Abstract
The development of Design and Technology curricula has always been premised on the importance of the act of designing and of the value of the contingent activity of creative thinking. Despite this, there has been a great deal of uncertainty about methods for developing creative thinking abilities in design and technology students. However, the results of research from cognitive psychology, engineering and invention suggest some promising strategies for application in design and technology classes. Moreover, these strategies are emerging during a time when issues concerning ethics and values are also being raised. This paper presents a brief summary of the research into problem-solving and design. It then explores a range of creative thinking strategies, and of their possible applications in design, and goes on to argue that the strategies and settings that promote creative thinking in design and technology make the area not only one that is suitable for addressing ethics and values, but that it may be one of the major reasons for including design and technology programs in school curricula.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
J. R. Anderson (1993) ArticleTitle‘Problem Solving and Learning’ American Psychologist 48 IssueID1 35–44
J. R. Anderson (1982) ArticleTitle‘Acquisition of Cognitive Skills’ Psychological Review 89 IssueID4 369–406
W. B. Carlson M. E. Gorman (1992) ‘A Cognitive Framework to Understand Technological Creativity: Bell, Edison and the Telephone’ R. J. Weber D. N. Perkins (Eds) Inventive Minds Oxford University Press New York
R. A. Finke (1989) Principles of Mental Imagery MIT Press Cambridge MA
R. A. Finke T. B. Ward S. M. Smith (1992) ‘Creative Cognition MIT Press Massachusetts
R. A. Finke K. Slayton (1988) ArticleTitle‘Explorations of Creative Visual Synthesis in Mental Imagery’ Memory and Cognition 16 252–257
H. Gardner M. Csikszentmihalyi W. Damon (2001) Good Works: When Excellence and Ethics Meet Basic Books New York
V. Goel (1988) ArticleTitle‘Complicating the ‘Logic of Design’ Design Studies 9 IssueID4 229–234
V. Goel P. Pirolli (1992) ArticleTitle‘The Structure of Design Problem Spaces’ Cognitive Science 16 395–429
J. G. Greeno H. A. Simon (1988) ‘Problem Solving and Reasoning’‘ R. C. Atkinson R. J. Herrnstein G. Lindzey R. D. Luce (Eds) Stevens Handbook of Experimental Psychology, Vol. 2 EditionNumber2 Wiley Interscience New York
R. Johnsey (1995) ArticleTitleThe Design Process–does it Exist? A Critical Review of Published Models for the Design Process in England and Wales’ International Journal of Technology and Design Education 5 IssueID3 199–217
G. Kaufmann (1990) ‘Imagery Effects on Problem Solving’ P. J. Hampson D. E. Marks J. T. E. Richardson (Eds) Imagery: Current Developments Rutledge London
J. H. Larkin H. A. Simon (1987) ArticleTitle‘Why a Diagram is (sometimes) Worth Ten Thousand Words’ Cognitive Science 11 65–99
Middleton, H. E.: 2004, ‘Problem-Solving in Architectural Design’, Australian Vocational Education Review 11(1).
H. E. Middleton (1997) ‘Constructing Problem-Spaces in Airline Customer Work Sites’ F. Beven (Eds) Learning in the Workplace: Airline Customer Service Centre for Learning and Work Research Brisbane 104–116
H. E. Middleton (1996) ‘Complex Problem Solving’ J. C. Stevenson (Eds) Learning in the Workplace: Small Businesses in the Hospitality and Tourism Industry Centre for Learning and Work Research Brisbane 112–122
A. Newell H. A. Simon (1972) Human Problem Solving Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
D. A. Schon (1990) ‘The Design Process’ V. A. Howard (Eds) Varieties of Thinking: Essays from Harvard’s Philosophy of Education Research Centre Rutledge New York
H. A. Simon (1981) The Science of the Artificial EditionNumber2 MIT Press Cambridge, Mass
S. M. Smith T. B. Ward R. A. Finke (1995) ‘Cognitive Processes in Creative Contexts’ S. M. Smith T. B. Ward R. A. Finke (Eds) The Creative Cognition Approach Bradford Books Cambridge, Mass 2–5
E. P. Torrance (1964) ‘Education and Creativity’ Taylor (Eds) Creativity: Progress and Potential McGraw-Hill New York
R. J. Weber (1992) ‘Stone Age Knife to Swiss Army Knife: An Invention Prototype’ R. J. Weber D. N. Perkins (Eds) Inventive minds Oxford University Press New York
R J. Weber D. N. Perkins (1989) ArticleTitle‘How to Invent Artefacts and Ideas’ New Ideas in Psychology 7 49–72
R. J. Weber C. L. Moder J. B. Solie (1990) ArticleTitle‘Invention Heuristics and Mental Processes Underlying the Development of a Patent for the Application of Herbicides’ New Ideas in Psychology 3 321–336
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Middleton, H. Creative Thinking, Values and Design and Technology Education. Int J Technol Des Educ 15, 61–71 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-004-6199-y
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10798-004-6199-y