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