement of Independent Learning

Research encourages independent learning. When you engage in research, you seek answers independently. You take the initiative to find, retrieve, and evaluate information relevant to your research.

That helps you develop self-directed study habits. You’ll be able to take ownership of your education and actively seek out information for a better understanding of the subject matter.

Intellectual Curiosity Development

Research skills encourage intellectual curiosity and a love of learning, as they’ll make you explore topics you find intriguing or important. Thus, you’ll be more motivated to explore topics beyond the scope of your coursework.

Enhanced Communication Skills

Research helps you build better interpersonal skills as well as report-writing skills.

Research helps you sharpen your communication skills when you interact with research subjects during data collection. Communicating research findings to an audience also helps sharpen your presentation skills or report writing skills.

Assistance in Career Preparation

Many professions find people with good research skills. Whether you’ll pursue a career in academia, business, healthcare, or IT, being able to conduct research will make you a valuable asset.

So, researching skills for students prepares you for a successful career when you graduate.

Contribution to Personal Growth

Research also contributes to your personal growth. Know that research projects often come with setbacks, unexpected challenges, and moments of uncertainty. Navigating these difficulties helps you build resilience and confidence.

Acquisition of Time Management Skills

Research projects often come with deadlines. Such research projects force you to set goals, prioritise tasks, and manage your time effectively.

That helps you acquire important time management skills that you can use in other areas of academic life and your professional life when you graduate.

Ways to Improve Research Skills

The ways to improve your research skills involve a combination of learning and practice.

You should consider enrolling in research-related programmes, learning to use data analysis tools, practising summarising and synthesising information from multiple sources, collaborating with more experienced researchers, and more.

Looking to improve your research skills? Read our 11 ways to improve research skills article.

How Can I Learn Research Skills?

You can learn research skills using these simple three-point framework:

Clarifying the Objective

Start by articulating the purpose of your research. Identify the specific question you are trying to answer or the problem you are aiming to solve.

Then, determine the scope of your research to help you stay focused and avoid going after irrelevant information.

Cross-Referencing Sources

The next step is to search for existing research on the topic. Use academic databases, journals, books, and reputable online sources.

It’s important to compare information from multiple sources, taking note of consensus among studies and any conflicting findings.

Also, check the credibility of each source by looking at the author’s expertise, information recency, and reputation of the publication’s outlet.

Organise the Research

Develop a note-taking system to document key findings as you search for existing research. Create a research outline, then arrange your ideas logically, ensuring that each section aligns with your research objective.

As you progress, be adaptable. Be open to refining your research plan as new understanding evolves.

Enrolling in online research programmes can also help you build strong research skills. These programmes combine subject study with academic research project development to help you hone the skills you need to succeed in higher education.

Immerse Education is a foremost provider of online research programmes.

Acquire Research Skills with Immerse Education

Research skills are essential to academic success. They help you gain an in-depth understanding of subjects, enhance your critical thinking and problem-solving skills, improve your time management skills, and more.

In addition to boosting you academically, they contribute to your personal growth and prepare you for a successful professional career.

Thankfully, you can learn research skills and reap these benefits. There are different ways to improve research skills, including enrolling in research-based programmes. This is why you need Immerse Education!

Immerse Education provides participants aged 13-18 with unparalleled educational experience. All our programmes are designed by tutors from top global universities and help prepare participants for future success.

Our online research programme expertly combines subject study with academic research projects to help you gain subject matter knowledge and the important research skills you need to succeed in higher education. With one-on-one tutoring or group sessions from an expert academic from Oxford or Cambridge University and a flexible delivery mode, the programme is designed for you to succeed. Subsequently, enrolling in our accredited Online Research Programme will award students with 8 UCAS points upon completion.

Learning outcomes results

Table 10 shows students’ final grades (including all the assessment activities) and symposium grades.

Students’ final grades were very high in all the academic years, indicating that most students clearly acquired the required research skills; moreover, the low SD suggests learning results were homogenous. Both tutors involved in the course and the expert committee composed of physicians and researchers qualified the students’ final projects as very good.

Significant differences were found between the final grades obtained by the promotions that performed the creativity workshop (2014–2015 and 2015–2016) and the promotions that did not (2011–2012, 2012–2013 and 2013–2014). Final grades were higher in the promotions that performed the creativity workshop than the promotions that did not (8.75 vs. 8.55, p = 1.17 × 10 4 ).

Creativity development assessment through the evaluation of the students’ productions

Figure 2 shows an assessment of the creativity of students’ projects, categorized according to the type of creative product.

Assessment of the creativity of students’ research products ( n = 25). “Creativity” represents the mean of “originality”, “usefulness”, and “value” of each research project

The most common type of creative product aimed to “advance in science knowledge” ( n = 9). One example of this kind of product is a project that determined variations in the vaginal microbiota associated with the use of tampons versus menstrual cups and the possible association of these methods with increased susceptibility to genitourinary diseases. The second most common type aimed to “solve a science problem” ( n = 6). One example is a project that studied the formation of biofilms in vitro to test a disaggregating drug, which also potentiates the antimicrobial effect of antibiotics, to solve the problem of high antibiotic resistance in bacteria that colonize medical devices. The remaining creative product types aimed to “design a technological product” ( n = 5) or “understand a science phenomenon” (n = 5). One example of the former is a research project conceiving a non-toxic probiotic product that could alter the human skin microbiome to make it less attractive to mosquitoes that transmit disease; one example of the latter is a project that studied the high prevalence of resistance to antidepressants and its relation with the intestinal microbiome and inflammatory processes.

Figure 2 also shows that all the scientific products developed were rated high for creativity. The products types focused on science problem-solving and designing technical products were the most creative (8.4 and 8.0, respectively). However, other products types such as advances in science knowledge or understanding science phenomena also scored high in creativity (7.6 and 7.1, respectively).

How have creativity and research skills been developed?

This study examines the development of research skills and creative thinking through an open-IBL course. Students perceived that they had acquired these skills after the course. Furthermore, the development of research skills correlated strongly with the students’ thought of having developed a creative project.

As Justice et al. (2009) explained, IBL can enhance learning outcomes, such as the development of higher order skills (creativity, critical thinking, and research skills), as well as strengthen the teaching-research nexus [ 1 , 33 ]. Domain-knowledge and skills are major components of creativity [ 34 ], and scientific exploration and activities such as defining scientific problems, formulating hypotheses, designing research plans, evaluating evidence, and verifying further theories are considered key for developing scientific creativity [ 12 ]. Thus, investigating different aspects of a problem develops creativity [ 4 ].

Our results confirm that based on students’ perception an open problem, cooperative and interprofessional work, and the inquiry process itself can enhance creativity. Quantitative analyses found strong and moderate correlations between students’ perceptions of the development of research skills and creativity and the open-IBL approach; and qualitative analyses of students’ comments and focus groups reinforce these findings. Students considered that open-IBL stimulated creative thinking: freedom to decide what to do and how to do it fostered original new ideas promoted by the integration of different fields and perspectives, and it strengthened students’ ability to define research proposals. These results agree with previous studies that identified open- and discovery-oriented IBL as the IBL models that best promote higher-order learning outcomes, including the definition of scientific problems, design of an appropriate method of study, and capacity to do research [ 23 , 35 ]. Students also pointed to the important role of cooperation among peers with different backgrounds in the creative process of knowledge construction (mean score = 8.1). These results support previous research findings that collaboration, exchange of ideas, and different perspectives enhance creative thinking and the development of research skills [ 19 ]. Moreover, according to Zhou (2015), in collaborative contexts participants build on each other’s ideas through critical and constructive negotiations to each other’s suggestions to reach an understanding that is initially unavailable to any individual participant [ 36 ]. In our study, 87% of the students from the two degree programs found working together interesting; Oandasan and Reeves (2009) explained that interprofessional education enhances the development of creative thinking, skills development, and construction of collective knowledge [ 17 , 18 ].

The qualitative results obtained in the analysis of the open-IBL implementation and the creativity workshop suggest that workshop sessions, where students felt free to express their ideas, could have been more conducive to the development of creative projects than the tutorial sessions. Freedom and flexibility in situations where students need to apply knowledge and solve problems are key for the development of scientific creativity [ 37 ], although, as our qualitative assessment shows, the development of creative thinking and research skills can be limited by tensions between peers, openness and time, or difficulties during the research project. The development of scientific creativity requires tolerance and safe, democratic environments [ 38 ].

Despite non significant differences were found in perception of creativity development between the students who performed the creativity workshop and the students who did not, neither in satisfaction and usefulness of the inquiry approach; the quantitative and qualitative data supports the idea that most students considered that the creativity workshop contributed to and had an impact on the development of creativity in their projects. The creativity workshop, introduced in the academic year 2014–2015, has been useful and has allowed us to compare the different cohorts. In fact, the promotions 2014–2015 and 2015–2016, which performed the workshop, perceived higher values on the products’ creativity and their finals grades were significantly higher, compared with the ones that did not performed the workshop. They reported that this workshop promoted group cohesion and helped them define the research proposal. Students considered brainstorming, heuristics, and analogies or visual diagrams to analyze different elements of the project useful, but also pointed out that time constraints meant that some techniques were used only superficially and that employing fewer techniques might be more useful. These results support the theory that interactive group sessions promote creativity by encouraging participants to develop and share ideas and connections, stimulating idea generation and evaluation, promoting alternative thinking, unexpected connections, parallel group thinking, and problem solving [ 24 ]. Previous research and our results show that these techniques stimulate creative thinking, but require time to be more effective. Thus, we recommend introducing some of these techniques in open-IBL courses.

Our analysis of students’ projects also confirmed the development of creativity. As Hu and Adey (2002) explain, scientific creativity can be assessed by the type of product generated, its originality, value and usefulness. Creative skills were evident in students’ solutions to science problems (i.e., scientific products) and the traits that define creativity manifest in the high scores for students’ products [ 11 ].

Finally, students’ grades demonstrate that the intended learning outcomes were clearly achieved in all promotions, corroborating previous research findings that IBL not only stimulates interest in the topic, but also provides deep knowledge [ 39 ]. In fact, quantitative research has shown that IBL boosts student achievement: it improves the acquisition of knowledge and skills and increases students’ desire to learn, making it a more effective strategy for science education than traditional learning [ 40 , 41 ].

How did students experience this pedagogical approach?

Although there were some differences between students from the two degree programs, students were satisfied and considered the course and methodology useful. Satisfaction and usefulness are strongly correlated, so differences between students in different degree programs are probably related to the aims of the course (designing and carrying out a research project). Although students were free to choose the research proposal, design, and execution, Human Biology students found it more useful for their future professional life than Medicine students, some of whom do not intend to do research. Furthermore, a stronger correlation was found between usefulness and research skills than usefulness and creativity development, so it could be possible that students perceived more useful the training in research skills for their future professions than the training on creativity. Finally, the performance of the creativity workshop had no effects on the satisfaction with the course and its usefulness, so the general satisfaction with the course and its usefulness could be related to the inquiry model used in this course.

Students were satisfied with their projects and with IBL, remarking that IBL allowed them to learn skills useful for their academic activities and future professions and that the knowledge acquired will be retained. These findings reinforce those of previous studies that found that IBL promotes the development of transversal skills, and domain-specific knowledge, as well as self-reflection, autonomy, taking responsibility for one’s own learning, cooperative work, critical thinking, and long-term knowledge retention [ 14 , 23 ].

Tutors played an important role in IBL. Students considered that the ideal tutor must have experience as a facilitator, should act as a guide, not only an evaluative figure, and must find the balance between promoting a free environment and redirecting situations when necessary to enhance creativity. This perception agrees with previous publications concluding that facilitators in student-centered approaches should create a safe, free, flexible, open environment to enhance creative thinking [ 38 ]. Furthermore, as Savery (2006) explain, educators must guide the learning process and provide thorough debriefing at the conclusion of the learning experience, changing roles from teacher as knowledge provider to tutor as a manager and facilitator of learning [ 42 ]. Nevertheless, assessment was an important part of the process of inquiry. Students perceived that formative assessment was useful, but pointed out that evaluation could be subjective depending on the tutors’ and external evaluators’ fields of expertise. Students’ perceptions of assessment are influenced by previous experiences, so students can perceive any intervention involving assessment in various ways, and this can affect their learning process [ 43 ].

During this IBL activity, students experienced different emotions. Positive emotions included motivation, engagement, and competitiveness to produce better ideas. Students’ positive emotions are also reflected in their comments about the group environment and creativity workshop. Students considered that positive emotions helped them develop better projects and be more involved. Although some students had negative emotions such as confusion or anxiety about the workload, groups managed to allay most negative emotions. As Litmanen et al. (2012) explained, emotions often depend on the balance between the challenge of the situation and learners’ feelings of competence. Tasks that are too easy or too challenging often result in decreased concentration and involvement. In active learning, students have positive feelings related to motivation and engagement, as well as negative emotions related to anxiety and stress [ 44 ]; a good balance enriches learning processes.

Limitations

Design of the study.

Some limitations have been found in the design of this study. First, more data are available on the cohorts that conducted the creativity workshop compared to those that did not. This may be because the questionnaire for the 2011–2013 cohorts was delivered in an online format and the number of responses was not as desired. For this reason, since 2014, when the creativity workshop was introduced, the questionnaire was delivered in a classroom and more qualitative data was collected through focus groups and field notes in order to further deepen the usefulness and impact of the workshop. On the other hand, the questionnaire could not be validated, as it is specifically designed for the students who had taken the course and we and we considered that it was not appropriate to test it previously with the same group of students. However, it was discussed in depth with all the researchers and teachers involved in the course.

Interpretation of data

The transformation of two non normal distribution variables to normal distributed variables to be coherent with the correlation analysis might have altered a little bit the results and can be considered as a limitation of the interpretation of data. But in fact, the differences have been so minimal that they have not changed the meaning of the results.

In addition, the significant differences identified in the students’ final grades may be influenced by other factors in addition to the creativity workshop. A lower entry scores of the promotions that did not performed the creativity workshop, the students’ profile or the tutors can also be postulated as possible factors involved in these results.

This study found that students acquired research and creative thinking skills, through an open and interprofessional IBL course. The introduction of stimulatory techniques during the inquiry process has improved the students’ outcomes. In addition, students are highly satisfied with the learning experience and they perceive it as useful for their education. Although restricted to few participants at a single university, some findings of this study suggest that IBL has great potential and can promote skills development. Open-IBL is a promising method for teaching undergraduate students research skills and creativity. Future social challenges require higher cognitive abilities, such as creative and critical thinking, problem-solving, and interdisciplinary collaboration [ 1 , 3 , 14 ] and future research should aim to determine how best to help students develop these abilities.

Justice C, Rice J, Roy D, Hudspith B, Jenkins H. Inquiry-based learning in higher education: administrators’ perspectives on integrating inquiry pedagogy into the curriculum. High Educ. 2009;58(6):841–55.

Article Google Scholar

Miller ER. Improve undergraduate science education. Nature. 2015;523(7560):282–4.

Bosch G, Casadevall A. Graduate biomedical science education needs a new philosophy. MBio. 2017;8(6):25–9.

Barrow L. Encouraging creativity with scientific inquiry. Creat Educ. 2010;1:1–6.

Amabile TM. Creativity in context. London: Routledge; 1996. p. 317.

Google Scholar

Plucker JA, Beghetto RA, Dow GT. Why Isn’t Creativty more important to Eduactional psychologists? Potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educ Psychol. 2004;39(2):83–96.

Hadzigeorgiou Y, Fokialis P, Kabouropoulou M. Thinking about creativity in science education. Creat Educ. 2012;3(5):603–11.

Sawyer KR. Explaining creativity - the science of human innovation. New York: Oxford University Press; 2006. p. 1–363.

Rodríguez G, Zhou C, Carrio M. Creativity in biomedical education: senior teaching and research staff’s conceptualization and implications for pedagogy development. Int J Eng Educ. 2017;33(1):30–43.

Beghetto R, Kaufman J. Fundamentals of creativity. Educ Leadersh. 2013;70(5):10–5.

Hu W, Adey P. A scientific creativity test for secondary school students. Int J Sci Educ. 2002;24(4):389–403.

Huang PS, Peng SL, Chen HC, Tseng LC, Hsu LC. The relative influences of domain knowledge and domain-general divergent thinking on scientific creativity and mathematical creativity. Think Ski Creat. 2017;25:1–9.

Zhou C. Integrating creativity training into problem and project-based learning curriculum in engineering education. Eur J Eng Educ. 2012;37(5):488–99.

Waldrop M. The science of teaching science. Nature. 2015;523:272–4.

Scott G, Leritz LE, Mumford MD. The effectiveness of creativity training : a quantitative review. Creat Res J. 2004;16(4):361–88.

Barr H. Interprofessional education: the fourth focus. J Interprof Care. 2007;21(2):40–50.

Oandasan I, Reeves S. Key elements for interprofessional education. Part 1: the learner , the educator and the learning context. J Interprof Care. 2005;1:20–38.

Breslin D. Studies in higher education group creativity and the time of the day group creativity and the time of the day. Stud High Educ. 2017;0(0):1–16.

Hämäläinen R, Vähäsantanen K. Theoretical and pedagogical perspectives on orchestrating creativity and collaborative learning. Educ Res Rev. 2011;6:169–84.

Tan O. Problem-based learning and creativity. Singapore: Cengage Le; 2009. p. 256.

Savery JR. Overview of problem-based learning : definitions and distinctions. Interdiscip J Probl Learn. 2006;1(1):9–20.

Lee VS. What is inquiry-guided learning? New Dir Teach Learn. 2012;2012(129):5–14.

Spronken-Smith R, Walker R. Can inquiry-based learning strengthen the links between teaching and disciplinary research? Stud High Educ. 2010;35(6):723–40.

Adams DJ, Beniston LJ, Childs PRN. Promoting creativity and innovation in biotechnology. Trends Biotechnol. 2009;27(8):445–7.

De Bono E. Six thinking hats : an essential approach to business management. New York: Little, Brown and Company; 1985.

Ishikawa K. Guide to quality control. Tokyo: JUSE; 1968.

Eberle RF. Developing imagination through Scamper. J Creat Behav. 1972;6(3):199–203.

Connolly P. Quantitative data analysis in education : a critical introduction using SPSS. Oxford: Routledge; 2007. p. 268.

Elo S, Kääriäinen M, Kanste O, Pölkki T, Utriainen K, Kyngäs H. Qualitative content analysis: A Focus on Trustworthiness. SAGE Open. 2014;4(1):1–10.

Graneheim UH, Lindgren BM, Lundman B. Methodological challenges in qualitative content analysis: a discussion paper. Nurse Educ Today. 2017;56:29–34.

Graneheim UH, Lundman B. Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Educ Today. 2004;24(2):105–12.

Plucker JA, Beghetto RA, Dow GT. Why isn’t creativity more important to educational psychologists? Potentials, pitfalls, and future directions in creativity research. Educ Psychol. 2004;39(2):83–96.

Healey M. Linking research and teaching to benefit student learning. JGHE. 2005;29:183–201.

Hu W, Shi Q, Han Q, Wang X, Adey P. Creative scientific problem finding and its developmental trend. Creat Res J. 2010;22(1):46–52.

Spronken-Smith R, Walker R, Batchelor J, O’Steen B, Angelo T. Evaluating student perceptions of learning processes and intended learning outcomes under inquiry approaches. Assess Eval High Educ. 2012;37(1):57–72.

Zhou C. Bridging creativity and group by elements of problem-based learning (PBL). Sweden: Springer International Publishing; 2015. p. 1–9.

Hu W, Wu B, Jia X, Yi X, Duan C, Meyer W, et al. Increasing students’ scientific creativity: the “learn to think” intervention program. J Creat Behav. 2013;47(1):3–21.

Daud AM, Omar J, Turiman P, Osman K. Creativity in science education. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2012;59:467–74.

Dolmans DHJM, De Grave W, Wolfhagen IHAP, Van Der Vleuten CPM. Problem-based learning: future challenges for educational practice and research. Med Educ. 2005;39(7):732–41.

Stockwell BR, Stockwell MS, Cennamo M, Jiang E. Blended learning improves science education. Cell. 2015;162(5):933–6.

Friedman DB, Crews TB, Caicedo JM, Besley JC, Weinberg J, Freeman ML. An exploration into inquiry-based learning by a multidisciplinary group of higher education faculty. High Educ. 2010;59(6):765–83.

Savery JR. Overview of problem-based learning : definitions and distinctions. Interdiscip J Probl Learn. 2006;1(1):13.

Vaessen BE, van den Beemt A, van de Watering G, van Meeuwen LW, Lemmens L, den Brok P. Students’ perception of frequent assessments and its relation to motivation and grades in a statistics course: a pilot study. Assess Eval High Educ. 2017;42(6):872–86.

Litmanen T, Lonka K, Inkinen M, Lipponen L, Hakkarainen K. Capturing teacher students’ emotional experiences in context: does inquiry-based learning make a difference? Instr Sci. 2012;40(6):1083–101.

Download references

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the students and teachers that participated in this study and accepted to be observed during the teaching sessions, fill the questionnaire and participate in the focus groups. This study has been possible thanks to their generosity in sharing the beliefs and opinions about this pedagogical approach.

The project was funded by CLIK (Center for Learning Innovation and Knowledge) at Pompeu Fabra University and it did not play any role in the study design.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Research Group in Health Sciences Education, Department of Experimental and Health Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain

Gemma Rodríguez, Nora Pérez, Gemma Núñez, Josep-E. Baños & Mar Carrió

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

GR made substantial contributions to the study design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data. She developed, implemented and taught the creativity workshop, performed focus groups, collected the data through surveys, analyzed all data (quantitative and qualitative) and drafted the conclusions. She has also been involved in writing the manuscript and has also given final approval of the version to be published. NP provided support for the statistical data analysis. GN participated in the qualitative data analysis process; GR, GN and MC carried out analysis of the data independently, then discussed and agreed themes jointly. JEB and has been involved in revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content and has also given final approval of the version to be published. MC has contributed to the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data. She also designed the interprofessional IBL course and the creativity workshop together with GR and taught them during the five years of the study. She has also been involved in writing the manuscript, revising it critically and giving the final approval of the version to be published. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mar Carrió .

Ethics declarations

Ethics approval and consent to participate.

The Academic Coordination Office Board of the School of Health and Life Sciences approved the study protocol. The protocol required that participants be informed of the project’s objectives and methods; participation be voluntary and anonymous; students and professors be blinded to who participated and who did not; and deciding whether to participate have no consequences. Students were informed of the characteristics of the study, gave their oral consent to participate, and agreed to fulfill study requirements. Since participation was voluntary and all data collected were anonymous, written informed consent was considered unnecessary. Participation in focus groups was also voluntary and anonymous; all students participating in the focus groups provided written informed consent.

Competing interests

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

Rodríguez, G., Pérez, N., Núñez, G. et al. Developing creative and research skills through an open and interprofessional inquiry-based learning course. BMC Med Educ 19 , 134 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1563-5

Download citation

Received : 04 January 2019

Accepted : 17 April 2019

Published : 08 May 2019

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-019-1563-5

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Research skills
Inquiry-based learning
Creative thinking
Active learning
Higher order skills

BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

Submission enquiries: [email protected]
General enquiries: [email protected]

The Value of Creativity in Research

While most people associate creativity with the arts and sciences, creative approaches can lead to novel ways of advancing research. Learn about the importance of creativity in science and how you can be more creative in your research here.

Updated on June 9, 2022

an engineering phd student incorporating creativity in her research manuscript

Creativity has important value in both the arts and sciences. Creative approaches can lead to novel ways of thinking about problems and even advancements in research. Read on to learn more about the importance of creativity in science and how you can be more creative in your research.

What does it mean to be “creative”?

Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives or possibilities to solve problems, communicate, or entertain (4). Creativity is linked to fundamental thinking qualities, such as flexibility, tolerance of unpredictability, and enjoyment of new experiences (4). A creative person sees things in a novel way.

Creativity: art versus science

Creativity has always been considered important in the arts (2), but it is not a concept that immediately comes to mind when thinking about scientific research. In fact, many people don't think of science as a creative endeavor at all!

Science is typically thought of as an outcome-driven area, with the correct answer to a problem being the ultimate goal. Creativity is something reserved for the realm of art, right?

Actually, research involves discovering new things and attempting to solve problems that don't have solutions (1). The ability to solve problems in a novel way is inherent to research. So as you can see, creativity is an essential part of being a researcher!

How to be a more creative researcher

Don't let preconceived notions about the scientific process keep you from approaching your research from a creative perspective. A little creative thinking or trying a novel approach might be just what is needed to make a major advancement or to better enjoy your work as a researcher. Here are a few pointers if you want to be more creative in your research:

Be open to new things : Creativity often develops from new knowledge and experiences.
Take a break from the problem : Let your mind wander and relax to reset your perspective.
Open your mind : Perceptions and presuppositions can limit the information you take in, so creativity thrives in an open mind.
Rewrite the problem : Look at things from a different angle to spark creativity.
Try something new : Try what others are not trying and look where others are not looking.
Don't be afraid of getting it wrong : It's okay to get the answer wrong; remember that Edison made several thousand attempts before reaching success.

Fear of the creative approach

It is not uncommon for researchers in scientific fields to fear or even balk at the idea of “taking a creative approach.” Researchers use higher-order types of thinking, including analysis, synthesis, and abstraction (3).

While these important cognitive skills are key to approaching research problems, creative thinking can enable researchers to restructure and solve problems through insights, often from unexpected places (3).

In fact, creativity often shows up as an “aha” moment or after talking with knowledgeable people (3). Creativity can be informative of scientific progress and even a defining feature of scientific advancement (2).

But what if I get the wrong answer?

One factor that limits creativity is the fear of getting the wrong answer (1). Scientists often solve problems with a single focus. Thus, trying something new or being creative in some way may seem difficult (1).

In reality, getting things wrong is just as important as getting things right in science. According to a biography of Thomas Edison, who is considered to be one of the greatest inventors of all time, Edison attempted over 9,000 experiments when trying to devise a new type of storage battery before finding success (5).

