Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description



CODE IOT1001

 
TITLE Thinking out of the Box - A Toolkit for Idea Generation

 
UM LEVEL 01 - Year 1 in Modular Undergraduate Course

 
MQF LEVEL Not Applicable

 
ECTS CREDITS 8

 
DEPARTMENT The Edward de Bono Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking

 
DESCRIPTION The course aims to present a number of different theories of creativity in order to enable participants to discuss, compare and contrast different ideas and methods presented by different authors. Some of the key points that will be tackled include:
- A quick start to creativity (How can you be creative?)
- Learning and using different thinking techniques (SCAMPER, Lateral Thinking, DATT Tools, Six Thinking Hats, Grid Analysis)
- Problem Solving Skills (using creative techniques to generate creative solutions to your problems)
- The relation between creativity and intelligence
- The myths of creativity
- Lateral Thinking in Practice

By the end of this study unit students will be expected to demonstrate knowledge of the thinking strategies learnt. Furthermore, students will be expected to apply different thinking strategies to their field of competence.

Reading List:

- de Bono, E. (1993). Serious creativity. Des Moines: Advanced Practical Thinking Training Inc.
- de Bono, E. (1993). Teach your child how to think. London: Penguin.
- DeGraff, J., & Lawrence, K. (2002). Creativity at work. CA: Jossey Bass.

A Reading Pack will be supplied including excerpts from the following:

- Amabile, T. M. (1998). How to kill creativity. Harvard Business Review Sept-Oct. 77-87.
- Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Oxford: Westview Press.
- Boden, M. A. (1992). The creative mind, myths and mechanisms. London: Abacus.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). The domain of creativity. In M. A. Runco & R. S. Albert (Eds.), Theories of creativity. CA: Sage.
- Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. NY: Harper Perennial.
- Epstein, R. (1996). Capturing creativity. In Psychology Today. Jul/Aug 1996. ID 1096.
- Feldman, D. H. (2003). The development of creativity. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity. NY: Cambridge University Press.
- Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligences. NY: Basic Books.
- Mayer, R. E. (2003). Fifty years of creativity research. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity. NY: Cambridge University Press.
- Rhodes, M. (1961). An analysis of creativity. Phi Delta Kappa, 42, 305-310.
- Simonton, D. (2000). Creativity: Cognitive, personal, developmental, and social aspects. American Psychologist, 5(1), 151-158.
- Sternberg, R. J. (Ed.). (2003). Handbook of creativity. NY: Cambridge University Press.
- Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Wisdom, intelligence and creativity synthesized. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture and Workshop

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Classwork No 20%
Presentation No 30%
Assignment Yes 50%

 
LECTURER/S Tania Farrugia
Shirley Pulis Xerxen&nbsp(Co-ord.)

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.


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