After his associate, Walter S. Mallory, commented that it was a shame he'd worked so hard for no results, Edison reportedly replied, “Results? Why, man, I have gotten many results! I know several thousand things that will not work!” (5).

Finally, let our experts at AJE handle your editing, translation, formatting and other prepublishing needs so that you have more time to get those creative juices flowing in your research!

(1) Van Aken, K. The critical role of creativity in research. MRS Bulletin 41:12, pp. 934-938. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1557/mrs.2016.280
(2) Lehmann, J. and Gaskins, B. Learning scientific creativity from the arts. Palgrave Commun 5:96. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-019-0308-8
(3) DeHaan, R. L. Teaching creative science thinking. Science 334:6062, pp. 1499-1500. 2011. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207918
(4) Franken, R. E. Human Motivation, 3rd ed. Brooks/Cole Pub. Co. Pacific Grove, CA. 1994.
(5) Dyer, F. and Martin, T.C. Edison: His Life and Inventions. Harper and Brothers, NY. 1910.

Eliza McKowan, MS

Academic Editor II

See our "Privacy Policy"

19 Creative Thinking Skills (and How to Use Them!)

Design your next session with SessionLab

Join the 150,000+ facilitators  using SessionLab.

What is creative thinking?

Why is creative thinking important, what are the benefits of creative thinking.

What are creative thinking skills?
Examples of creative thinking skills (and how to use them)
How to use creative thinking skills at work?

How to improve your creative thinking skills?

Creative thinking is the ability to approach a problem or challenge from a new perspective, alternative angle, or with an atypical mindset. This might mean thinking outside of the box, taking techniques from one discipline and applying them to another, or simply creating space for new ideas and alternative solutions to present themselves through dialogue, experimentation, or reflection.

Bear in mind that the number of different creative approaches is as vast as the number of creative thinkers – if an approach helps you see things differently and approaching a challenge creatively, follow that impulse.

While there are some proven methods and guidelines that can help you be a better creative thinker, remember that everyone can be creative and finding what works for you is what is important, not the terminology or specific framework.

One misapprehension about creative thinking is that you have to be skilled at more traditional creative skills like drawing or writing. This isn’t true. What’s important is that you are open to exploring alternative solutions while employing fresh techniques and creative approaches to what you’re working on.

You don’t need to be a great artist or even work in a traditionally creative field – we believe everyone is capable of creative thinking and that it enriches your personal and professional lives when you learn to be more creative.

Another misconception about creative thinking is that it applies only to the ideation or technically creative parts of the process. All aspects of our lives and interactions with people and challenges can benefit from creative thinking – from the ability to see things differently.

At work, thinking creatively might mean finding better ways to communicate, improve your working practices, or developing and implementing fresh solutions too.

Creative thinking is important because it drives new ideas, encourages learning, and creates a safe space for experimentation and risk-taking.

As organizations and people grow, they often develop tried and tested ways of operating. While it’s important to have solid working practices and processes, unswerving dedication to the norm can lead to stagnation and a lack of innovation and growth.

Creative thinking is important because it drives new ideas, encourages learning and creates a safe space for experimentation and risk-taking. Simply put, creativity and creative thinking are part of what helps businesses and individuals succeed and grow .

Whether your team or business thinks of itself as a creative one, you can’t afford to miss out on the benefits of creative thinking if you want to grow , deliver change, and help your team bring their best selves to work.

Using creative thinking skills at work creates b enefits not only in the ways we solve problems but also in how we approach everything from communication to self-fulfillment, task management, and growth . Bringing a culture of creative thinking into a workshop or group is often the job of a talented facilitator but whatever your role, there are benefits to thinking more creatively. Let’s explore some of the benefits of thinking creatively at work and in your everyday life!

Build empathy

Bust assumptions
Become a better problem solver

Find ways to move quickly and effectively

Increase happiness

Discover new talents and promote learning

Boost resilience and deal with adversity

Boost your CV and employability

Empathy and creative thinking go hand-in-hand. By practicing creative thinking skills and regularly looking for new ideas and points of view, you can actively become better at understanding your colleagues, customers, and even your family and friends. One of the major barriers to having productive and meaningful relationships is an unwillingness to see things from a perspective other than your own or failing to understand how another person is feeling.

By developing this skill, you can engage more meaningfully and honestly with people, ideas, and perspectives in all aspects of life. What’s more, because of the benefits that creative thinking can bring, you’ll actively want to see things from new perspectives and be more empathic : something that’s fundamental to creating real change.

Bust assumptions

Assumptions can be harmful in both our personal and professional lives. Whether it’s making assumptions about why someone is behaving the way they are in a workshop or what features will make your customers happiest, holding onto incorrect or inadequately formed assumptions can be problematic . It can create difficulty and tension in relationships and what’s more, it can lead to the development or introduction of solutions that are simply unfit for purpose.

Using creative thinking skills to challenge assumptions, build clarity, and see things from new perspectives can be transformative. If an assumption someone else makes feels incorrect, think about why and try to find out more. If someone challenges an assumption you hold, be open and listen.

Become a better problem solver

An example of not being a creative thinker is sticking to a tried and tested approach and sticking to the norm in every situation without considering whether trying something new might not lead to better results.

When looking to solve a problem or create innovative solutions, going outside of what you know and being open to new ideas is not only exciting, but it can create more impactful solutions too. You might even try using problem-solving techniques alongside some of the creative thinking skills below to find the absolute best solutions!

Some processes and working practices can be slow, especially in large organizations with many moving parts – but do they all have to be? Thinking creatively can help you find lean, actionable solutions that you can put into practice quickly and test ahead of bigger changes .

Experimentation and a willingness to take risks are vital to growth and change, and creative thinking helps create a climate conducive to finding and trying quick, effective solutions.

Increase happiness and satisfaction

Finding fresh, appropriate solutions to problems can be incredibly satisfying and is a fast-track to finding happiness both in and out of work. Bringing your whole self to a situation and being enabled to think outside of the box is a great way to feel valued and engaged with what you are doing.

Feeling frustrated with how a situation or process at work is going? Try developing and employing your creative thinking skills alongside your colleagues to find a better, happier way to collaborate! Feel unfulfilled or that not all of your skills and interests are being utilized? Consider how you might creatively deploy the skills or talents that make you happy and scratch that itch.

As children, we are encouraged to see things differently and try new things as part of our learning and growing process. There’s no reason we shouldn’t do this as adults too! Trying new things and learning to think creatively can help you find new skills, talents, and things you didn’t even know you were good at.

Staying curious and following what interests you with an open mind is a prime example of what a small change in thinking can achieve. Remember that creative thinking is a gateway to learning and by actively developing your creative toolset, you can grow and discover more in all walks of life – a surefire path to personal development.

Get better at dealing with adversity

It’s easy to get frustrated when problems seem to come thick and fast and existing solutions or methods don’t work. Adversity is something all of us will face at some point in our personal and professional lives but there are ways you can become more able to handle problems when they arise .

A strong suite of creative thinking skills is an important aspect of how we can build resilience and be more flexible when adapting or creating change. By exploring alternative ways of thinking, you’ll be better prepared to face adversity more openly and find alternative ways to resolve challenges in whatever context they emerge.

Creative thinkers are valuable employees at organizations of any size. Whether it’s championing innovation, creating change in policy, or finding better ways to collaborate, people who can effectively solve problems and leverage their creative thinking skills are better positioned for success at work.

Consider how you might plug your skills gap and boost your CV by developing your creative skillset and you won’t just be more successful – you’ll be happier and more engaged at work too!

Whatever your background or role, you are capable of thinking creatively and bringing creativity into your life.

What are creative thinking skills?

Creative thinking skills are the methods or approaches you might use when trying to solve a problem differently and explore a fresh perspective. While some of these skills might come naturally to you, others might need a more considered, purposeful approach.

For example, you might be a natural visual thinker who is great at presenting and interpreting visual information but you might not be so good at freely experimenting or creating space for reflection. In this case, you might try some brainstorming exercises to loosen up your experimentation muscles or create scheduled time for reflection in your working routine.

While creative professions like artists, writers, or designers may see more obvious uses for creative thinking skills, all professions can benefit from developing and deploying creative thinking . If you find yourself having difficulty at work or in need of inspiration or motivation, finding space to build on your creative skillset is a way to not only move forward but have fun while doing so.

If you think you’re not creative or have no creative thinking skills, we’re here to tell you that whatever your background or role, you are capable of thinking creatively and bringing creativity into your life : you might just need a little push or to reframe how you think about creativity!

Save time planning your next creative workshop

Searcheable templates feature announcement

Examples of creative thinking skills (and how to use them)

Creative thinking skills come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from things like abstract thinking and storytelling to finding ways to radically plan projects or recognize organizational patterns .

In this section, we’ll explore each of the example creative skills below and talk about how you might use them in your personal and professional practice. We’ll also point out some things to watch out for where appropriate so you can make the most out of your new creative skills and avoid potential setbacks.

We’ll also include a method from the SessionLab library that will help you practice and explore each skill, whether alone or with others .

Feel free to read and explore the creative thinking skill which feels most interesting or applicable to you and come back and experiment with others in the future!

Some example creative thinking skills include:

Experimentation

Open-mindedness, lateral thinking.

Pattern recognition

Deep and active listening

Challenging norms, lean organization, simplification, radical planning.

Collaborative thinking

Data collection

Interpretation and analysis

Interdisciplinary thinking

Frameworks and rulesets, micro and macro thinking, visual thinking, abstract thinking, storytelling.

Note that this list is not exhaustive, and there are many more ways of thinking creatively – try to see these creative skills as a jumping-off point for seeing things differently and exploring creative thinking at work .

Let’s get started!

A core creative skill is the ability to experiment and try new things, whether that’s in your personal practice, in a closed environment, or even in the field. It can be easy to fall short of implementing new ideas or following through with creative projects because critical judgment or overthinking gets in the way . A good experimenter is a self-starter who makes informed decisions to kickstart projects and test hypotheses.

Think of a painter who throws paint at a canvas and introduces new materials without overthinking or being self-critical. While not everything they try will be perfect, that’s the point – not every experiment needs to be successful in order to teach you something useful. By experimenting, you can try things that might prove useful or will lead you towards new solutions and better ideas. Remember that the act of experimentation is generative and often fun so be sure to give it a try!

One thing to watch out for is being sure to effectively capture the results of your experiments and to continue developing and iterating on the results. Experimentation is a great place to start, but remember that it is part of a larger process. Without effective documentation, you might not trace what delivered the best results and be unable to reproduce the outcomes. Experimentation is a great example of why creative freedom should be paired with a strong process in order to be at its best.

Four-Step Sketch #design sprint #innovation #idea generation #remote-friendly The four-step sketch is an exercise that helps people to create well-formed concepts through a structured process that includes: Review key information Start design work on paper, Consider multiple variations , Create a detailed solution . This exercise is preceded by a set of other activities allowing the group to clarify the challenge they want to solve. See how the Four Step Sketch exercise fits into a Design Sprint

Four-Step Sketch is a great method for promoting experimentation. By following a process that enables quick brainstorming before development, you can help build an experimental mindset that also generates results.

Open-mindedness is a critical element of creativity and one of the best creative thinking skills you can try to build if you’re new to the practice. Being open-minded means being receptive to new ideas, different ways of thinking, and perspectives which are not your own. It means not closing down conversations or ideas prematurely and trying to actively explore what is presented to you.

Imagine that a colleague comes up with an idea that is so far out of the status quo it seems off-the-wall and bizarre. Being open-minded means actively engaging with what is presented and to refrain from forming judgments before first understanding where your colleague is coming from .

Your colleagues’ initial idea might not be perfect, but being open-minded and truly attempting to understand their perspective means you can create dialogue, foster creativity, and move forward as a team.

Being open-minded doesn’t mean accepting every new idea and agreeing wholesale with every different opinion. While you should always try to be open and receptive to new ideas and other perspectives, you should also critically appraise and engage with them as part of a larger creative process. Don’t be so open-minded you have no strong opinions of your own!

Heard, Seen, Respected (HSR) #issue analysis #empathy #communication #liberating structures #remote-friendly You can foster the empathetic capacity of participants to “walk in the shoes” of others. Many situations do not have immediate answers or clear resolutions. Recognizing these situations and responding with empathy can improve the “cultural climate” and build trust among group members. HSR helps individuals learn to respond in ways that do not overpromise or overcontrol. It helps members of a group notice unwanted patterns and work together on shifting to more productive interactions. Participants experience the practice of more compassion and the benefits it engenders.

Open-mindedness is particularly useful when it comes to meaningfully communicating with others. Whether its developing the ability to walk in the shoes of someone else or building empathy and listening skills, Heard, Seen, Respected is a great method to try when learning to be more open-minded.

Lateral thinking is a prime example of how we can creatively solve real-world problems in a measurable and easy-to-understand manner. Deploying lateral thinking means using reasoning or non-traditional logic to find an indirect or out-of-the-box approach to solving a problem.

A simple example might be a challenge like: we need to increase revenue. Traditional thinking might mean considering hiring new salespeople to try and get more direct sales. A lateral approach might mean engaging more with current customers to reduce churn, working with external partners to get new leads, working to get sponsorship, piloting an affiliate scheme or any number of new ways to solve the existing problem.

Broadly speaking, lateral thinking often means stepping back and considering solutions or approaches outside of the immediately obvious.

One potential danger with lateral thinking is spending time to create new solutions to problems that don’t need them. Not every problem needs to be solved laterally and the best solution might actually be the most straightforward. Be sure to tap into existing knowledge and appraise a problem before trying something radical to avoid wasted time or frustration!

The Creativity Dice #creativity #problem solving #thiagi #issue analysis Too much linear thinking is hazardous to creative problem solving. To be creative, you should approach the problem (or the opportunity) from different points of view. You should leave a thought hanging in mid-air and move to another. This skipping around prevents premature closure and lets your brain incubate one line of thought while you consciously pursue another.

Developing your lateral thinking skills comes more naturally to some than others. The Creativity Dice is a great method for getting out of linear thinking habits and moving into different ways of thinking.

Pattern recognition

Pattern recognition is the ability to recognise existing or emerging patterns and make connections based on the patterns you have discerned . While pattern recognition goes back to our prehistoric roots, being able to spot patterns outside of the ordinary and consider what may not be immediately obvious is a vital creative thinking skill for today.

Consider how meetings between some members of a team might often end in conflict. While it might first seem that these two people just can’t get along, it might actually be that certain emotional triggers are being tripped or the format of the conversation isn’t working. Looking beyond your initial impressions and from a new perspective might let you find a repeating pattern that isn’t immediately obvious.

When trying to spot patterns, try to be mindful of existing biases so you avoid bending what is happening to fit a pattern you might be expecting. Be sure to interpret all data fairly and honestly, even if you believe a pattern is already forming.

Affinity Map #idea generation #gamestorming Most of us are familiar with brainstorming—a method by which a group generates as many ideas around a topic as possible in a limited amount of time. Brainstorming works to get a high quantity of information on the table. But it begs the follow-up question of how to gather meaning from all the data. Using a simple Affinity Diagram technique can help us discover embedded patterns (and sometimes break old patterns) of thinking by sorting and clustering language-based information into relationships. It can also give us a sense of where most people’s thinking is focused

Pattern recognition is a skill that benefits from thoughtful practice. Try starting with a deliberate pattern-finding process like Affinity Map to build the ability to see patterns where they might not first be obvious.

While it might not seem like it at first, being a good listener is a creative thinking skill. It asks that a person not only try to understand what is being said but also to engage with the why and how of the conversation in order to reframe prior thinking and see things from a new perspective.

Deep listening or active listening is not only hearing the words that someone is saying but actively seeking to interpret their intent, understand their position, and create a positive space for further conversation. Not only does this create a deeper conversation for both parties, but this act of engagement and understanding leads to more creative and dynamic results too.

Think of a workplace grievance that one person might have against another. Without actively listening and trying to understand the core issues from the perspective of everyone involved, you might not only fail to solve the issue but actually make staff feel less heard and valued too.

By employing this creative thinking skill in such a conversation you can see things more clearly and find a way to creatively satisfy the needs of everyone involved.

Active Listening #hyperisland #skills #active listening #remote-friendly This activity supports participants to reflect on a question and generate their own solutions using simple principles of active listening and peer coaching. It’s an excellent introduction to active listening but can also be used with groups that are already familiar with it. Participants work in groups of three and take turns being: “the subject”, the listener, and the observer.

Trying to be more present in conversations is a great place to begin building your deep listening and active listening skills . Want to supercharge the process as a group? Try a role-play activity like Active Listening to more thoughtfully see and reflect on how important this skill can be.

Not all established working practices are the best way of doing things. People who practice this creative thinking skill are likely to question the status quo in search of something new which can deliver meaningful change. While any challenge to the established order needs to be conducted respectfully and thoughtfully, thinking of how to go beyond the norm is how innovation occurs and where creative thinkers excel.

When trying to practice this skill, be prepared to question existing methods and frameworks and ask if there might be a better way outside of the limits of the current system.

As with lateral thinking, it’s important to recognize that not everything is a problem that needs to be solved and so you may need to be selective in which norms should be challenged – otherwise, you may never make it out of the front door!

Additionally, challenging the established order often means questioning the work someone else has already done. While this is a necessary part of growth, it should always be done constructively and respectfully.

W³ – What, So What, Now What? #issue analysis #innovation #liberating structures You can help groups reflect on a shared experience in a way that builds understanding and spurs coordinated action while avoiding unproductive conflict. It is possible for every voice to be heard while simultaneously sifting for insights and shaping new direction. Progressing in stages makes this practical—from collecting facts about What Happened to making sense of these facts with So What and finally to what actions logically follow with Now What . The shared progression eliminates most of the misunderstandings that otherwise fuel disagreements about what to do. Voila!

Challenging norms without a considered approach can be ineffective and potentially frustrating. Taking the time to build shared understanding and push in the same direction with What, So What, Now What? is a great way to explore how your existing process is or isn’t working and challenge norms productively.

Creative thinking doesn’t mean being disorganized or chaotic just because you have an abundance of ideas. In order to facilitate creative thinking, it’s important to stay organized and approach the process with the right framework, mindset, and space. As a creative thinking skill, lean organization means considering what you absolutely need to do in order to make things happen, versus what you don’t.

Think of how a large, multi-discipline team might go about organizing themselves for a big project. While it’s vital everyone is aligned and kept up to date, a traditional system of scheduled meetings might not be the most productive. Lean organization means considering the needs of the team, the project and thinking creatively about what you need to stay organized, and keeping unnecessary admin to a minimum.

Thinking creatively about organization is something all leaders should practice but any project can benefit from thinking through the process by which it will be accomplished.

MoSCoW #define intentions #create #design #action #remote-friendly MoSCoW is a method that allows the team to prioritize the different features that they will work on. Features are then categorized into “Must have”, “Should have”, “Could have”, or “Would like but won‘t get”. To be used at the beginning of a timeslot (for example during Sprint planning) and when planning is needed.

Lean organization often means being honest and realistic about what is absolutely necessary versus nice to have. MoSCoW is an effective agile framework for planning work and also reframing your approach to organizing time, tasks and more!

Simplifying, presenting or decoding any information is a vital skill when working with others. In a creative thinking context, simplification is the act of seeing what is important about a task or piece of data and stripping away the extraneous parts to see things more clearly.

Some problems can feel unassailable because of their complexity or scale – simplification allows you to reconsider a problem in simple terms and reframe it in a way that means you can approach it productively.

An example of using this creative thinking skill at work might be when presenting the results of a project to the rest of your organization. People working on other teams and in different disciplines could become disengaged if exposed to too many complex moving parts or it might simply be a waste of time to discuss every detail.

By simplifying a project into more succinct terms, you not only can help your group connect with the material swiftly but also boil a project down to its most important elements . This is a great way to creatively re-energize a project and identify where you can make an impact immediately.

6 Words #ufmcs #red teaming This tool is designed to help critical thinkers focus on a core idea by writing a short phrase summarizing their thoughts into a set number of words that are clear, concise, and accurate. This idea is based on a complete short story written by Ernest Hemingway: “For sale, baby shoes – never worn.” Six Words forces people to synthesize their ideas in a succinct and meaningful way, cutting away fluff and distilling the idea to its bare essence.

One way of practicing simplification is by summarising or condensing thoughts, ideas of stories into a more concise, compressed form . 6 Words is a method for cutting away extraneous material from ideas that engages creative thinking and reframing approachably – great for groups!

Any major project requires some measure of planning in order to succeed, especially when working with others. But are there times where overplanning or traditional working processes feel too slow or frustrating for the project at hand? This is where these creative thinking skills come in handy! Radical planning is a way of approaching project planning from an alternative angle in order to generate fast, effective results.

When taking this planning approach, you will often shuffle the order of the normal planning process in order to create alternative outcomes and cut out elements you may not need. For example, with the backcasting workshop activity, the approach is to think of desired outcomes up to twenty years in the future and work backward to figure out how we can make small steps today.

You might also try planning with a mindset of what you and your team can each achieve immediately and in a more experimental fashion with an activity like 15% solutions .

By approaching planning with a creative thinking mindset, you can surface ideas and plans which may not have come up with a more traditional planning process. Another great benefit is to question the normal manner in which your team or organisation approaches planning and can help your team find a method that works best for you!

Backcasting #define intentions #create #design #action Backcasting is a method for planning the actions necessary to reach desired future goals. This method is often applied in a workshop format with stakeholders participating. To be used when a future goal (even if it is vague) has been identified.

Collaborative thinking

Effective collaboration requires us to bring many different skills together, but consciously considering how to be a more effective collaborator is worth mentioning separately. When a creative thinker approaches collaboration, they will try to think of how to use alternative approaches to make the collaborative process more effective while also helping everyone on the team contribute and be heard.

An example is when it comes to getting work done in meetings – if the current process isn’t enabling everyone to collaborate effectively, you might employ creative thinking to try finding an alternative format, consider working asynchronously, or timeboxing parts of your agenda.

The best collaborators also find ways to champion the work of others and create a safe space for everyone to contribute – it might not be enough to assume collaboration will be accomplished when you get people in a room.

Employing this creative thinking skill can make all the difference when it comes to job satisfaction, interpersonal relationships and group outcomes too! Try approaching your collaborative projects more mindfully and see how it changes things for you!

Marshmallow challenge with debriefing #teamwork #team #leadership #collaboration In eighteen minutes, teams must build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow. The marshmallow needs to be on top. The Marshmallow Challenge was developed by Tom Wujec, who has done the activity with hundreds of groups around the world. Visit the Marshmallow Challenge website for more information. This version has an extra debriefing question added with sample questions focusing on roles within the team.

Working together on a task as a team is an effective way of kickstarting collaborative thinking, especially if you approach the task mindfully . The Marshamllow Challenge with debriefing is a proven method for engaging teamwork and by adding reflection time afterward, your group can share and build on what they learned.

Collecting data might seem like a solely analytical skill, but it is another area where creative thinking can lead to productive, unexpected and transformative results. Approaching the data collection process creatively might mean trying new techniques or sources, or simply reconsidering the how and why of your data collection processes.

Imagine you are running a survey to measure customer happiness. You might try asking traditional survey questions, but find that your response rate is low and furthermore, your approach might be invasive and actively decrease happiness too!

If you were to approach this problem creatively, you might find that using a simplified form, asking for feedback at a different point in the customer journey, or utilizing an alternative measurement scheme delivers the data you are looking for. In many cases, thinking about the questions you are asking from a new point of view is what unlocks a better data collection process.

The key to this creative thinking skill is to try looking at the data collection process from a new, preferably customer-centric perspective while also considering why and how you are collecting data. You will likely find that by asking for input from your customers more creatively, you create space for more creative responses too!

3 Question Mingle #hyperisland #team #get-to-know An activity to support a group to get to know each other through a set of questions that they create themselves. The activity gets participants moving around and meeting each other one-on-one. It’s useful in the early stages of team development and/or for groups to reconnect with each other after a period of time apart.

3 Question Mingle is a get to know you activity that does double duty in demonstrating the power of approaching data collection creatively. By creating their own questions, a group can really think about what they want to know, how they ask questions, and how the results differ. Be sure to give it a try!

Interpretation and analysis

Interpretation skills can be varied though in a creative thinking context it means being able to successfully analyze an idea, solution, dataset, or conversation and draw effective conclusions. Great interpreters are people with a desire to listen, understand, and dig deeper in order to make their interpretation fully realised.

One of the ways creative thinking can improve interpretation is in helping us challenge assumptions or initial readings of data in order to consider other possible interpretations and perspectives.

Say your product is having a problem with losing lots of new customers shortly after signing up. You do a survey and people say that they leave because the product isn’t useful to them. Your initial interpretation of that data might be that you’re not the right fit for these customers or that the product needs new features.

If you were to apply creative thinking to the interpretation of this data, you might conduct further research and see that the product is fine, but people didn’t find the right features for them and that your onboarding process needs to be improved.

The key here is interpreting the data from various perspectives and then correlating that with other sources to form an accurate and representative interpretation, rather than going with your initial assumption . By following this process, you might also find that the way you are collecting data is flawed (perhaps not asking the right questions) or that more research and data collection is needed.

So long as you are sure to have data points and analysis to back up your findings, it pays to explore alternative interpretations so you can avoid bias and find the most accurate takeaways .

Fishbone diagram #frame insights #create #design #issue analysis Fishbone diagrams show the causes of a specific event.

Effective interpretation and analysis isn’t possible without a thorough exploration of the problem or topic at hand. Fishbone Diagram is a simple method for not only surfacing insights but framing them in a way that allows for proper and multi-perspective analysis.

Einstein is quoted as saying, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” In this mold, sometimes the best ideas and solutions come from fields and disciplines outside of our own. By considering how someone with a different skillset to your own would solve a problem or deploy solutions, you can often find ideas and techniques you may never have considered.

Consider being tasked with improving employee happiness. A social media manager with a background in illustration and events management would likely try a very different approach to a sales manager who is used to a culture of incentives and bonuses. If you were trying to develop a new product, think of how a developer would approach deciding on key features versus an academic or a customer success manager?

The important thing here is to try and use the perspective, skill set , and approach of another field or discipline to first consider and then solve a problem more fully . Where possible, try and include people from other disciplines in the process and try to avoid making assumptions.

As with all creative thinking skills, being open-minded and sourcing the expertise and opinions of others where necessary is vital when creating true innovation.

Mash-Up Innovation #hyperisland #innovation #idea generation Mash-ups is a collaborative idea generation method in which participants come up with innovative concepts by combining different elements together. In a first step, participants brainstorm around different areas, such as technologies, human needs, and existing services. In a second step, they rapidly combine elements from those areas to create new, fun and innovative concepts. Mash-ups demonstrates how fast and easy it can be to come up with innovative ideas.

Interdisciplinary thinking isn’t just for radical academics. By combining ideas from disparate fields in a fast, fun manner, Mash-Up Innovation is great for building creative thinking skills and generating results in one fell swoop!

All creative thinking skills are about reframing things in a new way of finding alternative approaches. This can often mean abandoning an existing framework and thinking outside of the box. That said , another way of applying creative thinking is by bringing rulesets, constraints, or frameworks to your approach in order to trigger deeper creative work and tap into a problem-solving mindset .

Consider a simple task like trying to generate more customers. With free reign, there are innumerable ways to accomplish this. But what happens if you create a rule like, we cannot spend any money, or, these must be driven by social media alone. In order to accomplish your goal under these conditions, you must think more creatively and deeply, deploying more concentrated problem-solving skills than if you could try any approach you wanted.

Alternatively, you might approach a problem with a framework that forces you to think under specific circumstances or with a rigid set of steps. Six thinking hats is a great workshop activity that asks participants to frame and reframe a problem from six different angles. While it might first seem counterintuitive, the use of rules or frameworks can create fertile ground for creative thinking and lead to more realized solutions!

The Six Thinking Hats #creative thinking #meeting facilitation #problem solving #issue resolution #idea generation #conflict resolution The Six Thinking Hats are used by individuals and groups to separate out conflicting styles of thinking. They enable and encourage a group of people to think constructively together in exploring and implementing change, rather than using argument to fight over who is right and who is wrong.

Not all problems are created equal. Depending on how much it directly affects you, you might see a given problem as being more or less important than your colleagues, leading to a different response and approach to solving the problem. This creative thinking skill is all about being able to switch between seeing the bigger picture while also considering how something might manifest on a smaller scale.

Think of how frustrating it can be when an executive team makes sweeping changes that affect frontline staff in a way they might not have anticipated. Micro and macro thinking means seeing both problems and potential solutions from multiple perspectives and adjusting accordingly.

Another key aspect of applying this approach is knowing the limits of your own knowledge and involving stakeholders from all levels of an organization to inform your ideation and problem-solving process.

If you’ve never worked in support and don’t regularly talk to your support team, you might not understand how a change to helpdesk software could impact your team and your clients – remember that a big part of any change in perspective is doing the research and talking to who will be affected !

Stakeholder Round Robin Brainstorm #idea generation #brainstorming #perspectives #remote-friendly #online A divergent process to generate ideas and understanding from different perspectives.

Learning to practice micro and macro thinking often starts with first listening to and understanding the needs and perspectives of others . Especially those who have varied positions in relation to the problem, solutions, or organization you are working with. Stakeholder Round Robin Brainstorm is an effective method of surfacing insights and perspectives quickly and productively.

Of all the creative thinking skills on this list, visual thinking might be one you are most familiar with. Visual thinking is a method of processing, learning, and presenting information and concepts with visual assets such as images.

Visual thinking is often associated with creative thinking because of the consumption and creation of images at its heart. Don’t let this make you think you have to be able to draw in order to be a visual thinker.

Applying this creative thinking skill means being able to interpret visual information, present concepts in an often simple visual manner, and communicate in a way that is more universally understood. Drawing stick people is actively encouraged!

Visual approaches to problem-solving can help foster shared understanding and help people be more succinct or creative in their ideas. Remember: if an idea is too complex to be put into pictures, perhaps it needs further refinement .

Imagie-ination #idea generation #gamestorming Images have the ability to spark insights and to create new associations and possible connections. That is why pictures help generate new ideas, which is exactly the point of this exercise.

While you might be able to jump straight into direct applications of visual thinking, it can help to try an exercise where you and a group explore using images simply and engagingly. Imagie-ination helps unlock the power of visual thinking as a team while also helping generate ideas too!

Abstraction or abstract thinking is the art of taking things out of their normal context and presenting them in a radical new light . While most creative thinking skills utilise abstraction in some form, it’s worth noting that actively trying to take an idea from one context and place it in another is a creative approach all on its own.

Think of Pablo Picasso’s cubist portraits – by taking something as common as a human face and bringing abstraction to his process, he created something radically different and innovative. You can create a similar effect by recontextualizing ideas, concepts, and problems and by looking at them from different, perhaps even conflicting points of view.

Abstract thinking is often built on engaging with absurdities, paradoxes, and unexpected connections . As such, it can often be fun, wild and surprising, and is a great way to generate creative ideas even in those who might be resistant to other forms of creative thinking. Lean into the weird!

Forced Analogy #divergent thinking #zoom #virtual #remote-friendly People compare something (e.g. themselves, their company, their team) to an object.

Forced Analogy is a quick, fun activity you can use to promote abstract thinking. Comparing one thing to another seemingly unrelated thing asks for a creative approach to context and metaphor and can really unlock a groups divergent thinking process.

Telling stories or narrativizing a problem can help us not only see things differently but understand where we share common ground with others. Everybody tells stories – whether that’s explaining our employment history, telling colleagues about what happened at the weekend, or when creating user personas and journeys.

Leverage this inclination to help people not only realize they are creative thinkers by nature but to help them share something of themselves too!

As a creative thinking skill, storytelling is about applying our natural proclivity for stories into new situations or thinking about how to reappraise or present material narratively . Think of the basic storytelling concept like the idea that all stories have a beginning, middle, and end – how might we bring this thinking to a tough challenge, a new product, or when solving a customer complaint?

You might even use storytelling tropes like the hero’s journey when exploring ideas or company conflicts. Whichever way you go, remember that stories are a universal element of culture and you have a rich lineage to dip into if you need a new perspective.

Telling Our Stories #hyperisland #team #teambuilding To work effectively together team members need to build relations, show trust, and be open with each other. This method supports those things through a process of structured storytelling. Team members answer questions related to their childhood, young adulthood, and now; then weave them into a story to share with the rest of their team.

Telling Stories in a collaborative space is one of the best ways you can approach creative thinking through narrative . By doing this activity as a team, you can help a group see the benefit of applying storytelling approaches outside of more traditional forms.

How many times have you had a tough problem that you can’t seem to solve so you get frustrated and leave your desk. Then, when you’re on a walk, standing in the supermarket, or falling asleep, a solution seems to arrive out of thin air? Often, you’ll find that creating space to reflect on a problem is an effective way to find a way forward.

The trick with making reflective space work as a larger part of your working practice is knowing when to take time to reflect, building space into your regular schedule, and finding techniques that allow things to surface effectively.

This might mean going for a walk with the intention to be present in noticing the world around you and gaining insights that can help your situation. It might also mean remembering to take time to rest or simply read and give your brain something good to chew on.

I notice, I wonder #design #observation #empathy #issue analysis Learn through careful observation. Observation and intuition are critical design tools. This exercise helps you leverage both. Find clues about the context you’re designing for that may be hidden in plain sight.

In a creative thinking context, reflection often means giving an idea time to unfurl and to resist the temptation to force it – by creating space to observe and reflect with I notice, I wonder you might see new ways of thinking emerge naturally.

How to use creative thinking skills at work?

At SessionLab, we’ve found many of the above creative thinking skills helpful when finding better ways to collaborate , handle workplace challenges or generate new ideas . Here are just a few small examples of things we’ve done that have benefited from thinking creatively as a team.

Using creative thinking to facilitate a site redesign

Using creative thinking to improve team communication, using creative thinking to improve collaboration.

Remember that creative thinking needn’t be explosive or radical to be useful – a simple shift in mindset or perspective can be all you need to create meaningful and impactful change.

When we began working on a site-wide redesign, we had to deploy a large number of creative thinking skills to make the process smooth and effective.

When first determining how to approach the project and scope the work, we reviewed how we had worked together on large projects in the past. While we saw there was room to improve, finding the best way to proceed and make the changes we needed was no easy task.

Challenging the entire process from start to finish with a creative thinking mindset and trying to stay open to alternative methods where possible was what unlocked the process for us. By reconsidering how we were running meetings, sharing feedback, and collaborating, we were able to identify where we were going wrong and then try alternative approaches more freely.

When it came to implementing solutions, we were also sure to stay open to experimentation while challenging our core assumptions of what would work and wouldn’t. This really helped us refine the working process and tailor it to our particular team and goals.

Another example came with finding a new approach when work stalled on a specific page. For our features page, we began by following the standard approach we had developed – writing the copy and structuring the page first before then following with illustrations and images.

In this case, our existing approach got us to an impasse : it felt difficult for our designer to be creative and find the best way to translate ideas into images if the copy had already been defined and the structure felt too rigid. What we decided to do was to reverse the workflow completely and allow the designer to create design elements before we wrote the copy and implemented too rigid a structure.

Throughout the project, creative thinking allowed us to challenge whether the existing way we did something was the right one and gave us scope to experiment and be open when finding solutions. Not only did this help us solve the immediate problems as they arose but they helped us come up with a great new design too!

Creative thinking can come in extremely handy when it comes to communicating. If one form of communication or working process isn’t working, approaching the discussion with a creative thinking mindset can help resolve the immediate issue and create lasting change in how we converse and work together too.

Like many virtual teams, we faced the challenge of some meetings feeling unproductive . The issues ranged from overrunning, crosstalk, not everyone feeling heard or able to contribute, or getting lost in ancillary discussions that were not productive or necessary. In an online setting, it can be hard to keep everyone on track and for things to run smoothly without accidentally talking over one another or causing frustration.

When it came to crosstalk, we wanted to avoid the frustration of interruption and disruption but also wanted to ensure people did not feel like they couldn’t contribute . Using the finger rules technique in a remote setting allowed people to easily show when they wanted to speak and what they wanted to discuss without disrupting the flow of the meeting.

We also found that the reason some daily meetings felt unproductive was because the meetings were for the purpose of daily updates and there didn’t always feel like there was a lot to say, thus leading to frustration or unproductive time being spent in these meetings.

In this example, we moved to a weekly format while also ensuring that we continue daily check-ins on Slack. This approach meant that we cut down on unnecessary meetings while still ensuring everyone’s needs were met .

This method is an example of creatively approaching a communication problem by thinking outside of the box and being prepared to challenge core assumptions . While we all wanted to stay informed, it really helped to reconsider the methods for staying informed and whether our current approach was the best way to achieve what we needed. It was also useful to reassess how we approached meeting agendas and goal-setting – follow the link for more on that if you’re having difficulty with unproductive meetings!

Remember that creative thinking needn’t be explosive or radical to be useful – a simple shift in mindset or perspective can be all you need to create meaningful and impactful change .

Remember that looking to others and being inspired by how they did things can be as transformative as trying to reinvent the wheel!

A final example is how we approached collaborating on creating the new design. While all projects at SessionLab feature collaboration between multiple parties, in this case we wanted to create space for everyone on the team to contribute.

We found that when trying to collectively brainstorm in a live, remote session, it became difficult for everyone to contribute and reflect on what was being shared by other members of the team effectively .

Some people had been able to prepare less than others, other people were less aware of all the circumstances of the project, or others were less able to switch gears during their working day. This led to some contributions being missed, a messier working process, and a feeling of being rushed – all of which lead to less effective outcomes than we might have hoped for.

In this case, we thought of how asynchronous work , reflection time, and some small process changes might help solve the problems we were running into. We wanted to be able to respond to what was being shared more effectively while also creating space for everyone to contribute in a way that was most productive for them.

Starting the brainstorming session in personal MURAL boards asynchronously and on our own time meant everyone was able to ideate at the time that was best for them and without any distractions . By then encouraging review and reflection on other people’s boards ahead of the main session, we were able to properly take in ideas and let them develop without feeling hurried.

This approach reduced the amount of time we actively spent working together in a meeting while improving the quality of the work . It helped people engage with the process, reduced potential frustration, and also meant we were more able to respond fully to the suggestions of others. This was a great example of how thinking creatively and learning from others can help create better outcomes and a more streamlined process.

It’s also worth noting that reflecting on our conversation with Anja Svetina Nabergoj regarding asynchronous learning and finding inspiration there was part of what helped this process along. Remember that looking to others and being inspired by how they did things can be as transformative as trying to reinvent the wheel!

Creative workshops and meetings made easy

Whether you find that creative thinking doesn’t come naturally, if your skills need some attention, or even if you just want to try new ways of working, it can be difficult to know where to begin .

Thinking about the creative thinking skills above and considering which you might be missing or could benefit from purposeful attention is a great place to start, though there are also some concrete ways you can approach the process and improve your creative thinking abilities in a pinch. Let’s see how!

Be present and aware of how you feel

Create space for new ideas, look to others for inspiration, throw yourself into new things, encourage creative thinking in others.

All skills get better with practice and creative thinking is no exception. Whether it’s active listening, experimentation or any other creative thinking style, it’s okay to not get it right the first time . The very act of being open to new approaches and perspectives is itself a way to improve your creative thinking skill set. However you try to implement creative thinking, know that exploration, iteration, and practice are fundamental parts of the process.

Try starting small and practice your creative thinking skills in your interpersonal relationships and collaborative projects. Take note of how it goes and try building up to larger and larger implementations of your creative thinking approaches.

A key part of cultivating or improving any new skill is to be fully present and aware when utilizing that skill. Consider how a sculptor needs to be aware of their materials, how they handle the material and place them on the board in order to be truly successful. Being present in the moment is important for any collaborative process, but is an especially vital aspect of creative thinking.

If you find yourself frustrated, excited, engaged, or stuck, make a mental note of how you are feeling and consider how you might do things differently. Staying present and actively engaging with how a situation makes you feel before responding is one of the most effective ways of cultivating and improving your creative thinking – be sure to give it a go!

As with many aspects of creativity, it’s not always effective to force it. Good ideas and finding new approaches can take time and an important part of the creative thinking process is creating space not only for reflection but to rest and allow things to surface. This might mean building more quiet, mindful time into your routine, reading and finding new inspiration, or simply learning to take a break.

While this can be difficult to get into the habit of, it does get easier with time. Try blocking out reflective time in your calendar or letting others know that you are taking the time in order to make it stick and avoid interruptions. Reflective space is important and useful, and by treating it as such, you can help ensure it happens and doesn’t get discarded or forgotten about.

One of the biggest barriers to thinking creatively is simply not being open to what is in front of you. Whether it’s rushing to use an existing solution without investigating alternatives, failing to listen or be present when something new is being presented, or sticking with your existing assumptions, a failure to stay open and reserve judgment can kill creative thinking.

Try to stay open and apply creative thinking without pressure or being overly critical in order to improve those skills and let more creative approaches surface in the future.

One of the best ways to find new perspectives and alternative ways of thinking is by looking to others. Whether it’s finding inspiration from other creative thinkers via conversation, reading and researching new sources, or simply listening and observing, looking outside of yourself is one of the most effective ways you can jolt your creative thinking.

Try finding sources outside of your normal circles, whatever the medium. It can be very easy to get into creative bubbles that might unwittingly exclude new forms of thinking. By broadening your social, creative and critical circles , you can be exposed to all kinds of potentially inspiring or creatively engaging ways of thinking and doing.

It’s hard to create space and an opportunity for new ways of thinking if you stick to the same routines and activities. You’ll often find that trying new things and exposing yourself to new hobbies, skills and approaches can be massively engaging and exciting too.

An important aspect of creative thinking is applying the learnings from one discipline or approach to another. If a developer were to throw themselves into learning how to dance, they might learn something they can apply to their role as a developer.

An open and honest desire to explore new experiences in and outside of your working life is a vital ingredient in the creative thinking process. Try saying yes to doing new things wherever you can find them – being alive to possibility and engaging in the world is a great way of supercharging your creativity!

Creativity is even better when shared. Whether it’s crowdsourcing new ideas, iterating together, or helping others build their creative thinking skills, sharing the experience is often a useful and generative process for all involved.

Try bringing a group together to explore thinking creatively together or run a workshop on developing creative thinking skills in the workplace. Not only will it help your participants with their own creative discovery, but it will also help you develop your own creative skills.

Over to you

As facilitators and advocates of the power of workshops, we’re passionate about how creative thinking can improve many aspects of a group’s personal and working lives. At its heart, creative thinking is an empathic, generative act, and by bringing those concepts to the fore, we believe everyone can see better outcomes when solving problems, generating ideas or communicating with others.

We hope we’ve given you some great examples of creative thinking at work and how you might discover and nurture your own creative thinking skills . That said, this list is by no means exhaustive and there are many more ways you might try thinking creatively. Think of this post as a jumping-off point for further exploration and creative development!

Do you have any concepts or approaches you’ve used to become a better creative thinker? Did you find any of the creative thinking methods above particularly helpful? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments below!

Very nice information. Thanks for posting such an informative blog. Creative thinking is an unconventional thinking that looks at an issue from different perspectives. Innovative thinking is a thinking that converts / commercializes a creative idea into practical application.

The Fosbury Flop is a very good example of a creative idea and trend when we apply “the learnings from one discipline or approach [Engineering] to another [High Jump].”

thanks alot…very informative and thoroug

Design your next workshop with SessionLab

Join the 150,000 facilitators using SessionLab

Research Skills

50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills

Please note, I am no longer blogging and this post hasn’t updated since April 2020.

For a number of years, Seth Godin has been talking about the need to “ connect the dots” rather than “collect the dots” . That is, rather than memorising information, students must be able to learn how to solve new problems, see patterns, and combine multiple perspectives.

Solid research skills underpin this. Having the fluency to find and use information successfully is an essential skill for life and work.

Today’s students have more information at their fingertips than ever before and this means the role of the teacher as a guide is more important than ever.

You might be wondering how you can fit teaching research skills into a busy curriculum? There aren’t enough hours in the day! The good news is, there are so many mini-lessons you can do to build students’ skills over time.

This post outlines 50 ideas for activities that could be done in just a few minutes (or stretched out to a longer lesson if you have the time!).

Learn More About The Research Process

I have a popular post called Teach Students How To Research Online In 5 Steps. It outlines a five-step approach to break down the research process into manageable chunks.

Learn about a simple search process for students in primary school, middle school, or high school Kathleen Morris

This post shares ideas for mini-lessons that could be carried out in the classroom throughout the year to help build students’ skills in the five areas of: clarify, search, delve, evaluate , and cite . It also includes ideas for learning about staying organised throughout the research process.

Notes about the 50 research activities:

These ideas can be adapted for different age groups from middle primary/elementary to senior high school.
Many of these ideas can be repeated throughout the year.
Depending on the age of your students, you can decide whether the activity will be more teacher or student led. Some activities suggest coming up with a list of words, questions, or phrases. Teachers of younger students could generate these themselves.
Depending on how much time you have, many of the activities can be either quickly modelled by the teacher, or extended to an hour-long lesson.
Some of the activities could fit into more than one category.
Looking for simple articles for younger students for some of the activities? Try DOGO News or Time for Kids . Newsela is also a great resource but you do need to sign up for free account.
Why not try a few activities in a staff meeting? Everyone can always brush up on their own research skills!

Choose a topic (e.g. koalas, basketball, Mount Everest) . Write as many questions as you can think of relating to that topic.
Make a mindmap of a topic you’re currently learning about. This could be either on paper or using an online tool like Bubbl.us .
Read a short book or article. Make a list of 5 words from the text that you don’t totally understand. Look up the meaning of the words in a dictionary (online or paper).
Look at a printed or digital copy of a short article with the title removed. Come up with as many different titles as possible that would fit the article.
Come up with a list of 5 different questions you could type into Google (e.g. Which country in Asia has the largest population?) Circle the keywords in each question.
Write down 10 words to describe a person, place, or topic. Come up with synonyms for these words using a tool like Thesaurus.com .
Write pairs of synonyms on post-it notes (this could be done by the teacher or students). Each student in the class has one post-it note and walks around the classroom to find the person with the synonym to their word.

Explore how to search Google using your voice (i.e. click/tap on the microphone in the Google search box or on your phone/tablet keyboard) . List the pros and cons of using voice and text to search.
Open two different search engines in your browser such as Google and Bing. Type in a query and compare the results. Do all search engines work exactly the same?
Have students work in pairs to try out a different search engine (there are 11 listed here ). Report back to the class on the pros and cons.
Think of something you’re curious about, (e.g. What endangered animals live in the Amazon Rainforest?). Open Google in two tabs. In one search, type in one or two keywords ( e.g. Amazon Rainforest) . In the other search type in multiple relevant keywords (e.g. endangered animals Amazon rainforest). Compare the results. Discuss the importance of being specific.
Similar to above, try two different searches where one phrase is in quotation marks and the other is not. For example, Origin of “raining cats and dogs” and Origin of raining cats and dogs . Discuss the difference that using quotation marks makes (It tells Google to search for the precise keywords in order.)
Try writing a question in Google with a few minor spelling mistakes. What happens? What happens if you add or leave out punctuation ?
Try the AGoogleADay.com daily search challenges from Google. The questions help older students learn about choosing keywords, deconstructing questions, and altering keywords.
Explore how Google uses autocomplete to suggest searches quickly. Try it out by typing in various queries (e.g. How to draw… or What is the tallest…). Discuss how these suggestions come about, how to use them, and whether they’re usually helpful.
Watch this video from Code.org to learn more about how search works .
Take a look at 20 Instant Google Searches your Students Need to Know by Eric Curts to learn about “ instant searches ”. Try one to try out. Perhaps each student could be assigned one to try and share with the class.
Experiment with typing some questions into Google that have a clear answer (e.g. “What is a parallelogram?” or “What is the highest mountain in the world?” or “What is the population of Australia?”). Look at the different ways the answers are displayed instantly within the search results — dictionary definitions, image cards, graphs etc.

Watch the video How Does Google Know Everything About Me? by Scientific American. Discuss the PageRank algorithm and how Google uses your data to customise search results.
Brainstorm a list of popular domains (e.g. .com, .com.au, or your country’s domain) . Discuss if any domains might be more reliable than others and why (e.g. .gov or .edu) .
Discuss (or research) ways to open Google search results in a new tab to save your original search results (i.e. right-click > open link in new tab or press control/command and click the link).
Try out a few Google searches (perhaps start with things like “car service” “cat food” or “fresh flowers”). A re there advertisements within the results? Discuss where these appear and how to spot them.
Look at ways to filter search results by using the tabs at the top of the page in Google (i.e. news, images, shopping, maps, videos etc.). Do the same filters appear for all Google searches? Try out a few different searches and see.
Type a question into Google and look for the “People also ask” and “Searches related to…” sections. Discuss how these could be useful. When should you use them or ignore them so you don’t go off on an irrelevant tangent? Is the information in the drop-down section under “People also ask” always the best?
Often, more current search results are more useful. Click on “tools” under the Google search box and then “any time” and your time frame of choice such as “Past month” or “Past year”.
Have students annotate their own “anatomy of a search result” example like the one I made below. Explore the different ways search results display; some have more details like sitelinks and some do not.

Find two articles on a news topic from different publications. Or find a news article and an opinion piece on the same topic. Make a Venn diagram comparing the similarities and differences.
Choose a graph, map, or chart from The New York Times’ What’s Going On In This Graph series . Have a whole class or small group discussion about the data.
Look at images stripped of their captions on What’s Going On In This Picture? by The New York Times. Discuss the images in pairs or small groups. What can you tell?
Explore a website together as a class or in pairs — perhaps a news website. Identify all the advertisements .
Have a look at a fake website either as a whole class or in pairs/small groups. See if students can spot that these sites are not real. Discuss the fact that you can’t believe everything that’s online. Get started with these four examples of fake websites from Eric Curts.
Give students a copy of my website evaluation flowchart to analyse and then discuss as a class. Read more about the flowchart in this post.
As a class, look at a prompt from Mike Caulfield’s Four Moves . Either together or in small groups, have students fact check the prompts on the site. This resource explains more about the fact checking process. Note: some of these prompts are not suitable for younger students.
Practice skim reading — give students one minute to read a short article. Ask them to discuss what stood out to them. Headings? Bold words? Quotes? Then give students ten minutes to read the same article and discuss deep reading.

All students can benefit from learning about plagiarism, copyright, how to write information in their own words, and how to acknowledge the source. However, the formality of this process will depend on your students’ age and your curriculum guidelines.

Watch the video Citation for Beginners for an introduction to citation. Discuss the key points to remember.
Look up the definition of plagiarism using a variety of sources (dictionary, video, Wikipedia etc.). Create a definition as a class.
Find an interesting video on YouTube (perhaps a “life hack” video) and write a brief summary in your own words.
Have students pair up and tell each other about their weekend. Then have the listener try to verbalise or write their friend’s recount in their own words. Discuss how accurate this was.
Read the class a copy of a well known fairy tale. Have them write a short summary in their own words. Compare the versions that different students come up with.
Try out MyBib — a handy free online tool without ads that helps you create citations quickly and easily.
Give primary/elementary students a copy of Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Citation that matches their grade level (the guide covers grades 1 to 6). Choose one form of citation and create some examples as a class (e.g. a website or a book).
Make a list of things that are okay and not okay to do when researching, e.g. copy text from a website, use any image from Google images, paraphrase in your own words and cite your source, add a short quote and cite the source.
Have students read a short article and then come up with a summary that would be considered plagiarism and one that would not be considered plagiarism. These could be shared with the class and the students asked to decide which one shows an example of plagiarism .
Older students could investigate the difference between paraphrasing and summarising . They could create a Venn diagram that compares the two.
Write a list of statements on the board that might be true or false ( e.g. The 1956 Olympics were held in Melbourne, Australia. The rhinoceros is the largest land animal in the world. The current marathon world record is 2 hours, 7 minutes). Have students research these statements and decide whether they’re true or false by sharing their citations.

Staying Organised

Make a list of different ways you can take notes while researching — Google Docs, Google Keep, pen and paper etc. Discuss the pros and cons of each method.
Learn the keyboard shortcuts to help manage tabs (e.g. open new tab, reopen closed tab, go to next tab etc.). Perhaps students could all try out the shortcuts and share their favourite one with the class.
Find a collection of resources on a topic and add them to a Wakelet .
Listen to a short podcast or watch a brief video on a certain topic and sketchnote ideas. Sylvia Duckworth has some great tips about live sketchnoting
Learn how to use split screen to have one window open with your research, and another open with your notes (e.g. a Google spreadsheet, Google Doc, Microsoft Word or OneNote etc.) .

All teachers know it’s important to teach students to research well. Investing time in this process will also pay off throughout the year and the years to come. Students will be able to focus on analysing and synthesizing information, rather than the mechanics of the research process.

By trying out as many of these mini-lessons as possible throughout the year, you’ll be really helping your students to thrive in all areas of school, work, and life.

Also remember to model your own searches explicitly during class time. Talk out loud as you look things up and ask students for input. Learning together is the way to go!

You Might Also Enjoy Reading:

How To Evaluate Websites: A Guide For Teachers And Students

Five Tips for Teaching Students How to Research and Filter Information

Typing Tips: The How and Why of Teaching Students Keyboarding Skills

8 Ways Teachers And Schools Can Communicate With Parents

Learn how to teach research skills to primary students, middle school students, or high school students. 50 activities that could be done in just a few minutes a day. Lots of Google search tips and research tips for kids and teachers. Free PDF included! Kathleen Morris | Primary Tech

10 Replies to “50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills”

Loving these ideas, thank you

This list is amazing. Thank you so much!

So glad it’s helpful, Alex! 🙂

Hi I am a student who really needed some help on how to reasearch thanks for the help.

So glad it helped! 🙂

seriously seriously grateful for your post. 🙂

So glad it’s helpful! Makes my day 🙂

How do you get the 50 mini lessons. I got the free one but am interested in the full version.

Hi Tracey, The link to the PDF with the 50 mini lessons is in the post. Here it is . Check out this post if you need more advice on teaching students how to research online. Hope that helps! Kathleen

Best wishes to you as you face your health battler. Hoping you’ve come out stronger and healthier from it. Your website is so helpful.

Comments are closed.

How it works

Transform your enterprise with the scalable mindsets, skills, & behavior change that drive performance.

Explore how BetterUp connects to your core business systems.

We pair AI with the latest in human-centered coaching to drive powerful, lasting learning and behavior change.

Build leaders that accelerate team performance and engagement.

Unlock performance potential at scale with AI-powered curated growth journeys.

Build resilience, well-being and agility to drive performance across your entire enterprise.

Transform your business, starting with your sales leaders.

Unlock business impact from the top with executive coaching.

Foster a culture of inclusion and belonging.

Accelerate the performance and potential of your agencies and employees.

See how innovative organizations use BetterUp to build a thriving workforce.

Discover how BetterUp measurably impacts key business outcomes for organizations like yours.

A demo is the first step to transforming your business. Meet with us to develop a plan for attaining your goals.

What is coaching?

Learn how 1:1 coaching works, who its for, and if it's right for you.

Accelerate your personal and professional growth with the expert guidance of a BetterUp Coach.

Types of Coaching

Navigate career transitions, accelerate your professional growth, and achieve your career goals with expert coaching.

Enhance your communication skills for better personal and professional relationships, with tailored coaching that focuses on your needs.

Find balance, resilience, and well-being in all areas of your life with holistic coaching designed to empower you.

Discover your perfect match : Take our 5-minute assessment and let us pair you with one of our top Coaches tailored just for you.

Research, expert insights, and resources to develop courageous leaders within your organization.

Best practices, research, and tools to fuel individual and business growth.

View on-demand BetterUp events and learn about upcoming live discussions.

The latest insights and ideas for building a high-performing workplace.

BetterUp Briefing

The online magazine that helps you understand tomorrow's workforce trends, today.

Innovative research featured in peer-reviewed journals, press, and more.

Founded in 2022 to deepen the understanding of the intersection of well-being, purpose, and performance

We're on a mission to help everyone live with clarity, purpose, and passion.

Join us and create impactful change.

Read the buzz about BetterUp.

Meet the leadership that's passionate about empowering your workforce.

For Business

For Individuals

How to improve your creative skills for effective problem-solving

man-looking-at-board-with-brainstorm-maps-and-lists-with-post-its-and-images-creative-skills

Jump to section

What’s creative thinking?

Creative thinking versus critical thinking

Creative thinking skills

How to develop creative thinking skills

4 creative thinking examples to include on your resume

Sharpen your creativity

Creative thinking is the key to unlocking innovation and problem-solving excellence.

In the whirlwind of everyday professional challenges, we’ve all encountered moments when fresh ideas feel elusive. If you’ve found yourself struggling to inspire your team or spinning out during a brainstorming session , it may be a sign you need to develop your creative skills. Plus, creative problem solving looks excellent on a resume .

As a leader or team member, your ability to think outside the box can ignite a spark of ingenuity that propels your team to new heights. Fan the flames of growth and learn how to improve your creative thinking (and highlight your new skills in your next job application).

What’s creative thinking?

Creative thinking is the dynamic process of transforming your ideas into actions. The skillset equips you to think differently and approach challenges from innovative angles.

At its core, creative thinking empowers you to break free from the constraints of the status quo and dream up fresh, original ideas. It breathes life into your decisions, encouraging you to embrace your imaginative instincts.

By daring to challenge traditional approaches, your creativity opens doors to uncharted innovations and groundbreaking solutions.

Creative thinking versus critical thinking

Although creative and critical thinking are both used in problem-solving , the two skills are marked by key differences.

Creative thinking is the catalyst for generating innovative ideas and crafting novel approaches to the challenges around them. With an open mind and a wild imagination, creative thinkers produce and explore unconventional solutions to the problems that stand in their way.

Critical thinking analyzes available information with an unbiased and rational approach. It involves questioning perceptions, ensuring that decisions are devoid of bias and reasoning remains grounded in sound judgment.

Creative thinking skills

When you look at creative thinking as a set of particular abilities, it becomes easier to develop and perfect. These creative skill examples can help you thrive inside and outside of the workplace:

1. Open-mindedness

When you’re open-minded, you can readily adapt to new information and look for fresh problem-solving approaches. You’re receptive to the opinions and ideas of others because you view them as constructive rather than criticizing . This openness also encourages you to freely share your creative ideas without fearing judgement.

2. Curiosity

You might find that you tap into creative potential the most when you’re challenging convention and posing new ways of thinking. Analyzing processes and asking yourself how you can improve them is an exciting way to make more efficient systems.

Whether you’re new to a job or have worked at the company for years, you may wonder why procedures are what they are — lean into this curiosity to develop new and better ways to work.

architect-woman-drawing-sketch-creative-skills

3. Ability to brainstorm

There are numerous ways to solve a problem, and brainstorming helps to get them onto paper so you can weigh their pros and cons. This way of lateral thinking encourages you to view solutions as multifaceted rather than a single, straightforward answer.

4. Experimentation

Creative people experiment with various ways of solving a problem before deciding on the best way to take action. Emulate this mindset in your projects and tasks. For instance, if you work in web design, you might try several page layouts before deciding on a final visual identity for your client.

5. Networking

Speaking with people from different professional backgrounds is an excellent way to stimulate creative thinking and develop new perspectives. When you network with professionals with diverse skill sets and experiences, they might influence you to look at the world differently or suggest an innovative way to tackle a problem.

6. Observation

It’s important to know when to take the backseat and listen in. Observing how others tackle complex issues might inspire you to make changes within your team. Always keep an eye out for opportunities to learn from more experienced peers and innovative colleagues.

7. Organization

Although some individuals claim to thrive in clutter, keeping your work organized creates an environment where you can work freely without distraction. This involves keeping your workspace tidy, creating clear to-do lists, and using visual maps to express your plans and processes.

8. Communication

Proper communication empowers you to share valuable insight and ideas with your teammates. You need strong verbal and written skills to pitch and describe your thoughts and actively listen to others’ feedback and advice.

coworkers-walking-through-office-hallway-discussing-project-creative-skills

9. Analysis

Before you can dream up a creative approach to an obstacle, you must fully understand the problem at hand. Without proper analysis, your solution may contain flaws, or you could miss important details of your problem. Practice sifting through every detail of the issue and pinpointing the causes.

10. Problem-solving

No matter your industry, problem-solving is always a valuable skill. Consider how to tackle a problem without asking the advice of others to see what creative solutions arise. This way, you can see what inventive ideas you can come up with before external opinions influence you.

Although some of your coworkers may seem to have a natural talent for creativity and creative thinking, it’s a skill anyone can develop and improve. Here are seven ways to advance your innovative problem-solving:

Reading is an effective way to exercise your mind, increase your vocabulary, and expose yourself to new ways of thinking. Whether your book is on a problem you’re facing at work or a new and exciting subject, reading is an excellent opportunity to learn. That’s right: simply cracking open a book can help you grow .

Keep a notepad nearby and write down thoughts and ideas as they arise. Writing helps you to process information, and you can revisit your musing whenever you need to get your creative juices flowing. If you’ve never tried journaling before, it’s an excellent way to process your thoughts and feelings in a safe and private space.

3. Exercise

Exercising improves your sleep and ability to cope with stress, making it easier to stay alert and contribute fresh ideas at work.

couple-stretching-before-working-out-outdoors-creative-skills

4. Listen to music

Music can affect your mood and place you in the mindset to solve problems. If you’re struggling with creative writing or creating a visual piece of work, listening to music could push you toward expressing yourself more meaningfully.

5. Ask for feedback

Collaboration and teamwork are key when developing creative solutions in the workplace. You can ask teammates or superiors for feedback on your ideas to gain insight into potential flaws in your reasoning and streamline your solutions.

6. Find a mentor or coach

Having an experienced person to bounce ideas off is a catalyst for creativity. A mentor or coach who’s dealt with similar obstacles can provide insight into what worked and what didn’t, saving you valuable brainstorming time.

7. Change your approach

If you’ve been approaching your tasks the same way, adjusting your processes may bring a fresh perspective and stimulate change. Ask yourself why you tackle work from a similar angle each time and consider more creative ways to conduct your day-to-day operations.

colleagues-looking-at-someones-laptop-with-curiosity-creative-skills

4 creative thinking examples to include on your resume

Employers want to add creative people to their teams because solving problems takes a lot of ingenuity. Use these four examples and bullet points for inspiration when listing creative thinking skills on your resume.

On a graphic designer’s resume:

Collaborated on rebranding [company’s] visual identity and social media content strategy
Developed unique and innovative branding material for [company A] , [company B] , and [company C]

On a copywriter’s resume:

Revised [company’s] website and blog content to be more engaging, exciting, and SEO-focused
Contributed original and innovative articles on [topic] to [publication A] and [publication B]

On a public relations specialist’s resume:

Increased [company’s] brand awareness by planning [event] to launch [product]
Collaborated with [brand] on [product’s] creative marketing strategy to reach a wider audience

On a teacher’s resume:

Developed a novel approach to teaching [subject or class] to students with various learning styles and needs
Introduced [extracurricular] , the first of its kind in [the school board] , to engage students in [activity]

Sharpen your creativity

Critical and creative thinking broaden your perspective and allow you to devise unique solutions to everyday problems. You can develop your creative skills by changing your environment, learning from others, and adjusting your approach to work.

Regardless of how you choose to spark creativity at work, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone and confidently contribute your ideas. You never know — you might just come up with the next big company innovation.

Cultivate your creativity

Foster creativity and continuous learning with guidance from our certified Coaches.

Elizabeth Perry, ACC

Elizabeth Perry is a Coach Community Manager at BetterUp. She uses strategic engagement strategies to cultivate a learning community across a global network of Coaches through in-person and virtual experiences, technology-enabled platforms, and strategic coaching industry partnerships. With over 3 years of coaching experience and a certification in transformative leadership and life coaching from Sofia University, Elizabeth leverages transpersonal psychology expertise to help coaches and clients gain awareness of their behavioral and thought patterns, discover their purpose and passions, and elevate their potential. She is a lifelong student of psychology, personal growth, and human potential as well as an ICF-certified ACC transpersonal life and leadership Coach.

How to develop critical thinking skills

6 ways to leverage ai for hyper-personalized corporate learning, self directed learning is the key to new skills and knowledge, why asynchronous learning is the key to successful upskilling, the power of professional learning communities, why creativity isn't just for creatives and how to find it anywhere, can dreams help you solve problems 6 ways to try, 8 creative solutions to your most challenging problems, experimentation brings innovation: create an experimental workplace, similar articles, 10 problem-solving strategies to turn challenges on their head, thinking outside the box: 8 ways to become a creative problem solver, what is creative thinking and why does it matter, essential decision-making skills to guide your tough choices, what are professional skills, and which should you add to your resume, professional leadership skills to incorporate on your resume, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

3100 E 5th Street, Suite 350 Austin, TX 78702

Platform Overview
Integrations
Powered by AI
BetterUp Lead™
BetterUp Manage™
BetterUp Care®
Sales Performance
Diversity & Inclusion
Case Studies
Why BetterUp?
About Coaching
Find your Coach
Career Coaching
Communication Coaching
Life Coaching
News and Press
Leadership Team
Become a BetterUp Coach
BetterUp Labs
Center for Purpose & Performance
Leadership Training
Business Coaching
Contact Support
Contact Sales
Privacy Policy
Acceptable Use Policy
Trust & Security
Cookie Preferences

Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

Ten Habits of Highly Creative People

What exactly is creativity? So many of us assume that creativity is something we had as a child but we lost, or something allocated to rarified individuals that we can only admire from afar.

But science has shown that, in many ways, we are all wired to create. The key is recognizing that creativity is multifaceted—on the level of the brain, personality, and the creative process—and can be displayed in many different ways, from the deeply personal experience of uncovering a new idea or experience to expressing ourselves through words, photos, fashion, and other everyday creations, to the work of renowned artists that transcends the ages.

Neuroscientists who study creativity have found that creativity does not involve a single brain region or even a single side of the brain, as the “right brain” myth of creativity suggests; instead, it draws on the whole brain. This complex process consists of many interacting cognitive systems (both conscious and unconscious) and emotions, with different brain regions recruited to handle each task and to work together as a team to get the job done.

The discovery of the “default network” of the brain—the part of the brain at work when we are not purposefully engaged in other tasks—is one of the most important recent discoveries in neuroscience. The default network enables us to construct personal meaning from our experiences, imagine other perspectives and scenarios, comprehend stories, and reflect on mental and emotional states—both our own and those of others. It should come as no surprise then that the activity of this network—as we like to call it, the “imagination network”—also informs our most creative ideas.

The “executive attention” network of the brain is also crucial to creativity, however. Executive control processes support creative thinking by helping us deliberately plan future actions, remember to use various creative tactics, keep track of which strategies we’ve already tried, and reject the most obvious ideas. They also help us focus our imagination, blocking out external distractions and allowing us to tune into our inner experiences.

When we generate new ideas, these networks—along with the salience network, which is responsible for motivation—engage in a complex dance. Researchers have observed this cognitive tango in action through the brain scans of people engaged in their personal creative processes. Initially, their brain states resemble a state of flow or complete absorption in the task. The imagination and salience networks are highly active, while the more focused executive domain is relatively quiet. However, as creative people further hone and refine their work, the executive attention network becomes increasingly more active.

Creative people are particularly good at exercising flexibility in activating and deactivating these brain networks that in most people tend to be at odds with each other. In doing so, they’re able to juggle seemingly contradictory modes of thought—cognitive and emotional, deliberate and spontaneous. Even on a neurological level, creativity is messy.

So, what can we do to augment this cognitive flexibility? In our book, Wired to Create , we explore how to develop creativity as a habit, a way of life, and a style of engaging with the world. We present many paradoxes—mindfulness and mind wandering, openness and sensitivity, solitude and collaboration, play and seriousness, and intuition and reason—that contribute to the creative process. We encourage people to embrace their paradoxes and complexities and open up to a deeper level of self-understanding and self-expression. It is precisely this ability to hold the self in all of its dimensional beauty that is the very core of creative achievement and creative fulfillment.

Here are the some of the habits of mind we recommend to foster more creativity in your life.

1. Imaginative play

Observing children in imaginative play reveals a wellspring of natural-born creativity. When engaged in pretend play, children take on multiple perspectives and playfully manipulate emotions and ideas.

As adults, cultivating a childlike sense of play can revolutionize the way we work.

Research shows that hybrid forms of work and play may actually provide the most optimal context for learning and creativity, for both children and adults, and that play and intrinsic joy are intimately connected, creating a synergy that naturally leads to greater inspiration, effort, and creative growth.

Passion often stems from an experience or a relationship that moved us somehow and can lead to inspiration. It is often the emotional fuel that starts one down a creative path, but it’s only a start. People who fulfill their creative dreams over the long haul balance the excitement about the future with realistic strategies for getting closer to their goals; inspiration with hard work; and dreaming with doing.

When someone advises you to “Follow your passion,” use caution: aside from being one of the most common clichés out there, it’s not very helpful advice. You must look for passion that is in harmony with your authentic self and is compatible with your other activities. Passion to prove yourself to others will probably not result in creativity, as it relies on your avoiding challenges that would otherwise lead to growth. So, while you should be open to what inspires you, don’t follow passion blindly. Make sure it truly resonates with you and your skills.

3. Daydreaming

Creative people know, despite what their parents and teachers might have told them, that daydreaming is anything but a waste of time. A review of the latest science of daydreaming has shown that mind wandering offers very personal rewards, including creative incubation, self-awareness, future planning, reflection on the meaning of one’s experiences, and even compassion.

Idle though it may seem, the act of mind wandering is often anything but mindless; it can lead to improvements in creative thinking. So, the next time you’re working hard on a creative project or work assignment that requires intense focus and creative chops, try taking a five-minute daydreaming break every hour. Try engaging in a simple activity that will allow your mind to wander, like walking, doodling, or cleaning, and see how it affects your ideas and thinking.

4. Solitude

The metaphorical “room of one’s own” is a basic need for many creative people. Now, science has reinforced what the work habits of countless artists have demonstrated: Time for solitary reflection truly feeds the creative mind.

Neuroscientists have discovered that solitary, inwardly focused reflection employs a different brain network than outwardly focused attention. When our mental focus is directed towards the outside world, the executive attention network is activated, while the imagination network is typically suppressed. This is why our best ideas don’t tend to arise when our attention is fully engaged on the outside world.

It’s important to make time for solitude, to give yourself space to reflect, make new connections, and find meaning. Unfortunately, solitude is widely undervalued in society, leading many people to shy away from alone time. We tend to view time spent alone as time wasted or as an indication of an antisocial or melancholy personality. But the ability to enjoy and make productive use of our own company can trigger creativity by helping us tap into our thoughts and our own inner worlds. So, don’t avoid it…embrace it!

5. Intuition

Intuition arises from unconscious, or spontaneous, information-processing systems, and it plays an important role in how we think, reason, create, and behave socially. Over the past thirty years, cognitive scientists have made huge strides in demystifying the power of the unconscious mind, leading to the recognition of a dual-process theory of human cognition—or the “fast and slow brain” theory. Intuition is part of the fast brain system.

The fast brain is structurally more sophisticated than the slow brain. It helps us assimilate new information into our existing knowledge structures, and aids us in complex pattern recognition and in making unconventional connections that lead to more original ideas and solutions. The fast brain plays the largest role when generating creative ideas, while the more deliberate slow brain play a larger role when exploring those ideas and playing around with them, to determine their uses and applications. Both the fast brain and slow brain have a role to play.

6. Openness to experience

Openness to experience—the drive for cognitive exploration of one’s inner and outer worlds—is the single strongest and most consistent personality trait that predicts creative achievement. Openness can be intellectual, characterized by a searching for truth and the drive to engage with ideas; aesthetic, characterized by the drive to explore fantasy and art and experience emotional absorption in beauty; or affective, characterized by exploring the depths of human emotion.

Research has found that the desire to learn and discover seems to have significantly more bearing on the quality of creative work than intellect alone. So, if you want to boost your creativity, try out a new creative outlet or a totally different medium of expression, or take a new route home from work, or seek out a new group of people with different interests or values that you might learn from. Openness to new experiences can help increase your integrative complexity—the capacity to recognize new patterns and find links among seemingly unrelated pieces of information.

7. Mindfulness

While the capacity to observe the present moment without distraction or judgment is a vital skill for anyone who seeks joy and fulfillment in life, it’s particularly important for creative thinkers.

A large body of research has associated mindfulness —both as a practice and as a personality trait—with many cognitive and psychological benefits like improved task concentration and sustained attention, empathy and compassion, introspection, self-regulation, enhanced memory and improved learning, and positive affect and emotional wellbeing. Many of these are central to creativity.

However, for optimum cognitive flexibility and creativity, it’s best to achieve a balance of mindfulness and mind wandering. Some forms of mindfulness may actually work against creativity—specifically, those that encourage one to let go of thinking rather than accepting thoughts in a more open manner. Interestingly, open-monitoring meditation, which emphasizes tuning into one’s subjective experience, has been found to increase both the activation and the functional connectivity of the imagination network. So, try practicing an open-monitoring or nondirective form of meditation, and allow for constructive mind-wandering while also boosting attention.

8. Sensitivity

If we think of creativity as “connecting the dots” in some way, then sensitive people—those who have a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings and also an intensified experience of sensory input, like for sound, lighting, and scent—experience a world in which there are both more dots and more opportunities for connection.

Sensitivity can be both a blessing and a curse—leading to a greater intensity of experience as well as emotional overwhelm. Journalist Andrea Bartz wrote in Psychology Today that “those who learn to dial down the relentless swooping and cresting of emotion that is the almost invariable accompaniment to extreme sensitivity are able to transform raw perception into keen perceptiveness.”

So, rather than trying to harden yourself, you may want to harness your sensitivity into artistic expression.

9. Turning adversity to advantage

Experiences of loss, struggle, suffering, and defeat can be powerful catalysts for personal growth, creativity, and deep transformation. It is often through suffering that we learn compassion, from loss that we learn understanding, and from overcoming struggles that we come to discover our own strength and beauty.

Adverse events can force us to reexamine our beliefs and life projects, and therein lie their power and creative potential. After the experience of adversity, the mind is actively dismantling old belief systems that no longer hold up and creating new structures of meaning and identity. To make meaning of difficult experiences, try expressive writing , which research has found can lessen symptoms of post-traumatic stress and depression, while improving some cognitive functions, like working memory.

Interestingly, research has also found that extreme positive events—in particular, those that evoke feelings of awe, wonder, inspiration, and connection to something greater than the self—can also encourage creativity. Positive emotions build a person’s psychological resources, broadening attention, inspiring new thoughts and behaviors, and stimulating creative thinking. So, if you’re looking for a creative boost, treat all of life’s meaningful moments—the good and the bad—as potential sources of inspiration and motivation.

10. Thinking differently

Creative people are united by their unwillingness to abide by conventional ways of thinking and doing things. In choosing to do things differently, they accept the possibility of uncertainty and failure—but it is precisely this risk that opens up the possibility of true innovation.

The secret to creative greatness appears to be doing things differently even when that means failing. Especially during idea-generation phases, trial-and-error is essential for innovation. Dean Keith Simonton, who studies creativity, found that the quality of creative ideas is a positive function of quantity: The more ideas creators generate, the greater chances they will produce an eventual masterpiece. Doing things differently means you will probably do things badly or wrong; so expect that and don’t let caution get in the way of creativity.

Will following all of these routes to creativity mean you will become a creative genius? Not necessarily. But, when the artist is alive in any person, whatever his kind of work may be, he becomes an inventive, searching, daring, self-expressive creature. If we learn to embrace our own messy, creative selves, we give others permission to do the same. We help create a world that is more welcoming of the creative spirit, and we make it possible to find a greater connection with others and with ourselves in the process.

About the Authors

Scott barry kaufman.

Scott Barry Kaufman, Ph.D., is scientific director of The Imagination Institute in the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania. He conducts research on the measurement and development of imagination, creativity, and play, and teaches the popular undergraduate course Introduction to Positive Psychology. Kaufman is author of Ungifted: Intelligence Redefined and co-author of the book Wired to Create: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Creative Mind (with Carolyn Gregoire).Follow on Twitter @sbkaufman .

Carolyn Gregoire

Focus, Flow, and Frazzle

Five Tips for Reaching Your Creative Potential

Why play is important for self-discipline.

Can We Play?

A Feeling for Fiction

7 Ways to Foster Creativity in Your Kids

Business Essentials
Leadership & Management
Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB)
Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Digital Transformation
Finance & Accounting
Business in Society
For Organizations
Support Portal
Media Coverage
Founding Donors
Leadership Team

Harvard Business School →
HBS Online →
Business Insights →

Business Insights

Harvard Business School Online's Business Insights Blog provides the career insights you need to achieve your goals and gain confidence in your business skills.

Career Development
Communication
Decision-Making
Earning Your MBA
Negotiation
News & Events
Productivity
Staff Spotlight
Student Profiles
Work-Life Balance
AI Essentials for Business
Alternative Investments
Business Analytics
Business Strategy
Business and Climate Change
Design Thinking and Innovation
Digital Marketing Strategy
Disruptive Strategy
Economics for Managers
Entrepreneurship Essentials
Financial Accounting
Global Business
Launching Tech Ventures
Leadership Principles
Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability
Leading Change and Organizational Renewal
Leading with Finance
Management Essentials
Negotiation Mastery
Organizational Leadership
Power and Influence for Positive Impact
Strategy Execution
Sustainable Business Strategy
Sustainable Investing
Winning with Digital Platforms

What Is Creative Problem-Solving & Why Is It Important?

Business team using creative problem-solving

01 Feb 2022

One of the biggest hindrances to innovation is complacency—it can be more comfortable to do what you know than venture into the unknown. Business leaders can overcome this barrier by mobilizing creative team members and providing space to innovate.

There are several tools you can use to encourage creativity in the workplace. Creative problem-solving is one of them, which facilitates the development of innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Here’s an overview of creative problem-solving and why it’s important in business.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Creative Problem-Solving?

Research is necessary when solving a problem. But there are situations where a problem’s specific cause is difficult to pinpoint. This can occur when there’s not enough time to narrow down the problem’s source or there are differing opinions about its root cause.

In such cases, you can use creative problem-solving , which allows you to explore potential solutions regardless of whether a problem has been defined.

Creative problem-solving is less structured than other innovation processes and encourages exploring open-ended solutions. It also focuses on developing new perspectives and fostering creativity in the workplace . Its benefits include:

Finding creative solutions to complex problems : User research can insufficiently illustrate a situation’s complexity. While other innovation processes rely on this information, creative problem-solving can yield solutions without it.
Adapting to change : Business is constantly changing, and business leaders need to adapt. Creative problem-solving helps overcome unforeseen challenges and find solutions to unconventional problems.
Fueling innovation and growth : In addition to solutions, creative problem-solving can spark innovative ideas that drive company growth. These ideas can lead to new product lines, services, or a modified operations structure that improves efficiency.

Design Thinking and Innovation | Uncover creative solutions to your business problems | Learn More

Creative problem-solving is traditionally based on the following key principles :

1. Balance Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Creative problem-solving uses two primary tools to find solutions: divergence and convergence. Divergence generates ideas in response to a problem, while convergence narrows them down to a shortlist. It balances these two practices and turns ideas into concrete solutions.

2. Reframe Problems as Questions

By framing problems as questions, you shift from focusing on obstacles to solutions. This provides the freedom to brainstorm potential ideas.

3. Defer Judgment of Ideas

When brainstorming, it can be natural to reject or accept ideas right away. Yet, immediate judgments interfere with the idea generation process. Even ideas that seem implausible can turn into outstanding innovations upon further exploration and development.

4. Focus on "Yes, And" Instead of "No, But"

Using negative words like "no" discourages creative thinking. Instead, use positive language to build and maintain an environment that fosters the development of creative and innovative ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving and Design Thinking

Whereas creative problem-solving facilitates developing innovative ideas through a less structured workflow, design thinking takes a far more organized approach.

Design thinking is a human-centered, solutions-based process that fosters the ideation and development of solutions. In the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar leverages a four-phase framework to explain design thinking.

The four stages are:

The four stages of design thinking: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement

Clarify: The clarification stage allows you to empathize with the user and identify problems. Observations and insights are informed by thorough research. Findings are then reframed as problem statements or questions.
Ideate: Ideation is the process of coming up with innovative ideas. The divergence of ideas involved with creative problem-solving is a major focus.
Develop: In the development stage, ideas evolve into experiments and tests. Ideas converge and are explored through prototyping and open critique.
Implement: Implementation involves continuing to test and experiment to refine the solution and encourage its adoption.

Creative problem-solving primarily operates in the ideate phase of design thinking but can be applied to others. This is because design thinking is an iterative process that moves between the stages as ideas are generated and pursued. This is normal and encouraged, as innovation requires exploring multiple ideas.

Creative Problem-Solving Tools

While there are many useful tools in the creative problem-solving process, here are three you should know:

Creating a Problem Story

One way to innovate is by creating a story about a problem to understand how it affects users and what solutions best fit their needs. Here are the steps you need to take to use this tool properly.

1. Identify a UDP

Create a problem story to identify the undesired phenomena (UDP). For example, consider a company that produces printers that overheat. In this case, the UDP is "our printers overheat."

2. Move Forward in Time

To move forward in time, ask: “Why is this a problem?” For example, minor damage could be one result of the machines overheating. In more extreme cases, printers may catch fire. Don't be afraid to create multiple problem stories if you think of more than one UDP.

3. Move Backward in Time

To move backward in time, ask: “What caused this UDP?” If you can't identify the root problem, think about what typically causes the UDP to occur. For the overheating printers, overuse could be a cause.

Following the three-step framework above helps illustrate a clear problem story:

The printer is overused.
The printer overheats.
The printer breaks down.

You can extend the problem story in either direction if you think of additional cause-and-effect relationships.

4. Break the Chains

By this point, you’ll have multiple UDP storylines. Take two that are similar and focus on breaking the chains connecting them. This can be accomplished through inversion or neutralization.

Inversion: Inversion changes the relationship between two UDPs so the cause is the same but the effect is the opposite. For example, if the UDP is "the more X happens, the more likely Y is to happen," inversion changes the equation to "the more X happens, the less likely Y is to happen." Using the printer example, inversion would consider: "What if the more a printer is used, the less likely it’s going to overheat?" Innovation requires an open mind. Just because a solution initially seems unlikely doesn't mean it can't be pursued further or spark additional ideas.
Neutralization: Neutralization completely eliminates the cause-and-effect relationship between X and Y. This changes the above equation to "the more or less X happens has no effect on Y." In the case of the printers, neutralization would rephrase the relationship to "the more or less a printer is used has no effect on whether it overheats."

Even if creating a problem story doesn't provide a solution, it can offer useful context to users’ problems and additional ideas to be explored. Given that divergence is one of the fundamental practices of creative problem-solving, it’s a good idea to incorporate it into each tool you use.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a tool that can be highly effective when guided by the iterative qualities of the design thinking process. It involves openly discussing and debating ideas and topics in a group setting. This facilitates idea generation and exploration as different team members consider the same concept from multiple perspectives.

Hosting brainstorming sessions can result in problems, such as groupthink or social loafing. To combat this, leverage a three-step brainstorming method involving divergence and convergence :

Have each group member come up with as many ideas as possible and write them down to ensure the brainstorming session is productive.
Continue the divergence of ideas by collectively sharing and exploring each idea as a group. The goal is to create a setting where new ideas are inspired by open discussion.
Begin the convergence of ideas by narrowing them down to a few explorable options. There’s no "right number of ideas." Don't be afraid to consider exploring all of them, as long as you have the resources to do so.

Alternate Worlds

The alternate worlds tool is an empathetic approach to creative problem-solving. It encourages you to consider how someone in another world would approach your situation.

For example, if you’re concerned that the printers you produce overheat and catch fire, consider how a different industry would approach the problem. How would an automotive expert solve it? How would a firefighter?

Be creative as you consider and research alternate worlds. The purpose is not to nail down a solution right away but to continue the ideation process through diverging and exploring ideas.

Which HBS Online Entrepreneurship and Innovation Course is Right for You? | Download Your Free Flowchart

Continue Developing Your Skills

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, marketer, or business leader, learning the ropes of design thinking can be an effective way to build your skills and foster creativity and innovation in any setting.

If you're ready to develop your design thinking and creative problem-solving skills, explore Design Thinking and Innovation , one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

About the Author

What Creative Arts Therapies Teach Us About DBT Skills Training

Bridging dbt with the arts for deeper understanding..

Posted April 15, 2024 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

What Is Therapy?
Find a therapist near me
Research supports the effectiveness of combining DBT with creative arts to improve outcomes.
Facilitators can teach wise-mind skills through drama therapy techniques.
Action-based DBT utilizes storytelling and role-play to make skill learning more accessible and impactful.

In the ever-evolving realm of mental health, therapists are always exploring new and innovative methods to enhance traditional treatments. Creative arts therapists have led the way in utilizing art-based interventions to teach DBT skills.

Creative arts therapy combines visual arts, movement, drama, music, writing, and other creative processes to support clients in their healing process. Many mental health clinicians have embraced creative arts therapy interventions to improve their clients' health and wellness.

There is a growing body of research that indicates that therapists can utilize creative interventions to help clients learn and generalize DBT skills. In this post, I will provide a brief literature review of therapists who have been doing this integrative work and provide an example of how drama therapy can be utilized to teach the DBT skill of wise mind.

DBT and Art Therapy

Research indicates that integrating art therapy into established psychotherapy forms, such as cognitive-behavioral therapies, can have significant positive effects on client well-being. For example, a study by Monti et al. (2012) demonstrated the potential of mindfulness -based art therapy (MBAT) in alleviating emotional distress, highlighting the power of combining art therapy with the core feature of mindfulness in DBT. Though this study did not specifically discuss DBT, it demonstrated that implementing mindfulness, a core component of DBT, can assist individuals who are facing significant physical and emotional stressors.

Building on research that examined mindfulness and art therapy, several practitioners have contributed articles that specifically address the integration of DBT and art therapy within clinical populations. For example, researchers Huckvale and Learmonth (2009) led the charge by developing a new and innovative art therapy approach grounded in DBT for patients facing mental health challenges. Furthermore, Heckwolf, Bergland, and Mouratidis (2014) demonstrated how visual art and integrative treatments could help clients access DBT, resulting in stronger generalization and implementation of these skills outside of the session. The clinicians concluded that this integrative approach to treatment could reinforce skills, contribute to interdisciplinary team synergy, and enact bilateral integration.

Other notable examples from art therapists include Susan Clark’s (2017) DBT-informed art therapy, a strategic approach to treatment that incorporates creative visual exercises to explore, practice, and generalize DBT concepts and skills.

Expanding Beyond Visual Art Therapy

DBT has now been integrated with other expressive art therapies, including drama and music. Art therapists Karin von Daler and Lori Schwanbeck (2014) were instrumental in this expansion when they developed Creative Mindfulness, an approach to therapy integrating various expressive arts therapies with DBT. Creative Mindfulness “suggests a way of working therapeutically that is as containing and structured as DBT and as creative, embodied, and multi-sensory as expressive arts” (p. 235). These clinicians incorporated improvisation into their work, a tool that can be simultaneously playful, experiential, and grounding, ultimately producing substantial new insights for clients.

Moreover, music and drama therapists have recognized the benefits of multisensory skill teaching, expanding the creative techniques used to teach DBT skills ( Deborah Spiegel, 2020 ; Nicky Morris, 2018 , and Roohan and Trottier, 2021 ).

My Own Experience Integrating Drama Therapy and DBT

Personally, I am a big advocate of both dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and drama therapy. In fact, I love these modalities so much that I dedicated not only my master's thesis but also my dissertation to better understanding how to reinforce DBT skills through dramatic techniques. In the process, I developed a new approach called Action-Based DBT that uses dramatic interventions like storytelling, embodiment, and role-playing to create a supportive environment for participants to learn skills in a more personalized and embodied way. An expert panel review demonstrated that this format can effectively support skill learning, especially for clients who struggle with the standard format of DBT skills training. Additionally, mental health clinicians found the program easily adaptable across populations in both individual and group settings.

Embodying the Mind States

To illustrate this approach and its effectiveness, the following is an example of how drama therapy methods can teach the DBT skill of wise mind within the context of an action-based DBT group.

The facilitator begins the group session by reviewing general guidelines and introducing the targeted DBT skill for the day: wise mind. The group then participates in improvisational warm-up activities to promote creativity , positive social interaction, and group connectivity. Following the warm-up, the facilitator distributes the DBT mind states handout (Linehan, 2015) and provides brief psychoeducation on this skill. Three chairs are placed in the front of the group room, facing the semi-circle of clients. Each chair had a piece of colored construction paper taped to the front, reading as Reasonable, Wise and Emotion . The facilitator explains that each chair represents one of the three mind states: reasonable mind, emotion mind and wise mind. To encourage exploration of the mind states, the facilitator can assign a more specific role to each state of mind. For example, the reasonable mind is The Computer, the emotion mind is The Tornado, and the wise mind is The Sage. Group members are invited to think of a scenario in which they felt they had difficulty accessing their wise mind. Clients then take turns embodying each mind state by sitting in the chair and speaking from the respective role. When a client first sits in a chair, the facilitator aids in enrolling the individual by asking questions about the role (i.e. The Computer, The Tornado, The Sage). For example, the facilitator may ask about the posture, tone of voice, or a “catchphrase” for this role. The client then embodies the role and responds to questions from the group as the specific mind state. After the embodiment, clients engage in verbal processing. The wise mind directive supports clients in developing kinaesthetic awareness of the three mind states. Embodying these mind states within the context of a supportive group and engaging in verbal processing around the experience can increase awareness of the mind states, which is helpful for clients who are trying to understand their emotional response to lived events outside of the group setting.

The creative arts therapies offer a dynamic pathway to teaching and reinforcing DBT skills. Incorporating visual art, drama, or music in the process of learning DBT skills allows clients to engage with these concepts in a multisensory and embodied way.

In my personal experience, weaving drama therapy techniques into DBT skills training has proven to be profoundly impactful. The Action-Based DBT approach, with its emphasis on storytelling and embodiment, offers an immersive and experiential learning environment that can be especially beneficial for those who find traditional methods challenging.

Looking ahead, my next post will delve into how storytelling can be harnessed to teach DBT skills in a way that is both engaging and memorable.

To find a therapist, please visit the Psychology Today Therapy Directory .

Clark, S. M. (2017). DBT-informed art therapy: Mindfulness, cognitive behavior therapy, and the creative process. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Heckwolf, J. I., Bergland, M. C., & Mouratidis, M. (2014). Coordinating principles of art therapy and DBT. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 41(4), 329-335.

Huckvale, K., & Learmonth, M. (2009). A case example of art therapy in relation to dialectical behaviour therapy. International Journal of Art Therapy, 14(2), 52-63.

Monti, D. A., Kash, K. M., Kunkel, E. J., Brainard, G., Wintering, N., Moss, A. S., Rao, H., Zhu, S., & Newberg, A. B. (2012). Changes in cerebral blood flow and anxiety associated with an 8-week mindfulness programme in women with breast cancer. Stress and Health, 28(5), 397-407.

Morris, N. (2018). Dramatherapy for borderline personality disorder: Empowering and nurturing people through creativity. Routledge.

Roohan Mary Kate, Trottier Dana George. (2021) Action-based DBT: Integrating drama therapy to access wise mind. Drama Therapy Review, 7 (2), 193 https://doi.org/10.1386/dtr_00073_1

Spiegel, D., Makary, S., & Bonavitacola, L. (2020). Creative DBT activities using music: Interventions for enhancing engagement and effectiveness in therapy. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Von Daler, K., and Schwanbeck, L. (2014). Creative mindfulness: Dialectical behavior therapy and expressive arts therapy. In L. Rappaport (Ed.), Mindfulness and the arts therapies: Theory and practice (pp. 107-116). Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Mary Kate Roohan, Psy.D., is a licensed psychologist and drama therapist and the founder of Thrive and Feel, a therapy practice that supports clients in managing emotional sensitivity.

Find a Therapist
Find a Treatment Center
Find a Psychiatrist
Find a Support Group
Find Online Therapy
United States
Brooklyn, NY
Chicago, IL
Houston, TX
Los Angeles, CA
New York, NY
Portland, OR
San Diego, CA
San Francisco, CA
Seattle, WA
Washington, DC
Asperger's
Bipolar Disorder
Chronic Pain
Eating Disorders
Passive Aggression
Personality
Goal Setting
Positive Psychology
Stopping Smoking
Low Sexual Desire
Relationships
Child Development
Self Tests NEW
Therapy Center
Diagnosis Dictionary
Types of Therapy

At any moment, someone’s aggravating behavior or our own bad luck can set us off on an emotional spiral that threatens to derail our entire day. Here’s how we can face our triggers with less reactivity so that we can get on with our lives.

Emotional Intelligence
Gaslighting
Affective Forecasting
Neuroscience

Study at Cambridge

About the university, research at cambridge.

Undergraduate courses
Events and open days
Fees and finance
Postgraduate courses
How to apply
Postgraduate events
Fees and funding
International students
Continuing education
Executive and professional education
Courses in education
How the University and Colleges work
Term dates and calendars
Visiting the University
Annual reports
Equality and diversity
A global university
Public engagement
Give to Cambridge
For Cambridge students
For our researchers
Business and enterprise
Colleges & departments
Email & phone search
Museums & collections
Research Operations Office
Finding funding overview
Major funders overview
Research Councils UK overview
Research Council Terms and Conditions
Charities and Trusts
Government and Departments
European Funding overview
Horizon 2020
Knowledge Transfer Partnerships overview
How to Apply
Internal funding and support overview
Research Professional
Planning your research overview
Writing a proposal
Managing risk
Due diligence overview
About due diligence
The Due Diligence Process Step-by-Step
Setting up contracts overview
Introduction to Contracts overview
What is a Research Contract?
Why Research Contracts are Important overview
Managing Risk
Co-ordinating
Negotiating Terms
Types of Contracts overview
Standard Agreements
Collaborator Agreements
Bespoke Agreements
Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement overview
Request a CDA Online
Materials Transfer Agreement overview
Request an Incoming MTA Online
Request an Outgoing MTA Online
Contracts Handled by ROO
Contracts not Handled by ROO
Material Transfer Agreement
The Process overview
Contract vs Terms and Conditions
What we Need from You
What Happens Next?
What are the Main Areas of Negotiation?
How Long Does It Take?
Contracts Team
Frequently Asked Questions
Policies for Research Contracts
Managing data
Building a team
Official Development Assistance (ODA) overview
Finding funding and grant application resources for developement research
ODA compliance and ODA statement
Monitoring ODA compliance
Building equitable partnerships
Reducing inequalities
Gender equality and gender equality statement
Open access and data management
Preventing harm and safeguarding practices
Global Health Research overview
Sponsorship, Ethics and Insurance
Finance, Contracts, International Partners
Country specific information
Costing and pricing a project overview
Full economic costing
Example of a full economic costing
Common research funder rules
X5 costing tool overview
Add new funder, scheme or institution
Categories (common values) in X5 overview
Equipment type overview
External partner
Salary scale
Rate files in X5
Responsibilities of HoD and PI
Frequently asked questions overview
Step-by-step guide to costing
Submitting your grant application overview
Applications Deadline Calculator
Before you submit your application
Standard Application Process
Small Application Process
Late Applications
Support letters from ProVC Research
Restricted calls for funding
When funders make a decision
EC Application Process overview
Horizon Europe overview
Pillar 1 European Research Council overview
ERC Starting Grants
ERC Consolidator Grants
ERC Advanced Grant
Synergy Grants
Pillar 1 Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Pillar 2 Thematic Clusters
Pillar 3 Innovative Europe
Latest EC News
General guidance and requirements overview
Novelties in Horizon Europe
Two-factor Authentication (2FA) on the Funding Portal
UKRI Funding Guarantee
Gender Equality Plan
Horizon 2020 Archive overview
Cribsheets for Common Calls overview
Cribsheet Archive
Work Programme and Calls overview
2018-2020 Drafts
University Procedure
Costing your EC Application on X5
Submitting your EC Application
Letters of Intent and Letter of Commitment
Useful Information
Managing projects and awards overview
Winning and activating an award
Extending, amending or renewing an existing award
Timesheets overview
Timesheets for UKRI and Innovate UK
Final reporting overview
UKRI CoA Award overview
Closing an award
Managing project finances overview
Keeping track of grant spending overview
Allowable Costs
Invoicing and overdue payments
Banking information
Research Dashboard
Research outcomes and Researchfish
Managing EC Funding overview
Horizon 2020 overview
Participant Portal & Grant Preparation Process
Project has been Awarded – What to do
Marie Sklodowska-Curie
Supplementary guidance on Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) program
Staff Costs and Timesheets
Activating an Award
Depreciation on EC Grants
FP7 overview
Co-operation overview
Project Types
Time Cost Procedures
EC Budgets & Payments
People overview
Time Cost Procedure
Ideas overview
Capacities overview
Joint Research Centre
Audits overview
Types of Audit and their triggers overview
Financial Audit
Technical Audit
General Audit Requirements
Financial Audit of EC Projects
Single Audit (for US Federal Grants Including NIH)
RCUK FAP Audit
Financial Audit of Innovate UK grants
Transferring an award overview
Transferring an Award Out of the University
Transferring an Award Into the University
Sharing and promoting your research overview
Ensuring your research has impact
Finding commercial partners and opportunities
Policies A-Z overview
About overview
Bulletin overview
Bulletin List
Bulletin Search
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 call
RGUG overview
RGUG Archive
How to Find us

Published on Fri, 24/05/2024 - 08:47

The aim of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility.

The 2024 call is open and guidance and the crib sheet is available on the ROO website .

Here are the deadlines for the call

Contact the Research Operations Office

Please fill in the contact form and someone will answer your query within 2 working days. You can also email [email protected] .

If your enquiry is urgent, please call 01223 333 543. Monday to Friday 9am-5pm (excluding bank holidays and university closure).

Greenwich House, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0TX.

Privacy Policy

Privacy details

Contact the University
Accessibility
Freedom of information
Privacy policy and cookies
Statement on Modern Slavery
Terms and conditions
University A-Z
Undergraduate
Postgraduate
Research news
About research at Cambridge
Spotlight on...

Examining mathematics teachers’ creative actions in programming-based mathematical activities

Original Paper
Open access
Published: 22 May 2024

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

Huiyan Ye 1 ,
Oi-Lam Ng ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3736-7845 1 &
Allen Leung 1

159 Accesses

Explore all metrics

There has been a renewed interest in creativity as a twenty-first century skill in K-12 mathematics education. However, previous research has paid less attention to creative actions than to other learning outcomes, which are often product- instead of process-based, especially in a programming context. Thus, situated in the context of mathematical learning in a block-based programming environment, Scratch, this study seeks to investigate how in-service mathematics teachers develop mathematical concepts and programming skills to demonstrate their creative actions as a form of professional development. By conducting task-based interviews and thematic analysis, we found that testing and iterative practices of reusing and remixing are two important kinds of creative actions inspired by the programming environment, which give rise to new possibilities for doing mathematics in terms of generating new ways to engage in mathematical processes and to understand mathematics from a computational perspective. Our findings will inform teacher education and professional development programs addressing creativity in technology-enhanced mathematics classrooms, with particular attention to the role of mathematics, programming, and their interplay in inspiring teachers’ (and students’) creative actions and new possibilities for doing mathematics.

Creativity in engineering mathematical models through programming

Nurturing mathematical creativity for the concept of arithmetic mean in a technologically enhanced ‘personalised mathematics and mathematics inquiry’ learning environment

On the Relationship Between Problem Posing, Problem Solving, and Creativity in the Primary School

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

1 Introduction

As a 21st-century skill, creativity has attracted increasing attention in mathematics education. Much of the early research on mathematical creativity examined the relationship between creativity and either mathematical ability (Kattou et al., 2013 ) or academic achievement (Mann, 2009 ), with a focus on gifted students (Leikin et al., 2009 ). Different definitions of creativity are emerging (Joklitschke et al., 2022 ), and research on creativity in mathematics education has expanded to address aspects such as students’ creativity in problem posing (Van Harpen & Sriraman, 2013 ), teachers’ perception of creativity (Bolden et al., 2010 ; Leikin et al., 2013 ; Lev-Zamir & Leikin, 2013 ), and creativity in teaching practices (Mhlolo, 2017 ). However, regarding creativity as a learning outcome in digital mathematical activities (Weng et al., 2022b ), few studies have examined the development of creativity with mathematical and computational thinking, specifically the emergence and merging of mathematical concepts and programming skills when individuals engage in creative programming tasks.

Although creativity in mathematics can be problem-oriented, as in being inventive in problem-solving situations, it is far more than that. For example, students’ creativity development in the context of mathematical problem-based digital making—a form of constructionist learning which emphasizes the creation of digital or tangible artifacts via programming during mathematical problem-solving (Ng & Cui, 2021 )—could be understood in terms of creative exploration, creative solution, or creative expression (Weng et al., 2022a , b ). While such characterizations offer new insights into different forms of creativity in mathematical activities, limited empirical evidence of them exists beyond snapshots of student work, and we lack understanding of the actions of creative exploration in constructing mathematical and programming concepts. As Leikin and Elgrably ( 2022 ) point out, the “relationship between creative process and creative products in mathematics has barely been explored systematically” (p. 36). Extending this argument, we suggest that studies linking creative actions (as processes) and creative artefacts (as products) in the context of programming-based mathematical activities are urgently required, given the recent rise of child-friendly programming language and emerging research on the integration of programming activities in mathematics education (see a review in Ye et al., 2023a ).

Moreover, more studies consider student creativity than teacher creativity: Only six of 49 empirical studies on creativity in mathematics education published between 2010 and 2021 investigated teachers’ creativity-related conceptions and competencies (Leikin & Sriraman, 2022 ). Among them, five investigated pre-service or in-service teachers’ conceptions of creativity (Bolden et al., 2010 ; Leikin et al., 2013 ; Lev-Zamir & Leikin, 2013 ), the development of creativity awareness (Shriki, 2010 ) and creativity-noticing professional knowledge (Hoth et al., 2017 ) through questionnaires, interviews and analysis of teachers’ engagement in mathematics activities or teaching practices. In addition, Zazkis ( 2017 ) explored lesson play tasks as a fruitful avenue for displaying and supporting teachers’ creativity. As the work of Kynigos and Diamantidis ( 2022 ) has evidenced that appropriate tools and discursive environments may offer space for actions with creative potential for students, we suggest teachers’ engagement in programming-based mathematical activities may also serve as significant professional development opportunities, giving rise to their new mathematical thinking and supporting their creativity-noticing. Furthermore, teachers’ situated knowledge, experiences, and practices play an important role in fostering students’ creativity (Lu & Kaiser, 2022 ; Pitta-Pantazi et al., 2018 ). Thus, this study aimed to illuminate the creative actions exhibited by school mathematics teachers during programming-based mathematical activities as part of their professional development. Specifically, we focused on the creative actions demonstrated by mathematics teachers in using the block-based programming tool, Scratch, to create geometric shapes, and we explored how their creative actions were mediated by their mathematical and programming concepts, as well as the programming tool used, which in turn provided new possibilities for doing mathematics. Therefore, this study seeks to address the following research questions (RQs):

What creative actions do mathematics teachers exhibit during programming-based mathematical activities?

How might creative actions serve as objects-to-think-with to engender new possibilities for mathematics teachers to do mathematics in a programming context?

2 Theoretical background

In this section, we first review the literature around creativity and introduce the framework of creative mathematical action (Riling, 2020 ). We then describe the theory of constructionism, which underpins the design of this study, and discuss our conceptualization of Scratch as an “object-to-think-with” during programming-based mathematical activities under the framework of creative mathematical action.

2.1 Creativity and creative mathematical action

Creativity, defined as the generation of novel and useful ideas or products (Amabile, 1996 ), has received widespread attention in K-12 education. Research about creativity in mathematics education often deals with the construct of “mathematical creativity”, though its notion in empirical studies is diverse. Joklitschke et al. ( 2022 ) conducted a systematic review and identified five predominant notions of creativity in mathematics education research. That is, creativity is defined as (1) flexibility, fluency, and/or other characteristics; (2) divergent thinking; (3) a sequence of stages; (4) creative mathematical reasoning; and (5) person-, product-, process-, and/or behavior-based notion. In addition, creativity can be also grouped into dimensions of creativity-as-talent, creativity-as-product, and creativity-as-process. Creativity-as-talent focuses on personal characteristics, such as the relationship between students’ creativity and mathematical abilities (Kattou et al., 2013 ), while creativity-as-product examines the novelty and usefulness of students’ artefacts as learning outcomes (Weng et al., 2022b ). As for creativity-as-process, attention is paid to personal creativity that occurs during the learning process, which relates to what Beghetto and Kaufman ( 2007 ) term mini-c creativity—“the novel and personally meaningful interpretation of experiences, actions, and events” (p.73). Other scholars also highlight the cognitive aspect of creativity-as-process, or the process of creative thinking (Schoevers et al., 2019 ) during learning activities.

Considering the interplay among person, product and process in mathematical creativity rather than addressing a particular level of creativity, Riling ( 2020 ) proposed the creative mathematical action framework (CMAF) which defines creative mathematical action as “one that transitions a given mathematical context into a new version of mathematics by creating ways of doing or thinking about mathematics that were previously not possible for a particular community of mathematicians” (p. 17). Noteworthy, the mathematician mentioned refers to any individual who engages in doing mathematics rather than only those who are mathematical experts. Specifically, the CMAF emphasizes four important components of action, context, new possibilities and community:

Mathematical context : creativity is not the sudden, random endeavor of individuals, but is inevitably influenced by the mathematical concepts and practices existing in the community.

New mathematical possibilities : the set of mathematical concepts and practices of any community is not pre-ordained; rather, it will vary according to the creative acts performed.

Mathematical community : how and what mathematicians (everyone in the community) create will depend on their identities, their relationship with one another and their relative engagement with privilege and oppression.

Creative action : since each action has its roots in one’s community, creative acts inside one community may or may not lead to new mathematical possibilities in another.

The CMAF highlights the interactions between the four components, and we thus also see the possibility of creative actions in programming-based mathematical activities. Concerning creativity, Kafai ( 2006 ) explains that constructionist learning is a form of creative experiment in which learners construct, examine, and revise connections between pre-existing and new knowledge gained from the real world. This idea has important implications for mathematics education, as it implies that learning is tangible and experimental. Furthermore, constructionist learning is highly relevant to doing mathematics by means of programming (Feurzeig et al., 2011 ; Kynigos et al., 2014 ; Papert, 1980 ). Thus, we see the potential to investigate mathematics teachers’ creative actions in a programming-based mathematical context as a form of professional development. We will detail the concept of constructionist learning and the relationship between creative mathematical actions in the next section.

2.2 Constructionism and “Object-to-think-with”

This research is underpinned by Seymour Papert’s constructionism (Papert & Harel, 1991 ) which was influenced by Jean Piaget’s constructivist learning theory. While both constructivism and constructionism are premised on students’ active construction of knowledge, constructionism highlights that the most productive learning happens when learners create a personal and shareable artefact. Therefore, the meaning of “construction” has two levels: learners create artefacts in the physical world (first-level construction) which serves as an “object-to-think-with” to facilitate them to build coherent and cognitive structures about the learning content (second-level construction), that is, “learning-by-making”. Thus, whereas constructivism suggests that learners move progressively from concrete objects to mental symbolic objects and can increasingly extract rules from empirical regularities, constructionism emphasizes knowledge construction in situ, in the sense that learners should be situated to become “one” with the environment instead of “looking at a distance” (Ackermann, 2001 ).

Papert ( 1980 ) identified his Logo programming as an “object-to-think-with,” namely a physical or digital or even mental object that becomes a cognitive artefact in which “there is an intersection of cultural presence, embedded knowledge, and the possibility for personal identification” (p. 11) during the thinking and learning process (e.g., a formula in a computer program can be seen as a digital object-to-think-with). As captured by Sinclair et al. ( 2013 ) making a square in Logo can be seen as a creative act or an example of “potential inventive moments in which the human-technology interaction gives rise to new ways of thinking and moving” (p. 242), which exemplifies Logo programming as engagement with intellectual tools and affording thinking about concepts and strategies that are grounded in intuitive knowledge (Noss & Hoyles, 2017 ). Thus, an object-to-think-with can serve as “a cognitive tool that thinkers can observe, manipulate, or probe, and in doing so test and explore complex phenomena or ideas with which they are unfamiliar” (Holbert & Wilensky, 2019 , p. 36).

While Papert’s Logo was, in the early 1990s, a high-tech and active computational expressive medium, the emergence of forthcoming digital technologies (e.g., block-based programming, geometrized programming, tangible programming; Ye et al., 2023a ) demands the need to reconceptualize constructionist learning with current programming tools. To this end, the work of Ng and colleagues (Ng & Cui, 2021 ; Ng et al., 2021 ) has provided insight into “digital making” as a form of constructionist learning afforded by block-based programming environments, where students actively engage in constructing digital artefacts in the form of programming solutions to mathematical problems. In these studies, it was shown that Scratch was instrumented as a creative environment in which mathematics can not only be read numerically but also heard and visually and dynamically represented.

From the perspective of creative mathematical actions, learners and their more-knowledgeable-others establish a community that occasions the creation of ideas and artefacts in the programming-based mathematical context. Within this shared community, learners will be expected to leverage pre-existing programming and mathematical knowledge to engage in creative activities in which programming artefacts serve as an object-to-think-with to yield new experiences of doing mathematics. Therefore, this study conceptualizes Scratch as an object-to-think-with that facilitates mathematical actions with creative potential, and we designed programming tasks to inspire new ways to think about geometry in the given constructionist learning context. From this, the overall objective of this study was to investigate what creative actions mathematics teachers exhibit while engaging in geometrical constructions in a programming context, and how these actions facilitated them to develop mathematical and computational concepts, thus experiencing new possibilities for doing mathematics as part of their professional development.

3 Methodology

This study is situated in a series of Scratch professional development workshops which aim to facilitate in-service mathematics teachers’ learning in a programming-based mathematical context. The following subsections detail the methods undertaken.

3.1 Participants and context

A 10-h, five-week professional development workshop series in Scratch programming was delivered online (one two-hour session per week) to six in-service secondary school mathematics teachers, recruited through the network of the first author (hereafter, “the researcher”) in Mainland China. Inclusion criteria of participants were: (1) having a range (1 to 5 years) of teaching experience; (2) having no prior experience of Scratch programming; and (3) showing a strong interest in programming-based mathematical activities as professional development. Four female and two male teachers, aged from 20 to 30, were divided into three pairs, and each pair attended the workshops separately to maintain an optimal researcher: participant ratio of 1:2 for in-depth analysis. Most of the sessions are completed by two participants working together throughout; but as the session chosen for this study aims to examine the creativity of each individual, the two participants first worked together to familiarize themselves with some basic functionality by solving a geometry task, and then worked independently with Scratch to create geometric figures. Only when the participants encountered difficulties would the researcher briefly pause their work and lead a discussion between the two participants.

3.2 Task design

We chose a task used during the third session as the focus of our investigation because it offered flexibility for participants to express and create their figures through tinkering with different aspects of rotational symmetry, namely, what figure to be rotated and how to rotate it. From a programming perspective, the task may prompt the use of loops when making a figure with congruent sides and congruent interior angles, and of subroutines (“My Block” in Scratch) when creating duplicates of a figure. During the session, we initially invited the teachers to draw some geometrical figures utilizing concepts such as angle of turn and interior angles of regular polygons. Then, they were given a sample figure made up of six identical pentagons differing by a 60-degree turn at one of the vertices of the pentagon (Fig. 1 ) and asked to work collaboratively to replicate it in Scratch. This was intended to familiarize the teachers with the drawing functions (“Pen up,” “Pen down,” “erase all”) and some transformation functions (“turn,” “move,” “rotate”). Following that, they were given 30 min to engage in the exploratory drawing task, working individually to create any figures that they wished according to their imagination.

Sample figure of rotational symmetry

3.3 Data collection and analysis

Given that “we may not, and probably cannot, account for students’ [or others’] mathematics using our own mathematical concepts and operations” (Steffe & Thompson, 2000 , p. 268), we collected data through task-based semi-structured interviews during participants’ geometry figure construction process. Task-based semi-structured interview is suitable for this qualitative and in-depth study, as we could interpret the participants’ task performance to look for evidence of creative actions from their discourse. To maximize discourse opportunities, we used open questions to prompt the participants to express their thought processes (e.g., What did you do? Why did you do this? How did you achieve this drawing? Is there anything else you would like to draw?) By asking a series of what, why and how questions, we aimed to interpret the participants’ thinking processes from a discursive approach while triangulating with their programming activities as captured by screen-recording. Since an important characteristic of the qualitative research methodology is the collection and analysis of data from multiple sources, we collected observation data and the programming artefacts during the task. In summary, the qualitative data emanated from several sources: video-recorded construction sessions which captured the participants’ interviews and computer screens on which they were working; the participants’ final programming codes and working notes; and the researcher’s field notes.

Under the framework of creative mathematical actions, our analysis of the teachers’ creative actions while engaging in their geometric creations was twofold in response to the two RQs posed. To answer RQ1, our data analysis focused on identifying the creative actions demonstrated by the participants during the task, particularly novelty as an attribute of creativity. As we see opportunities for our designed programming-based geometry task to be a medium for expression by extending and recreating the initial drawing in novel ways, we focus our attention on the creative process—“the sequence of thoughts and actions that leads to a novel, adaptive production” (Lubart, 2001 , p. 295)—rather than just the creative product. Thus, we attended to the actions taken with the programming tool (as context) upon which there emerged new ways to interpret teachers’ construction mathematically or computationally during the task from the perspective of CMAF. In terms of RQ2, we adopted thematic analysis to examine how creative actions provide new possibilities for doing mathematics by the teacher participants. Specifically, we look for evidence of how teachers both develop and integrate mathematical and programming concepts when they demonstrate creative actions during the construction.

We conducted thematic analysis coupled with deductive and inductive coding to analyze moments that participants demonstrated creative actions or (re-)shaped their mathematical and programming concepts in their ongoing geometric creation, and we undertook iterative comparisons to verify the findings obtained. In Phase 1, we conducted attribute coding, that is, to organize the data by their attributes (i.e., type of observation, type of data collection method, which participant). We then carried out topic coding, another deductive analysis, to sort the data into categories that are relevant to the respective research questions in Phase 2. From there, open coding was applied to identify emerging ideas in the data, which generated inductive codes: “changing values”, “remixing and reusing”, respectively under RQ 1, and “recognizing difference between counter- concepts”, “experiencing connections between family concepts”, “exploring particular concepts at multiple levels”, “algorithmic thinking”, “iterative thinking” under RQ 2 in Phase 3. Finally, based on the open codes, we developed themes that included two kinds of creative actions (i.e., testing and iterating practices) and two forms of new possibilities for doing mathematics (i.e., new ways to engage in mathematical processes and understand mathematics from a computational perspective). The thematic analysis is supported by the lens of CMAF, which informs the relations among the creative actions, tools, and new possibilities for doing mathematics.

In this section, we respond to the RQs by analyzing two participants’ creative mathematical actions during the geometric construction and detail the new possibilities of doing mathematics in the programming context. They were chosen because they were more expressive during the interview process, which allowed us to gain a clear understanding of their actions. Furthermore, although the other participants evidenced discussions and results similar to those evidenced by these two cases, the creation process of these two teachers encompassed the commonality and distinctiveness observed in this case study.

We characterized Teacher 1’s (T1) construction as encompassing three kinds of approach: initial intentional creation related to rotations of regular polygons; accidental or unplanned creation with rotations of non-regular polygons and purposeful new creation based on translation.

4.1.1 Intentional creation: rotations of regular polygons

In the given mathematical context to draw a sample figure, T1 first defined a My Block named “regular pentagon” and recalled the subroutine in the main program (Fig. 2 ) to draw several rotated pentagons. Then, T1 associated her drawing with another polygon by connecting the properties of hexagons with her programming codes. That is, she changed the number of sides from 5 to 6, and the angle of the rotation from 72 to 60 degrees in her original subroutine to draw the repeated hexagon six times. Figure 3 a shows her initial explorative drawing upon her enactment of the existing mathematics concepts and programming skills in the programming-based mathematical learning context.

Teacher 1’s programming codes for the sample figure

Some figures created by Teacher 1: ( a ) initial explorative drawing; ( b ) a trapezoidal rotation figure; ( c ) a non-enclosed figure; ( d ) an enclosed trapezoid; ( e ) a figure formed by the rotation of a triangle. Note. The red arrows indicate the final position and direction of the pen

4.1.2 Unplanned creation: rotations of non-enclosed polygons

Subsequently, the action of T1 to change the values of different parameters triggered some unplanned creative works that just opened new possibilities for doing mathematics. At first, T1 offered to draw a new figure with a triangle as the base figure (Episode 1, [25:16]), to be rotated six times. However, when she changed the number of sides of the figure from six to three, she neglected to change the turn angle, thus inadvertently drawing three sides of a regular hexagon. Finding that the drawing resembled a trapezoidal rotation shape (Fig. 3 b), T1 realized that the [turn clockwise 60°] block in the subroutine had made a different interior angle from that anticipated. Here, her mathematical knowledge of interior angles of regular polygons in the programming context of turning the Pen supported her new experience of drawing geometric figures while debugging the program. The following episode illustrates this new experience of doing mathematics brought by T1’s creative actions.

Episode 1. Teacher 1 questioned why she had created a trapezoid instead of a triangle.

T1 represents Teacher 1, R represents researcher

As shown above, T1 identified that she had created a non-enclosed figure upon the loop executed three times, each creating a line and performing a 60-degree rotation of the Pen direction (Fig. 3 c). Furthermore, when the next subroutine was called in the main program, the Pen would be initialized to move back to (0,0) each time it was in a “Pen down” position, hence forming a line connecting the current position and (0,0), resulting in an enclosed trapezoid (Fig. 3 d). With her programming knowledge, she modelled the codes with the properties of triangles and reflected that it was incorrect to make the Pen turn by 60 degrees (instead, the turn should be by 120°). Upon her change of codes at [28:04], the final figure which was made up of six triangles and with a rotational symmetry of degree six was formed (Fig. 3 e).

Thus far, we see that T1’s creation is caused by changing two parameters, namely the number of line segments to be formed and the turn angle between each line, which would determine the shape of the base figure. Interestingly, by figuring out a bug in the program, T1 realized that even if she had made three segments, the base shape would not necessarily be a triangle if coupled with an incorrect turn angle, which would produce a non-enclosed figure [29:25]. Such a new experience of drawing provided opportunities for T1 to recognize the relationship between regular and non-regular, enclosed and non-enclosed figures which was illustrated in Episode 2.

Episode 2. Teacher 1’s exploration of base shapes evidencing her creative actions.

As depicted above, T1 has identified the underlying processes in the generation of regular and non-regular polygons which implicated new possibilities for doing mathematics upon the creative actions. Specifically, when drawing an interior angle (α o ) of an n -sided regular polygon in Scratch, one needs to turn the Pen by its exterior angle (180- α o ) because of the way Scratch interprets an angle by the turning of a Pen, as opposed to the angle formed by turning an array at a vertex. In other words, to create a regular octagon, one would need to make eight turns, each equaling the exterior angle of that regular octagon (i.e., 360/ n = 360/8 = 45°; see [35:23]). Meanwhile, as in the case of making a trapezoid by forming three segments in the subroutine, T1 also generalized that when making n line segments and n turns that do not total 360°, the shape formed would be non-enclosed. Therefore, a non-regular polygon with n + 1 sides would be created due to the Pen moving back to (0,0) as programmed. Upon this discovery, T1 used the subroutine to create n -sided regular polygons and ( n + 1)-sided non-regular polygonal base shapes, as well as tested different parameters in the main program that served to control the angle and number of rotations of the base shapes, thus producing the series of novel figures shown in Table 1 .

In summary, the creation of non-regular and regular shapes in Table 1 featured T1’s creative actions as afforded by the programming environment—she randomly changed the parameters inherited in the program (number of loops and exterior angle of the figure in the subroutine; the degrees and number of rotations in the main program) and explored how they generated different kinds of polygons with and without rotational symmetry. This indicates that T1 could flexibly create novel and esthetic graphics by integrating her mathematical concepts about regular polygons and rotational symmetry with her programming knowledge about loops and subroutines, which she developed from testing the value of different parameters in the program as a kind of creative mathematical action. The mathematical and programming concepts (emerged in the programming process) and artefacts (geometrical shapes created) developed contributed to T1’s creative actions uniquely within a programming-based mathematical context.

4.1.3 Purposeful new creation: translation of regular polygons

After experiencing new construction to explore the relationship between non-regular polygons and regular polygons, T1 proposed to produce some novel shapes by translating the base figure rather than rotating it at a point. As translating a figure was a different transformation from rotating it, she faced various challenges throughout the creation process and had to integrate her existing mathematical concepts of transformation and programming skills (a new block [change x by XX ] which would translate the x -coordinate of the Pen) to achieve her creation. Initially, T1 placed the [change x by 10] block in the subroutine loop (Fig. 4 a), resulting in a shape that did not match her imagining (Fig. 4 b and c).

a Teacher 1’s initial subroutine for figure translation; b a shape created by the subroutine of (a); c the overall shape created when executing the codes as shown in (a)

By reflecting on the difference between the translation process (in the mathematical sense) and the code sequence (in the programming sense), T1 found a bug in that the Pen position was changed after each side was drawn rather than after each figure was drawn, which relates to the computational concept of “sequence”. She then repositioned the block [change x by 10] (related to translation) in the main program loop (Fig. 5 a) but had not expected that the program would cause the graphic to be rotated while simultaneously being translated to the right (Fig. 5 b, i-ii), which provided opportunities for T1 to experience the connection of translations and rotations. Referred to the properties of translations and rotations, T1 successfully debugged the code by removing the [turn clockwise XX degrees] block (related to rotation) from the loop and produced her imagined figure (Fig. 5 b, iii), which indicates that the computational concept of sequence is important to achieve a mathematical process. This episode also evidenced the role of the unexpected programming artefact as an object-to-think-with in inquiring about geometrical properties and reflecting on the program as T1 integrated a combination of mathematical and programming knowledge to facilitate her creative actions.

a Teacher 1 repositioned the block [change x by 10] in the main program loop; b some shapes created during the reflecting process

Unlike T1’s parameterless subroutine, Teacher 2’s (T2) figure construction began with a parameterized subroutine, which led to a series of progressive constructions related to the same mathematical concept: rotational symmetry of single figure, rotational symmetry of composite figures, and rotational symmetry of figures with rotational symmetry.

4.2.1 Rotational symmetry of single figure

In the pre-construction stage, by connecting the existing mathematical concepts of rotational symmetry and programming skills (loop and subroutines etc.) to investigate the method of creating regular pentagons with rotations, T2 designed a My Block (subroutine) with one parameter (“side_length,” Fig. 6 a) which could take on different values of side lengths to change the overall size of the base shape. When the researcher proposed drawing another polygon (e.g. a regular hexagon) as the base figure, T2 soon added a second parameter, “exterior_angle,” in her My Block (Fig. 6 b). Episode 3 illustrates T2’s sharing of her thinking with Teacher 3 (T3), which also depicts how she imagined her existing approach to solving the problem.

a A My Block with one parameter; b A My Block with two parameters; c a non-enclosed “hexagon” with one side missing

Episode 3. Teacher 2’s sharing with Teacher 3 on her imagined approach.

As can be seen from the episode above, T2 stated that her subroutine with two parameters, “side_length” and “exterior_angle,” was sufficient to draw different regular polygons as long as the parameters were changed [36:03]. Therefore, she quickly changed the parameter in the subroutine—exterior angle—from 72 degrees of the regular pentagon (Fig. 6 b) to 60 degrees of the regular hexagon. However, the code only produced a non-enclosed “hexagon” with one side missing (Fig. 6 c). This was because the subroutine did not contain a loop that would control repeatedly drawing n sides of a n -sided regular polygon, but instead included five [move XX steps] blocks to fix the number of sides to five (Fig. 6 b).

T3 then proposed to simplify the program by using a loop to avoid reusing multiple [move XX steps, turn clockwise YY degrees] blocks, where the number of loops, n , corresponded to the number of sides (and angles) in a regular n -sided polygon. By observing T3 used a repeat block and created a My Block with three parameters (“side_length,” “exterior_angle,” “number_of_sides,” Fig. 7 a), T2 then successfully debugged her subroutine differently, that is, T2 did not set a third parameter in the subroutine but made the second parameter “number_ of_sides” instead of “exterior_angle” (Fig. 7 b), suggesting that she optimized the My Block with only two parameters to the same effect. We infer that T2 had integrated her programming and mathematical thinking by relating the two parameters in a multiplicative relationship: The second parameter (“exterior_angle”, x ) could be deduced from the third parameter (“number_of_sides”, n ) in the sense that x = 360/ n . Thus, the My Block only requires two parameters to control its shape (“number_of_sides”) and size (“side_length”) respectively.

a Teacher 3’s My Block with three parameters; b Teacher 2’s My Block with two parameters

T2’s debugging of the subroutine that could change the shape and size of regular polygons prepared for her subsequent creations in significant ways. Like T1, she first constructed some regular polygonal base shapes by changing the different parameters (Method 1). This creation process was much simpler and more accurate than T1’s parameterless subroutine which had occasioned unplanned drawings, since T2 only needed to input the values of “side_length” and “number_of_sides,” upon which the size of the exterior angle and number of loops could be computed automatically without any data mismatch resulting in non-regular polygonal shapes. Thus, the process of developing a subroutine with key parameters aligned with geometrical properties generated new ways for T2 to do mathematics from a computational perspective.

4.2.2 Rotational symmetry of multiple figures

After a few attempts at changing the number of sides and loops to form the rotational symmetry of a single polygon (Method 1), T2 tried a second round of creation built on Method 1. That is, she innovated to create a new base shape by using “a combination of pentagon and hexagon”. Converting to the programming context, T2 replicated her My Block (subroutine) named “polygon” to create two regular polygons with different parameters. In programming terms, she was remixing her polygon creation by calling the subroutine twice (3-sided, 30 steps; 6-sided, 50 steps) within the main program (Fig. 8 a). She then kept trying different values of the two parameters in each subroutine and the number of rotations in the main program to create different composite base shapes consisting of multiple polygons varying in shape and size for her rotational symmetrical figure (see Table 2 ). She also added a third subroutine to the main program (Fig. 8 b) to perform rotation of a base shape composed of three different-sized and shaped regular polygons (Table 2 , Figure c-d). Thus far, T2’s creative actions were demonstrated in remixing and reusing subroutines several times by connecting properties of polygons to generate shapes that were personally meaningful. Importantly, she did so by integrating her geometrical knowledge about the parameters of regular polygons (size and shape) and programming concepts of subroutines , which provided a new way to achieve the drawings with rotational symmetry.

Teacher 2 remixed her polygon creation by calling the My Block ( a ) twice; ( b ) three times

4.2.3 Rotational symmetry of figures with rotational symmetry

Thus far, T2’s creations have extended from a base shape made of a single polygon to composite shapes made of several polygons by reusing multiple My Blocks . Having inquired into the mathematical concept of composite figures and the codes used in Method 1, T2 derived a third method of creation—using Method 1 to create a rotational symmetrical figure formed by rotating an equilateral triangle three times as the new composite figure (Fig. 9 a), then rotating the base figure again to form the symmetrical figure (Fig. 9 b). We analyze her actions in detail below.

a A base shape created by using Method 1; b the final symmetrical figure

Before finalizing the figure shown in Fig. 9 b, T2 experienced challenges while inquiring how she could rotate her composite base figure. To do so, she decomposed the problem and tried the [go to random position] block to check if the composite base figure would appear in random positions. Initially, T2 was confused as to how to rotate the base shapes while changing their positions, as she placed the [go to random position] block after the first loop in the main program (to draw the first composite figure) (Fig. 10 a). Thus, even though the loops were able to draw multiple composite shapes, the position could only be changed once because the position-changing block was not placed inside the loop. Upon reflecting on the relationship between codes and artefacts, she realized the problem and placed the [move to random position] block after creating each composite figure, successfully drawing several composite shapes in random positions (Fig. 10 b). Here, the programming artefact as an object-to-think-with related to the programming concept of sequence supported her reflection. Having figured out this process, T2 then replaced the [move to random position] block with [move XX steps] and [turn right YY degrees] by referring to mathematical concepts of rotational symmetry. Through several times of debugging, T2 eventually succeeded in drawing a rotational symmetric figure of a composite base shape that was formed by rotating an equilateral triangle three times (Fig. 9 b). Overall, this case supported the view that T2 regarded an artefact as an object-to-think-with by drawing upon mathematical properties (rotational symmetry) and programming concepts (sequences, loops) in her iterative creative action, which not only contributes to her understanding of rotational symmetry at multiple levels but also facilitated T2’s experience of the rotational process from a computational perspective.

a Initial codes that only changed the position of composite shape once; b several composite shapes were drawn in random positions

5 Discussion

Prior studies have noted the importance of regarding programming as an object-to-think-with to learn mathematics (Papert, 1980 ), which is also an expressive medium for exploring personal ideas supported by existing mathematical concepts (Kynigos, 1995 ; Lewis, 2017 ). Linking mathematical creativity and programming as constructionist learning, we set out to investigate the characteristics of creative mathematical actions exhibited by mathematics teachers during programming-based mathematical activities. In the following, we will discuss the findings that responded to the two RQs (Table 3 ) and some further implications.

5.1 Two kinds of creative actions in a programming-based mathematical context

We have described and analyzed the creative process of the two cases in detail in the results section, from which we noted that the teachers went through different creation processes. In the first case, T1 produced a series of unstructured, independent creations related to different mathematical concepts, whereas in the second case, T2 showed a progressive, structured creation rooted in the same concept of rotational symmetry. Despite the difference in the creative process between the two cases, the results indicate two kinds of creative mathematical actions inspired by the programming-based mathematical context.

5.1.1 Unstructured creative action by testing: Changing the value of different parameters (variables)

The testing practices demonstrated by the teacher participants were seen as one kind of important creative action. As shown in Table 1 , T1 tested various combinations of parameters by changing their values in the subroutine (“side_number” and “turn_angle”) and main program (“turn_angle” and “rotation_times”) to explore different rotational symmetry or asymmetrical shapes that were made of regular or non-regular polygons. Although these may seem like random actions of trial and error, the practice of changing the value of several parameters in the programming-based mathematical activity did provide a rich opportunity for creative actions. That is, the programmer could proceed to a new round of reflection-based exploration and creation relying on the programming artefacts by trial and error as an object-to-think-with, which engendered new possibilities for doing mathematics in their community. These random testing practices to create new geometrical figures, despite producing unstructured results, were indeed an important source of new experience for doing mathematics.

5.1.2 Structured creative action by iterating: reusing and remixing codes

Another significant creative action shown in this study was the iterative practice of reusing and remixing codes as exhibited by T2. In the case of T2, we notice a gradual and sustained development from her initial figure (adopting Method 1) to the final figure (adopting Method 3) through an iterative creative process. That is, T2 created three levels of rotational symmetry, starting from the single polygon as the base figure to multiple polygons by reusing several subroutines, and finally derived a rotational symmetric figure with the base figure also having rotational symmetry. This was achieved by remixing codes related to drawing rotational symmetric figures. Hence, T2 was advancing her knowledge about rotational symmetry and loops in her creative actions, finally generating a nested loop which performed one level of rotation inside another. Simultaneously, she was working with each level of the base figure as an object-to-think-with in an increasingly sophisticated manner. Thus, we regard such iterative practices of reusing and remixing codes as a kind of structured creative action underlying the programming-based mathematical context.

5.2 New possibilities for doing mathematics engendered by creative actions

In this study, we were also interested in what and how new mathematics possibilities may be engendered by creative actions for mathematics teachers in a programming context. From the results of the study, we suggest that new realizations and interpretations of mathematics may be engendered by creative actions. First, we evidence T1’s new realization of mathematics through her unstructured creative actions. As argued by previous studies (Cui & Ng, 2021 ), given there exists a mismatch between mathematical and programming languages, new realizations may emerge when participants need to transform mathematical processes into a programming language (Ye et al., 2023b ). Likewise, while exploring the series of non-regular polygons and regular polygons, T1’s unexpected creation led her to a new interpretation of making n -sided regular polygons and non-regular polygons with n + 1 sides using a combination of n line segments and n angle turns as part of her creative actions, which generated a new opportunity for T1 to experience geometric figures different from a paper-and-pencil context. From this and together with T2’s iterative creation of rotational symmetry, we infer that programming artefacts generated by testing and iterating creative actions served as an object-to-think-with, yielding three different opportunities for teacher participants to make sense of mathematics in a new context: (a) recognizing the difference between counter-concepts (e.g., non-regular and regular polygons; symmetry and asymmetry); (b) experiencing connections between family concepts (e.g., transformation concepts of translations and rotations); and (c) exploring particular concepts at multiple levels (e.g., rotation symmetry). These findings may help us to better understand the kinds of new mathematical experiences elicited by creative actions in the programming-based mathematical context.

Secondly, the results suggest that the practices of algorithmic thinking and iterative thinking , which are highly relevant to computational thinking (Wing, 2006 ), could facilitate new interpretations of mathematics from a computational perspective (Ye et al., 2023a ). Taking the case of T1, she manipulated her code sequences and used nested loops to repeatedly (re-)interpret her geometric transformations. From the perspective of computational thinking, sequences determine the order of events, while loops control the number of times an event occurs, and nested loops imply that a certain cyclic process is repeated. Hence, T1’s algorithmic thinking was interacting with her interpretations of mathematics in a mutual and complementary way.

Regarding iterative thinking, in the case of T2, we notice two different ways of reusing codes, namely repetition and iteration. As illustrated in Method 2 (Sect. 4.2.2), T2 realized her idea of rotating a composite figure as the base shape by repeatedly calling a subroutine to draw multiple regular polygons of different shapes and sizes within the rotation loop. That is, the composite figure was generated by reusing the same subroutines several times but with different parameters. Furthermore, in Method 3, although T2 did not directly call a subroutine with the function to draw a figure of rotational symmetry, she remixed codes related to rotational symmetry that was used in Method 1 to form the base shape and then nested the codes in another level of rotation, demonstrating that her concept of rotational symmetry evolved from an iterative perspective. Taken together, these findings suggest that creative action in a programming environment is supportive of new realizations and interpretations of mathematics from a computational perspective.

5.3 An adapted framework for investigating creative actions in a programming-based mathematical context

Overall, by adopting the framework of creative mathematical action (Riling, 2020 ), this study provides qualitative evidence of the creative actions taking place in a programming-based mathematical context, which has significant implications for understanding creativity in K-12 mathematics education. The teachers’ creative actions highlight the potential affordances of Scratch as a creative learning environment (Weng et al., 2022b ) and an object-to-think-with that facilitates participants’ mathematics learning and programming practices. Not only does Scratch’s block-based programming environment support a dynamic visualization of the geometry drawing process; but its open-ended, free-form coding provides opportunities for flexible understanding and application of participants’ geometry concepts and programming skills. Unlike traditional curriculum where geometry knowledge is applied to solving a specific type of geometry problem, the free creation of geometric shapes in Scratch can inspire connections between various geometry concepts. Thus, concerning the context of programming-based mathematical activities, we propose an adapted framework (Fig. 11 ) which would be helpful for future research in identifying creative mathematical actions in domain-specific ways by drawing close connections with concepts from mathematics and computer science. Specifically, we emphasize the creative actions in the programming context, and thus extend the given mathematical context to a programming-based mathematical context which includes the programming tool as a constructionist learning environment. Furthermore, we highlight the role of the programming artefact as an “object-to-think-with” to inspire creative actions that bring new possibilities for doing mathematics in a cyclical way.

Framework adapted from the CMAF (Riling, 2020 ) for programming-based mathematical learning context

Nevertheless, it is important to realize that creativity should be seen as a dynamic process of interaction between participant, task and situation (Tromp & Sternberg, 2022 ), which are important components of a mathematical community. Thus, rather than seeing creativity as an end in itself, we should see it as a means to other ends (Beghetto & Kaufman, 2014 ).

6 Conclusion

In conclusion, this study provided evidence that testing and iterative practices of reusing and remixing are two kinds of creative actions afforded by the programming environment, which offered new possibilities for doing mathematics in the sense of generating new ways to engage in mathematical processes and to understand mathematics from a computational perspective. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of creative mathematical actions and new possibilities in mathematics inspired by a programming-based mathematical context, particularly the role of mathematics and programming concepts and their interplay, in developing teachers’ creative mathematical actions. The results also support the idea that Scratch can be a creative learning environment and an object-to-think-with to facilitate mathematics teachers’ experience of doing mathematics, which informs future research on task design to support teacher professional development. Furthermore, our adapted framework for creative actions in the context of programming-based mathematical activities is worthy of future research and can be practical for supporting teachers in identifying students’ mathematical creativity from the perspective of creative actions during classroom teaching. However, as our design of the study only focuses on one sample task related to rotational symmetry in Scratch, these findings may be somewhat limited by the task design and participants’ programming experience. Thus, future work is needed to shed light on different creative mathematical actions in different programming contexts with various tasks.

Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity and innovation in organizations (Vol. 5). Harvard Business School.

Google Scholar

Ackermann, E. (2001). Piaget’s constructivism, papert’s constructionism: What’s the difference. Future of Learning Group Publication , 5 (3), 438. Retrieved October 15, 2023, from http://www.sylviastipich.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Coursera-Piaget-_-Papert.pdf

Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2007). Toward a broader conception of creativity: A case for “mini-c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 1 (2), 73. https://doi.org/10.1037/1931-3896.1.2.73

Article Google Scholar

Beghetto, R. A., & Kaufman, J. C. (2014). Classroom contexts for creativity. High Ability Studies, 25 (1), 53–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13598139.2014.905247

Bolden, D. S., Harries, T. V., & Newton, D. P. (2010). Pre-service primary teachers’ conceptions of creativity in mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 73 , 143–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9207-z

Cui, Z., & Ng, O. (2021). The interplay between mathematical and computational thinking in primary school students’ mathematical problem-solving within a programming environment. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 59 (5), 988–1012. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633120979930

Feurzeig, W., Papert, S. A., & Lawler, B. (2011). Programming-languages as a conceptual framework for teaching mathematics. Interactive Learning Environments, 19 (5), 487–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/10494820903520040

Holbert, N., & Wilensky, U. (2019). Designing educational video games to be objects-to-think-with. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 28 (1), 32–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2018.1487302

Hoth, J., Kaiser, G., Busse, A., Doehrmann, M., Koenig, J., & Blömeke, S. (2017). Professional competences of teachers for fostering creativity and supporting high-achieving students. ZDM-Mathematics Education, 49 (1), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0817-5

Joklitschke, J., Rott, B., & Schindler, M. (2022). Notions of creativity in mathematics education research: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 20 (6), 1161–1181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-021-10192-z

Kafai, Y. B. (2006). Constructionism. In K. Sawyer (Ed.), Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 35–46). Cambridge University Press.

Kattou, M., Kontoyianni, K., Pitta-Pantazi, D., & Christou, C. (2013). Connecting mathematical creativity to mathematical ability. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 45 (2), 167–181. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-012-0467-1

Kynigos, C. (1995). Programming as a means of expressing and exploring Ideas: Three case studies situated in a directive educational system. In A. A. diSessa, C. Hoyles, R. Noss, & L. D. Edwards (Eds.), Computers and Exploratory Learning (pp. 399–419). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-57799-4_22

Kynigos, C., & Diamantidis, D. (2022). Creativity in engineering mathematical models through programming. ZDM–Mathematics Education, 54 , 149–162. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01314-6

Kynigos, C., Moustaki, F., Smyrnaiou, R., & Xenos, M. (2014, August). Half-baked microworlds as expressive media for fostering creative mathematical thinking. In Constructionism and creativity: Proceedings of the 3rd International Constructionism Conference 2014 (pp. 19–23). OCG (Österreichische Computer Gesellschaft).

Leikin, R., Berman, A., & Koichu, B. (2009). Creativity in mathematics and the education of gifted students . Brill.

Book Google Scholar

Leikin, R., & Elgrably, H. (2022). Strategy creativity and outcome creativity when solving open tasks: Focusing on problem posing through investigations. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 54 (1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01319-1

Leikin, R., & Sriraman, B. (2022). Empirical research on creativity in mathematics (education): From the wastelands of psychology to the current state of the art. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 54 (1), 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-022-01340-y

Leikin, R., Subotnik, R., Pitta-Pantazi, D., Singer, F. M., & Pelczer, I. (2013). Teachers’ views on creativity in mathematics education: An international survey. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 45 (2), 309–324. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-012-0472-4

Lev-Zamir, H., & Leikin, R. (2013). Saying versus doing: Teachers’ conceptions of creativity in elementary mathematics teaching. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 45 (2), 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-012-0464-4

Lewis, C. M. (2017). Good (and bad) reasons to teach all students computer science. In S. B. Fee, A. M. Holland-Minkley, & T. E. Lombardi (Eds.), New directions for computing education (pp. 15–34). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54226-3_2

Lu, X., & Kaiser, G. (2022). Can mathematical modelling work as a creativity-demanding activity? An empirical study in China. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 54 (1), 67–81. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-021-01316-4

Lubart, T. I. (2001). Models of the creative process: Past, present and future. Creativity Research Journal, 13 (3–4), 295–308. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1334_07

Mann, E. L. (2009). The search for mathematical creativity: Identifying creative potential in middle school students. Creativity Research Journal, 21 (4), 338–348. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410903297402

Mhlolo, M. K. (2017). Regular classroom teachers’ recognition and support of the creative potential of mildly gifted mathematics learners. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 49 (1), 81–94. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0824-6

Ng, O., & Cui, Z. (2021). Examining primary students’ mathematical problem-solving in a programming context: Towards computationally enhanced mathematics education. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 53 (4), 847–860. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-020-01200-7

Ng, O., Liu, M., & Cui, Z. (2021). Students’ in-moment challenges and developing maker perspectives during problem-based digital making. Journal of Research on Technology in Education , 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15391523.2021.1967817

Noss, R., & Hoyles, C. (2017). Constructionism and microworlds. In Duval, E., Sharples, M., Sutherland, R. (Eds.) Technology Enhanced Learning (pp. 29–35). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02600-8_3

Papert, S. (1980). Mindstorms: Children, computers, and powerful ideas . Basic Books Inc.

Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Situating constructionism. In S. Papert & I. Harel (Eds.), Constructionism (pp. 1–11). Ablex Publishing.

Pitta-Pantazi, D., Kattou, M., & Christou, C. (2018). Mathematical creativity: Product, person, process and press. In F. M. Singer (Ed.), Mathematical creativity and mathematical giftedness: Enhancing creative capacities in mathematically promising students (pp. 27–53). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73156-8_2

Riling, M. (2020). Recognizing mathematics students as creative: Mathematical creativity as community-based and possibility-expanding. Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, 10 (2), 6–39. https://doi.org/10.5642/jhummath.202002.04

Schoevers, E. M., Leseman, P. P. M., Slot, E. M., Bakker, A., Keijzer, R., & Kroesbergen, E. H. (2019). Promoting pupils’ creative thinking in primary school mathematics: A case study. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 31 , 323–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2019.02.003

Shriki, A. (2010). Working like real mathematicians: Developing prospective teachers’ awareness of mathematical creativity through generating new concepts. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 73 (2), 159–179. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-009-9212-2

Sinclair, N., de Freitas, E., & Ferrara, F. (2013). Virtual encounters: The murky and furtive world of mathematical inventiveness. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 45 , 239–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-012-0465-3

Steffe, L. P., & Thompson, P. W. (2000). Teaching experiment methodology: Underlying principles and essential elements. In R. Lesh & A. E. Kelly (Eds.), Research design in mathematics and science education (pp. 267–307). Erlbaum.

Tromp, C., & Sternberg, R. J. (2022). Dynamic creativity: A Person × Task × Situation interaction framework. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 56 (4), 553–565. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.551

Van Harpen, X. Y., & Sriraman, B. (2013). Creativity and mathematical problem posing: An analysis of high school students’ mathematical problem posing in China and the USA. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 82 (2), 201–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-012-9419-5

Weng, X., Cui, Z., Ng, O., Jong, M. S. Y., & Chiu, T. K. F. (2022a). Characterizing students’ 4C skills development during problem-based digital making. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 31 (3), 372–385. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-022-09961-4

Weng, X., Ng, O., Cui, Z., & Leung, S. (2022b). Creativity development with problem-based digital making and block-based programming for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Learning in middle school contexts. Journal of Educational Computing Research , 07356331221115661. https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331221115661

Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49 (3), 33–35.

Ye, H., Liang, B., Ng, O.-L., & Chai, C. S. (2023a). Integration of computational thinking in K-12 mathematics education: A systematic review on CT-based mathematics instruction and student learning. International Journal of STEM Education, 10 (1), 3. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00396-w

Ye, H., Ng, O., & Cui, Z. (2023b). Conceptualizing flexibility in programming-based mathematical problem-solving. Journal of Educational Computing Research . https://doi.org/10.1177/07356331231209773

Zazkis, R. (2017). Lesson play tasks as a creative venture for teachers and teacher educators. ZDM – Mathematics Education, 49 (1), 95–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-016-0808-6

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was fully supported by the Research Grants Council, General Research Fund (Ref. No. 14603720).

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR

Huiyan Ye, Oi-Lam Ng & Allen Leung

You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Oi-Lam Ng .

Additional information

Publisher's note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Ye, H., Ng, OL. & Leung, A. Examining mathematics teachers’ creative actions in programming-based mathematical activities. ZDM Mathematics Education (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-024-01579-7

Download citation

Accepted : 17 April 2024

Published : 22 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-024-01579-7

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

Creative action
Mathematics learning
Programming
Constructionist learning
Find a journal
Publish with us
Track your research

SUGGESTED TOPICS
The Magazine
Newsletters
Managing Yourself
Managing Teams
Work-life Balance
The Big Idea
Data & Visuals
Reading Lists
Case Selections
HBR Learning
Topic Feeds
Account Settings
Email Preferences

You Need New Skills to Make a Career Pivot. Here’s How to Find the Time to Build Them.

Elizabeth Grace Saunders

Even when you have a full-time job.

With any significant change in your career comes the need for new skills. But that’s even more true when you want a radical career change. In these situations, it’s going to take more than listening to a few webinars to build the knowledge you need get to where you want to go. You must set aside a significant amount of time for self-directed learning, formal training, or even a second job to gain the skills for the big leap.

There are a few strategies to be effective for consistently making time for acquiring new career skills. First, accept the time commitment; you may need to scale back on nonessential activities. Second, research what’s required for your new field, whether it’s formal licensing, independent working, or side hustle work. Third, layer in learning onto activities you’re already doing throughout your day. Fourth, designate specific times you’ll dedicate to skill-building — and stick to it. Finally, modify your work schedule, if needed.

Sometimes you don’t just want a new job, you want a radical career change . Perhaps you’ve been in finance and now want to be an acupuncturist, you’re a marketer eager to lead a startup, or you’re an educator looking to shift into catering and event planning.

ES Elizabeth Grace Saunders is a time management coach and the founder of Real Life E Time Coaching & Speaking . She is the author of How to Invest Your Time Like Money and Divine Time Management . Find out more at RealLifeE.com .

Partner Center

Suggestions or feedback?

MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Machine learning
Social justice
Black holes
Classes and programs

Departments

Aeronautics and Astronautics
Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Architecture
Political Science
Mechanical Engineering

Centers, Labs, & Programs

Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)
Picower Institute for Learning and Memory
Lincoln Laboratory
School of Architecture + Planning
School of Engineering
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
Sloan School of Management
School of Science
MIT Schwarzman College of Computing

From steel engineering to ovarian tumor research

Press contact :.

Ashutash Kumar stands with arms folded in the lab

Previous image Next image

Ashutosh Kumar is a classically trained materials engineer. Having grown up with a passion for making things, he has explored steel design and studied stress fractures in alloys.

Throughout Kumar’s education, however, he was also drawn to biology and medicine. When he was accepted into an undergraduate metallurgical engineering and materials science program at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, the native of Jamshedpur was very excited — and “a little dissatisfied, since I couldn’t do biology anymore.”

Now a PhD candidate and a MathWorks Fellow in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering, and a researcher for the Koch Institute, Kumar can merge his wide-ranging interests. He studies the effect of certain bacteria that have been observed encouraging the spread of ovarian cancer and possibly reducing the effectiveness of chemotherapy and immunotherapy.

“Some microbes have an affinity toward infecting ovarian cancer cells, which can lead to changes in the cellular structure and reprogramming cells to survive in stressful conditions,” Kumar says. “This means that cells can migrate to different sites and may have a mechanism to develop chemoresistance. This opens an avenue to develop therapies to see if we can start to undo some of these changes.”

Kumar’s research combines microbiology, bioengineering, artificial intelligence, big data, and materials science. Using microbiome sequencing and AI, he aims to define microbiome changes that may correlate with poor patient outcomes. Ultimately, his goal is to engineer bacteriophage viruses to reprogram bacteria to work therapeutically.

Kumar started inching toward work in the health sciences just months into earning his bachelor's degree at IIT Bombay.

“I realized engineering is so flexible that its applications extend to any field,” he says, adding that he started working with biomaterials “to respect both my degree program and my interests."

“I loved it so much that I decided to go to graduate school,” he adds.

Starting his PhD program at MIT, he says, “was a fantastic opportunity to switch gears and work on more interdisciplinary or ‘MIT-type’ work.”

Kumar says he and Angela Belcher, the James Mason Crafts Professor of biological engineering, materials science and of the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research, began discussing the impact of the microbiome on ovarian cancer when he first arrived at MIT.

“I shared my enthusiasm about human health and biology, and we started brainstorming,” he says. “We realized that there’s an unmet need to understand a lot of gynecological cancers. Ovarian cancer is an aggressive cancer, which is usually diagnosed when it’s too late and has already spread.”

In 2022, Kumar was awarded a MathWorks Fellowship. The fellowships are awarded to School of Engineering graduate students, preferably those who use MATLAB or Simulink — which were developed by the mathematical computer software company MathWorks — in their research. The philanthropic support fueled Kumar’s full transition into health science research.

“The work we are doing now was initially not funded by traditional sources, and the MathWorks Fellowship gave us the flexibility to pursue this field,” Kumar says. “It provided me with opportunities to learn new skills and ask questions about this topic. MathWorks gave me a chance to explore my interests and helped me navigate from being a steel engineer to a cancer scientist.”

Kumar’s work on the relationship between bacteria and ovarian cancer started with studying which bacteria are incorporated into tumors in mouse models.

“We started looking closely at changes in cell structure and how those changes impact cancer progression,” he says, adding that MATLAB image processing helps him and his collaborators track tumor metastasis.

The research team also uses RNA sequencing and MATLAB algorithms to construct a taxonomy of the bacteria.

“Once we have identified the microbiome composition,” Kumar says, “we want to see how the microbiome changes as cancer progresses and identify changes in, let’s say, patients who develop chemoresistance.”

He says recent findings that ovarian cancer may originate in the fallopian tubes are promising because detecting cancer-related biomarkers or lesions before cancer spreads to the ovaries could lead to better prognoses.

As he pursues his research, Kumar says he is extremely thankful to Belcher “for believing in me to work on this project.

“She trusted me and my passion for making an impact on human health — even though I come from a materials engineering background — and supported me throughout. It was her passion to take on new challenges that made it possible for me to work on this idea. She has been an amazing mentor and motivated me to continue moving forward.”

For her part, Belcher is equally enthralled.

“It has been amazing to work with Ashutosh on this ovarian cancer microbiome project," she says. "He has been so passionate and dedicated to looking for less-conventional approaches to solve this debilitating disease. His innovations around looking for very early changes in the microenvironment of this disease could be critical in interception and prevention of ovarian cancer. We started this project with very little preliminary data, so his MathWorks fellowship was critical in the initiation of the project.”

Kumar, who has been very active in student government and community-building activities, believes it is very important for students to feel included and at home at their institutions so they can develop in ways outside of academics. He says that his own involvement helps him take time off from work.

“Science can never stop, and there will always be something to do,” he says, explaining that he deliberately schedules time off and that social engagement helps him to experience downtime. “Engaging with community members through events on campus or at the dorm helps set a mental boundary with work.”

Regarding his unusual route through materials science to cancer research, Kumar regards it as something that occurred organically.

“I have observed that life is very dynamic,” he says. “What we think we might do versus what we end up doing is never consistent. Five years back, I had no idea I would be at MIT working with such excellent scientific mentors around me.”

Share this news article on:

A biomedical engineer pivots from human movement to women’s health

Kristina Monakhova, crouching, peers along the surface of a table of experiments with cameras and microscopes. Only her head from the mouth up is visible.

Computational imaging researcher attended a lecture, found her career

Michael West, wearing a suit with an "Engineer" T-shirt, stands in front of chalkboard, flanked by two robotic arms.

A. Michael West: Advancing human-robot interactions in health care

Previous item Next item

More MIT News

A little girl lies on a couch under a blanket while a woman holds a thermometer to the girl's mouth.

Understanding why autism symptoms sometimes improve amid fever

Read full story →

School of Engineering welcomes new faculty

Pawan Sinha looks at a wall of about 50 square photos. The photos are pictures of children with vision loss who have been helped by Project Prakash.

Study explains why the brain can robustly recognize images, even without color

Illustration shows a red, stylized computer chip and circuit board with flames and lava around it.

Turning up the heat on next-generation semiconductors

Sarah Milholland stands in front of an MIT building on a sunny day spring day. Leaves on the trees behind her are just beginning to emerge.

Sarah Millholland receives 2024 Vera Rubin Early Career Award

Grayscale photo of Nolen Scruggs seated on a field of grass

A community collaboration for progress

More news on MIT News homepage →

Massachusetts Institute of Technology 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, USA

Map (opens in new window)
Events (opens in new window)
People (opens in new window)
Careers (opens in new window)
Accessibility
Social Media Hub
MIT on Facebook
MIT on YouTube
MIT on Instagram

University of South Florida

College of Behavioral and Community Sciences

Main navigation, fmhi welcomes student researchers for 2024 summer research institute.

Students gather for SRI@FMHI orientation.

The 2024 Summer Research Institute cohort gathers for orientation.

May 28, 2024

The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute welcomed thirteen undergraduate students to campus last week as part of the Summer Research Institute (SRI@FMHI).

The SRI@FMHI is designed for students interested in building their research skills within the context of substance use and co-occurring disorders to help them prepare for a senior thesis and/or graduate school. The SRI@FMHI consists of four components: an independent research project conducted with guidance from a USF College of Behavioral and Community Sciences faculty mentor; research seminars; professional development seminars; and skill-building workshops.

Over the next 11 weeks, students will work intensively with faculty mentors on their research projects. In addition, students will gain experience with research ethics and Institutional Review Boards practices and will participate in a community rotation to gain experience with mental health and substance use services. Students will present their research projects during Research Day on Wednesday, July 31.

The 2024 cohort includes:

Return to article listing

Criminology
Child and Family Studies
College News
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI)
Mental Health Law and Policy
School of Aging Studies
School of Social Work

About College of Behavioral & Community Sciences News

The Mission of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences (CBCS) is to advance knowledge through interdisciplinary teaching, research, and service that improves the capacity of individuals, families, and diverse communities to promote productive, satisfying, healthy, and safe lives across the lifespan. CBCS envisions the college as a globally recognized leader that creates innovative solutions to complex conditions that affect the behavior and well-being of individuals, families, and diverse communities.

A new future of work: The race to deploy AI and raise skills in Europe and beyond

At a glance.

Amid tightening labor markets and a slowdown in productivity growth, Europe and the United States face shifts in labor demand, spurred by AI and automation. Our updated modeling of the future of work finds that demand for workers in STEM-related, healthcare, and other high-skill professions would rise, while demand for occupations such as office workers, production workers, and customer service representatives would decline. By 2030, in a midpoint adoption scenario, up to 30 percent of current hours worked could be automated, accelerated by generative AI (gen AI). Efforts to achieve net-zero emissions, an aging workforce, and growth in e-commerce, as well as infrastructure and technology spending and overall economic growth, could also shift employment demand.

By 2030, Europe could require up to 12 million occupational transitions, double the prepandemic pace. In the United States, required transitions could reach almost 12 million, in line with the prepandemic norm. Both regions navigated even higher levels of labor market shifts at the height of the COVID-19 period, suggesting that they can handle this scale of future job transitions. The pace of occupational change is broadly similar among countries in Europe, although the specific mix reflects their economic variations.

Businesses will need a major skills upgrade. Demand for technological and social and emotional skills could rise as demand for physical and manual and higher cognitive skills stabilizes. Surveyed executives in Europe and the United States expressed a need not only for advanced IT and data analytics but also for critical thinking, creativity, and teaching and training—skills they report as currently being in short supply. Companies plan to focus on retraining workers, more than hiring or subcontracting, to meet skill needs.

Workers with lower wages face challenges of redeployment as demand reweights toward occupations with higher wages in both Europe and the United States. Occupations with lower wages are likely to see reductions in demand, and workers will need to acquire new skills to transition to better-paying work. If that doesn’t happen, there is a risk of a more polarized labor market, with more higher-wage jobs than workers and too many workers for existing lower-wage jobs.

Choices made today could revive productivity growth while creating better societal outcomes. Embracing the path of accelerated technology adoption with proactive worker redeployment could help Europe achieve an annual productivity growth rate of up to 3 percent through 2030. However, slow adoption would limit that to 0.3 percent, closer to today’s level of productivity growth in Western Europe. Slow worker redeployment would leave millions unable to participate productively in the future of work.

Businessman and skilled worker in high tech enterprise, using VR glasses - stock photo

Demand will change for a range of occupations through 2030, including growth in STEM- and healthcare-related occupations, among others

This report focuses on labor markets in nine major economies in the European Union along with the United Kingdom, in comparison with the United States. Technology, including most recently the rise of gen AI, along with other factors, will spur changes in the pattern of labor demand through 2030. Our study, which uses an updated version of the McKinsey Global Institute future of work model, seeks to quantify the occupational transitions that will be required and the changing nature of demand for different types of jobs and skills.

Our methodology

We used methodology consistent with other McKinsey Global Institute reports on the future of work to model trends of job changes at the level of occupations, activities, and skills. For this report, we focused our analysis on the 2022–30 period.

Our model estimates net changes in employment demand by sector and occupation; we also estimate occupational transitions, or the net number of workers that need to change in each type of occupation, based on which occupations face declining demand by 2030 relative to current employment in 2022. We included ten countries in Europe: nine EU members—the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, and Sweden—and the United Kingdom. For the United States, we build on estimates published in our 2023 report Generative AI and the future of work in America.

We included multiple drivers in our modeling: automation potential, net-zero transition, e-commerce growth, remote work adoption, increases in income, aging populations, technology investments, and infrastructure investments.

Two scenarios are used to bookend the work-automation model: “late” and “early.” For Europe, we modeled a “faster” scenario and a “slower” one. For the faster scenario, we use the midpoint—the arithmetical average between our late and early scenarios. For the slower scenario, we use a “mid late” trajectory, an arithmetical average between a late adoption scenario and the midpoint scenario. For the United States, we use the midpoint scenario, based on our earlier research.

We also estimate the productivity effects of automation, using GDP per full-time-equivalent (FTE) employee as the measure of productivity. We assumed that workers displaced by automation rejoin the workforce at 2022 productivity levels, net of automation, and in line with the expected 2030 occupational mix.

Amid tightening labor markets and a slowdown in productivity growth, Europe and the United States face shifts in labor demand, spurred not only by AI and automation but also by other trends, including efforts to achieve net-zero emissions, an aging population, infrastructure spending, technology investments, and growth in e-commerce, among others (see sidebar, “Our methodology”).

Our analysis finds that demand for occupations such as health professionals and other STEM-related professionals would grow by 17 to 30 percent between 2022 and 2030, (Exhibit 1).

By contrast, demand for workers in food services, production work, customer services, sales, and office support—all of which declined over the 2012–22 period—would continue to decline until 2030. These jobs involve a high share of repetitive tasks, data collection, and elementary data processing—all activities that automated systems can handle efficiently.

Up to 30 percent of hours worked could be automated by 2030, boosted by gen AI, leading to millions of required occupational transitions

By 2030, our analysis finds that about 27 percent of current hours worked in Europe and 30 percent of hours worked in the United States could be automated, accelerated by gen AI. Our model suggests that roughly 20 percent of hours worked could still be automated even without gen AI, implying a significant acceleration.

These trends will play out in labor markets in the form of workers needing to change occupations. By 2030, under the faster adoption scenario we modeled, Europe could require up to 12.0 million occupational transitions, affecting 6.5 percent of current employment. That is double the prepandemic pace (Exhibit 2). Under a slower scenario we modeled for Europe, the number of occupational transitions needed would amount to 8.5 million, affecting 4.6 percent of current employment. In the United States, required transitions could reach almost 12.0 million, affecting 7.5 percent of current employment. Unlike Europe, this magnitude of transitions is broadly in line with the prepandemic norm.

Both regions navigated even higher levels of labor market shifts at the height of the COVID-19 period. While these were abrupt and painful to many, given the forced nature of the shifts, the experience suggests that both regions have the ability to handle this scale of future job transitions.

Smiling female PhD student discussing with man at desk in innovation lab - stock photo

Businesses will need a major skills upgrade

The occupational transitions noted above herald substantial shifts in workforce skills in a future in which automation and AI are integrated into the workplace (Exhibit 3). Workers use multiple skills to perform a given task, but for the purposes of our quantification, we identified the predominant skill used.

Demand for technological skills could see substantial growth in Europe and in the United States (increases of 25 percent and 29 percent, respectively, in hours worked by 2030 compared to 2022) under our midpoint scenario of automation adoption (which is the faster scenario for Europe).

Demand for social and emotional skills could rise by 11 percent in Europe and by 14 percent in the United States. Underlying this increase is higher demand for roles requiring interpersonal empathy and leadership skills. These skills are crucial in healthcare and managerial roles in an evolving economy that demands greater adaptability and flexibility.

Conversely, demand for work in which basic cognitive skills predominate is expected to decline by 14 percent. Basic cognitive skills are required primarily in office support or customer service roles, which are highly susceptible to being automated by AI. Among work characterized by these basic cognitive skills experiencing significant drops in demand are basic data processing and literacy, numeracy, and communication.

Demand for work in which higher cognitive skills predominate could also decline slightly, according to our analysis. While creativity is expected to remain highly sought after, with a potential increase of 12 percent by 2030, work activities characterized by other advanced cognitive skills such as advanced literacy and writing, along with quantitative and statistical skills, could decline by 19 percent.

Demand for physical and manual skills, on the other hand, could remain roughly level with the present. These skills remain the largest share of workforce skills, representing about 30 percent of total hours worked in 2022. Growth in demand for these skills between 2022 and 2030 could come from the build-out of infrastructure and higher investment in low-emissions sectors, while declines would be in line with continued automation in production work.

Business executives report skills shortages today and expect them to worsen

A survey we conducted of C-suite executives in five countries shows that companies are already grappling with skills challenges, including a skills mismatch, particularly in technological, higher cognitive, and social and emotional skills: about one-third of the more than 1,100 respondents report a shortfall in these critical areas. At the same time, a notable number of executives say they have enough employees with basic cognitive skills and, to a lesser extent, physical and manual skills.

Within technological skills, companies in our survey reported that their most significant shortages are in advanced IT skills and programming, advanced data analysis, and mathematical skills. Among higher cognitive skills, significant shortfalls are seen in critical thinking and problem structuring and in complex information processing. About 40 percent of the executives surveyed pointed to a shortage of workers with these skills, which are needed for working alongside new technologies (Exhibit 4).

Two IT co-workers code on laptop or technology for testing, web design or online startup - stock photo

Companies see retraining as key to acquiring needed skills and adapting to the new work landscape

Surveyed executives expect significant changes to their workforce skill levels and worry about not finding the right skills by 2030. More than one in four survey respondents said that failing to capture the needed skills could directly harm financial performance and indirectly impede their efforts to leverage the value from AI.

To acquire the skills they need, companies have three main options: retraining, hiring, and contracting workers. Our survey suggests that executives are looking at all three options, with retraining the most widely reported tactic planned to address the skills mismatch: on average, out of companies that mentioned retraining as one of their tactics to address skills mismatch, executives said they would retrain 32 percent of their workforce. The scale of retraining needs varies in degree. For example, respondents in the automotive industry expect 36 percent of their workforce to be retrained, compared with 28 percent in the financial services industry. Out of those who have mentioned hiring or contracting as their tactics to address the skills mismatch, executives surveyed said they would hire an average of 23 percent of their workforce and contract an average of 18 percent.

Occupational transitions will affect high-, medium-, and low-wage workers differently

All ten European countries we examined for this report may see increasing demand for top-earning occupations. By contrast, workers in the two lowest-wage-bracket occupations could be three to five times more likely to have to change occupations compared to the top wage earners, our analysis finds. The disparity is much higher in the United States, where workers in the two lowest-wage-bracket occupations are up to 14 times more likely to face occupational shifts than the highest earners. In Europe, the middle-wage population could be twice as affected by occupational transitions as the same population in United States, representing 7.3 percent of the working population who might face occupational transitions.

Enhancing human capital at the same time as deploying the technology rapidly could boost annual productivity growth

About quantumblack, ai by mckinsey.

QuantumBlack, McKinsey’s AI arm, helps companies transform using the power of technology, technical expertise, and industry experts. With thousands of practitioners at QuantumBlack (data engineers, data scientists, product managers, designers, and software engineers) and McKinsey (industry and domain experts), we are working to solve the world’s most important AI challenges. QuantumBlack Labs is our center of technology development and client innovation, which has been driving cutting-edge advancements and developments in AI through locations across the globe.

Organizations and policy makers have choices to make; the way they approach AI and automation, along with human capital augmentation, will affect economic and societal outcomes.

We have attempted to quantify at a high level the potential effects of different stances to AI deployment on productivity in Europe. Our analysis considers two dimensions. The first is the adoption rate of AI and automation technologies. We consider the faster scenario and the late scenario for technology adoption. Faster adoption would unlock greater productivity growth potential but also, potentially, more short-term labor disruption than the late scenario.

The second dimension we consider is the level of automated worker time that is redeployed into the economy. This represents the ability to redeploy the time gained by automation and productivity gains (for example, new tasks and job creation). This could vary depending on the success of worker training programs and strategies to match demand and supply in labor markets.

We based our analysis on two potential scenarios: either all displaced workers would be able to fully rejoin the economy at a similar productivity level as in 2022 or only some 80 percent of the automated workers’ time will be redeployed into the economy.

Exhibit 5 illustrates the various outcomes in terms of annual productivity growth rate. The top-right quadrant illustrates the highest economy-wide productivity, with an annual productivity growth rate of up to 3.1 percent. It requires fast adoption of technologies as well as full redeployment of displaced workers. The top-left quadrant also demonstrates technology adoption on a fast trajectory and shows a relatively high productivity growth rate (up to 2.5 percent). However, about 6.0 percent of total hours worked (equivalent to 10.2 million people not working) would not be redeployed in the economy. Finally, the two bottom quadrants depict the failure to adopt AI and automation, leading to limited productivity gains and translating into limited labor market disruptions.

Managers discussing work while futuristic AI computer vision analyzing, ccanning production line - stock photo

Four priorities for companies

The adoption of automation technologies will be decisive in protecting businesses’ competitive advantage in an automation and AI era. To ensure successful deployment at a company level, business leaders can embrace four priorities.

Understand the potential. Leaders need to understand the potential of these technologies, notably including how AI and gen AI can augment and automate work. This includes estimating both the total capacity that these technologies could free up and their impact on role composition and skills requirements. Understanding this allows business leaders to frame their end-to-end strategy and adoption goals with regard to these technologies.

Plan a strategic workforce shift. Once they understand the potential of automation technologies, leaders need to plan the company’s shift toward readiness for the automation and AI era. This requires sizing the workforce and skill needs, based on strategically identified use cases, to assess the potential future talent gap. From this analysis will flow details about the extent of recruitment of new talent, upskilling, or reskilling of the current workforce that is needed, as well as where to redeploy freed capacity to more value-added tasks.

Prioritize people development. To ensure that the right talent is on hand to sustain the company strategy during all transformation phases, leaders could consider strengthening their capabilities to identify, attract, and recruit future AI and gen AI leaders in a tight market. They will also likely need to accelerate the building of AI and gen AI capabilities in the workforce. Nontechnical talent will also need training to adapt to the changing skills environment. Finally, leaders could deploy an HR strategy and operating model to fit the post–gen AI workforce.

Pursue the executive-education journey on automation technologies. Leaders also need to undertake their own education journey on automation technologies to maximize their contributions to their companies during the coming transformation. This includes empowering senior managers to explore automation technologies implications and subsequently role model to others, as well as bringing all company leaders together to create a dedicated road map to drive business and employee value.

AI and the toolbox of advanced new technologies are evolving at a breathtaking pace. For companies and policy makers, these technologies are highly compelling because they promise a range of benefits, including higher productivity, which could lift growth and prosperity. Yet, as this report has sought to illustrate, making full use of the advantages on offer will also require paying attention to the critical element of human capital. In the best-case scenario, workers’ skills will develop and adapt to new technological challenges. Achieving this goal in our new technological age will be highly challenging—but the benefits will be great.

Eric Hazan is a McKinsey senior partner based in Paris; Anu Madgavkar and Michael Chui are McKinsey Global Institute partners based in New Jersey and San Francisco, respectively; Sven Smit is chair of the McKinsey Global Institute and a McKinsey senior partner based in Amsterdam; Dana Maor is a McKinsey senior partner based in Tel Aviv; Gurneet Singh Dandona is an associate partner and a senior expert based in New York; and Roland Huyghues-Despointes is a consultant based in Paris.

Explore a career with us

Generative AI and the future of work in America

McKinsey partners Lareina Yee and Michael Chui

The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier

What every CEO should know about generative AI

IMAGES

Ultimate Guide for a Creative Process
7 Methods to Develop Creative Thinking Skills for Students
Seven Creative Thinking Skills in CTSM
Research Skills Toolkit
A Brief Insight to the Secret Skills of a Successful Researcher
Critical & Creative Thinking in Research

VIDEO

Research Methods for Creative Writing (ENGL6914)
Rodrygo Creative Skills ⚡🇧🇷
What Creatives Drive the Best Ad Performance? Data-driven Insights
Skills 👍
16 Workshop Eight Thematic Analysis
What Is Creative Thinking and Why Is It Important?

COMMENTS

Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You
Research skills are a set of abilities that allow individuals to find and gather reliable information and then evaluate the information to find answers to questions. ... After developing creative thinking via research, you can apply the skill to generate innovative solutions in problem-solving situations.
Critical & Creative Thinking in Research
Sep 5, 2018. by Janet Salmons, PhD Research Community Manager for Sage Research Methods Community. Critical thinking and creative thinking are distinctly different, but highly interconnected. Nowhere is the symbiotic relationship of creative and critical thinking more apparent than in the practices inherent to research design, conduct, and ...
Creativity in Research: Cultivate Clarity, Be Innovative, and Make
Reflective practice can be a key tool for emotional management as well as the development of other competencies. In their work based on a decade of teaching scientists to manage creative aspects ...
Creative Researchers: Choosing Your Career Path Wisely
6. Risk Assessment. Be the first to add your personal experience. 7. Here's what else to consider. Be the first to add your personal experience. When your research skills are complemented by a ...
Developing creative and research skills through an open and
To test the hypothesis that an open-IBL approach that promotes interprofessionalism can enhance the development of creativity and research skills, four aspects were assessed: 1) Students' perception of their development in research skills and creative thinking during the course 2) students' learning experience (i.e. their opinions and ...
Critical and Creative Thinking in Research: Posts and Resources
Creative thinking is the production of unusual and good responses to problems…. By comparison, the thinking skills used in critical thinking could be either common or unusual. Thus, critical thinking is a superordinate of creative thinking. Critical thinking requires creativity (unusual and good solutions) in many aspects—generating ...
How to Be More Creative in Your Research Projects
3. Experiment with different formats. 4. Seek feedback and criticism. 5. Learn from other researchers. 6. Practice and reflect regularly. Be the first to add your personal experience.
The Value of Creativity in Research
Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives or possibilities to solve problems, communicate, or entertain (4). Creativity is linked to fundamental thinking qualities, such as flexibility, tolerance of unpredictability, and enjoyment of new experiences (4). A creative person sees things in a novel way.
How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips
How to Improve Your Research Skills: 6 Research Tips. Written by MasterClass. Last updated: Aug 18, 2021 • 3 min read. Whether you're writing a blog post or a short story, you'll likely reach a point in your first draft where you don't have enough information to go forward—and that's where research comes in.
The future of creativity research: Where are we, and ...
Development of creative thinking skills is critical to preparing students for the world they will live in tomorrow. Creativity not only enriches our lives through the arts ( Winner et al., 2013 ), it makes for psychologically healthier people ( Corry et al., 2014 ). Recognition of these findings has, over the last thirty years, stimulated a new ...
The science behind creativity
What, exactly, is creativity? The standard definition used by researchers characterizes creative ideas as those that are original and effective, as described by psychologist Mark A. Runco, PhD, director of creativity research and programming at Southern Oregon University (Creativity Research Journal, Vol. 24, No. 1, 2012).But effectiveness, also called utility, is a slippery concept.
19 Creative Thinking Skills (and How to Use Them!)
Creative thinking is an important skill for work, life, and personal development. Explore some example creative thinking skills and become a better creative thinker with this guide! Features . Agenda Planner Drag & drop blocks to create a full agenda in minutes. ... you might conduct further research and see that the product is fine, but people ...
What Are Research Skills? Definition, Examples and Tips
Examples of research skills Research skills refer to a collection of several separate skills that help you find and review the information and arrive at a decision. Research skills in the workplace include: Searching for information All research involves the search for credible information that you can analyze and use to arrive at an answer or ...
Train Your Brain to Be More Creative
Creativity isn't inherent. You have to hone it. Here are a few ways to do that, based on neuroscience. Engage with nature: Looking at trees and leaves, instead of our electronic devices, reduces ...
Enhancement of Creative Thinking Skills Using a Cognitive-Based
Creative thinking skills can be considered one of the key competencies for the twenty-first century—they allow us to remain flexible and provide us with the capacity to deal with the opportunities and challenges that are part of our complex and fast-changing world. The increased focus on innovation combined with recent reports of decrements in creative performance brings attention to the ...
50 Mini-Lessons For Teaching Students Research Skills
It outlines a five-step approach to break down the research process into manageable chunks. This post shares ideas for mini-lessons that could be carried out in the classroom throughout the year to help build students' skills in the five areas of: clarify, search, delve, evaluate, and cite. It also includes ideas for learning about staying ...
10 Creative Skills for Problem-Solving and How to Improve Them
5. Ask for feedback. Collaboration and teamwork are key when developing creative solutions in the workplace. You can ask teammates or superiors for feedback on your ideas to gain insight into potential flaws in your reasoning and streamline your solutions. 6.
What Is Creative Thinking? Definition and Examples
1. Put Yourself in a Box. Creative thinking is about "thinking outside the box," but putting limitations on your problem-solving can help you think more freely and innovatively. For example, if someone tells you to make dinner, you may struggle to come up with a meal you don't always cook.
Creative Writing Research: What, How and Why
Rather, to understand creative writing research we need first and foremost to be true to why creative writing happens, when and where it happens, and how it happens. Creative writing research can be: practice-led: where a creative writing project or projects forms the bases of an investigative methodology, often including a critical discussion ...
Ten Habits of Highly Creative People
10. Thinking differently. Creative people are united by their unwillingness to abide by conventional ways of thinking and doing things. In choosing to do things differently, they accept the possibility of uncertainty and failure—but it is precisely this risk that opens up the possibility of true innovation.
What Is Creative Problem-Solving & Why Is It Important?
Its benefits include: Finding creative solutions to complex problems: User research can insufficiently illustrate a situation's complexity. While other innovation processes rely on this information, creative problem-solving can yield solutions without it. Adapting to change: Business is constantly changing, and business leaders need to adapt.
Creativity
Neuroscience research seems to support this idea. ... Studies show that training can lead both children and adults to hone creative skills. Sessions may focus on identifying problems to solve, ...
(PDF) Creative Thinking skills -A Review article
The main objective of this current research article aimed to provide more information about creativity skills that are among the foremost sought-after life and work skills within the 21st century ...
What Creative Arts Therapies Teach Us About DBT Skills Training
Key points. Research supports the effectiveness of combining DBT with creative arts to improve outcomes. Facilitators can teach wise-mind skills through drama therapy techniques.
Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellowships 2024 call
The aim of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellowships (PF) is to enhance the creative and innovative potential of researchers holding a PhD and who wish to acquire new skills through advanced training, international, inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. The 2024 call is open and guidance and the crib sheet is available on the ROO website.
Examining mathematics teachers' creative actions in ...
There has been a renewed interest in creativity as a twenty-first century skill in K-12 mathematics education. However, previous research has paid less attention to creative actions than to other learning outcomes, which are often product- instead of process-based, especially in a programming context. Thus, situated in the context of mathematical learning in a block-based programming ...
You Need New Skills to Make a Career Pivot. Here's How to Find the Time
First, accept the time commitment; you may need to scale back on nonessential activities. Second, research what's required for your new field, whether it's formal licensing, independent ...
From steel engineering to ovarian tumor research
Kumar's research combines microbiology, bioengineering, artificial intelligence, big data, and materials science. Using microbiome sequencing and AI, he aims to define microbiome changes that may correlate with poor patient outcomes. Ultimately, his goal is to engineer bacteriophage viruses to reprogram bacteria to work therapeutically.
FMHI welcomes student researchers for 2024 Summer Research Institute
The Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute welcomed thirteen undergraduate students to campus last week as part of the 2024 Summer Research Institute (SRI@FMHI). The SRI@FMHI is designed for students interested in building their research skills within the context of substance use and co-occurring disorders to help them prepare for a senior thesis and/or graduate school.
The race to deploy generative AI and raise skills
These skills remain the largest share of workforce skills, representing about 30 percent of total hours worked in 2022. Growth in demand for these skills between 2022 and 2030 could come from the build-out of infrastructure and higher investment in low-emissions sectors, while declines would be in line with continued automation in production work.

Research Skills: What They Are and How They Benefit You

Table of Contents

What Are Research Skills?

Different Types of Research Skills

Quantitative Skills

Analytical Skills

Qualitative Skills

Research Skills Examples

Data Collection

Source Evaluation

Time Management Skills

Communication Skills

Attention to Detail

Note-Taking

Critical Thinking

Data Analysis

Problem-Solving Skills

Benefits of Research Skills

Enhances Critical Thinking

Develops Problem-Solving Skills

Helps in Knowledge Acquisition

Why Are Research Skills Important?

In-Depth Understanding

Critical Thinking Development

Encouragement of Independent Learning

Intellectual Curiosity Development

Enhanced Communication Skills

Assistance in Career Preparation

Contribution to Personal Growth

Acquisition of Time Management Skills

Ways to Improve Research Skills

How Can I Learn Research Skills?

Clarifying the Objective

Cross-Referencing Sources

Organise the Research

Acquire Research Skills with Immerse Education

Related Content

Learning outcomes results

Creativity development assessment through the evaluation of the students’ productions

How have creativity and research skills been developed?

How did students experience this pedagogical approach?

Limitations

Interpretation of data

Acknowledgements

Availability of data and materials

Author information

Contributions

Corresponding author

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

Publisher’s Note

Rights and permissions

About this article

Share this article

BMC Medical Education

The Value of Creativity in Research

What does it mean to be “creative”?

Creativity: art versus science

How to be a more creative researcher

Fear of the creative approach

But what if I get the wrong answer?

19 Creative Thinking Skills (and How to Use Them!)

Design your next session with SessionLab

Recommended Articles

What is creative thinking?

How to improve your creative thinking skills?

Build empathy

Find ways to move quickly and effectively

Discover new talents and promote learning

Boost your CV and employability

Bust assumptions

Become a better problem solver

Increase happiness and satisfaction

Get better at dealing with adversity

What are creative thinking skills?

Save time planning your next creative workshop

Examples of creative thinking skills (and how to use them)

Experimentation

Deep and active listening

Data collection