Fostering creativity by a specially designed Doris tool

Thinking Skills and Creativity 17 (2015) 132–148

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Thinking Skills and Creativity journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/tsc

Fostering creativity by a specially designed Doris tool Zdravko Zivkovic a,∗ , Slavka T. Nikolic b , Rade Doroslovacki b , Bojan Lalic b , Jelena Stankovic b , Teodora Zivkovic c a b c

The Government of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina, Serbia The Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia The School of Management, University of Applied Sciences, Upper Austria, Austria

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 7 September 2014 Received in revised form 7 June 2015 Accepted 19 June 2015 Available online 30 June 2015 Keywords: Creativity Innovation Imagination Game Doris tool

a b s t r a c t The aim of this study is to shape, introduce and validate a brand-new tool to foster functional creativity of students, who represent a great source of fresh and applicable ideas for the efficient, prosperous and sustainable development. The first step was to create a new tool under name Doris and test it in a pilot study on the group of 40 high-school students divided into experimental and control group. Encouraged by the results we conducted a core study in 5 EU countries on the group of more than 2000 participants in high-schools during the period of 3 years. We have used experimental method for our research, and then conducted a comparative analysis of the experimental and control groups. The usage of the Doris tool showed that such an imaginative game could raise an interest for the expression of creativity in schools, could build self-confidence of the participants, and enhance creative ways of thinking. The participants were in the shoes of decisionmaking persons and allowed to express their own ideas how to make the world a better place. It is an encouraging fact that the majority of the generated ideas were the result of imagination and focused on radical innovation or new fields of implementation of the existing technologies, and the minority were ideas for innovation efficiency of existing product/services. The implementation of some of these ideas in real life has proven that the Doris tool can be used in schools to foster creative thinking and generate fresh applicable ideas. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 1.1. Knowledge and creativity A typical system of education is based on memorising: learn, remember and repeat. “Most of a child’s time at school is devoted to the acquisition, retention and testing of knowledge. Children learn methods and facts and are then tested on how well they can apply those methods and remember those facts” (Sloane, 2006, 45). Since many facts about the world and processes around us are complementing the new insights due to new information inputs on daily basis, the knowledge acquired in school is more or less lagging behind the actual facts.

∗ Corresponding author. Fax.: +381 21557718. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (Z. Zivkovic), [email protected] (S.T. Nikolic), [email protected] (R. Doroslovacki), [email protected] (B. Lalic), [email protected] (J. Stankovic), [email protected] (T. Zivkovic). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2015.06.004 1871-1871/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Students in these conditions, “are fed” with a myriad of facts, a part of which is completely useless in modern conditions, and a good portion (the newer data) can be easily found on the Internet. The dilemma is whether it is still enough to learn a lot of facts, given that knowledge is continually updated and changed. Knowledge is essential to everyone, even to the most intelligent people or the most creative individuals. One definition of intelligence is the ability to solve new tasks by using a combination of previously acquired knowledge in new ways. “Intelligence is best captured at the medium ranges of novelty, where the opportunity for people to make intelligent use of their previous knowledge is optimal” (Kaufmann, 2004, 157). However, when a new task cannot be solved by using the acquired knowledge i.e. “when the task contains so much novelty that ‘the individual cannot find any relationship between the current situation and past experience’, intelligence, by definition, is not applicable. In these situations, it takes creativity or ‘a completely unique approach for their solution” (Gardner & Sternberg, 1994, 39). “Creativity is often obvious in young children, but it may be harder to find in older children and adults because their creative potential has been suppressed by a society that encourages intellectual conformity” (Sternberg, 2003, 98). There is a widespread belief that school is ‘suppressing’ creativity: while the kids before entering school have unlimited imagination, later on they become more closed in expressing their fantasies. “In the process of an adolescent’s development, at its most critical stage, there is usually a decline in school progress, a weakening of formerly established habits, particularly when productive work of a creative nature unfolds before the child. Adolescents may draw less because they are more aware of objective cultural standards and therefore more critical of their own work” (Sawyer, 2003, 70). So, to stimulate creativity of older children (adolescents) something has to be done. 1.2. Imagination and creativity Einstein reported that he first ‘saw’ the solution to a problem without being able to express it (Ritter, Baaren & Dijksterhuis, 2012, 21). The general definition of imagination is: “Imagination is the ability to think of all things as possible” (Kangas, 2010, 2). The more comprehensive explanation sees “imagination as an aspect of reflective thinking that enables us to create ideas that not only go beyond what is given but are effective, in the sense that they are likely to transform experience as intended. The things most emphasised in imagination as it reshapes experience are things which are absent in reality. Imagination is an essential human capacity in various activities such as the pursuit of creativity and innovation, the symbolic expression of ideas, and critical thinking. In other words, imagination is the internal imagery of a creator whereas creativity and creations are the outward manifestation of imagination” (Liang, Hsu, & Chang, 2013, 110). Imagination may help people to push the boundaries of current knowledge, to exceed the limitations of generally accepted definitions of reality, and to enter an expanded scientific world and develop more elaborated scientific theories, thereby leading to technological advancements (e.g. new products) that surpass the inventions of the current generation (Wang, Ho, Wu & Cheng, 2014, 107). In this boundless, ever-changing globalization market, in which knowledge is the niche for competition and cooperation, creative knowledge has already become an index that leads civilization into a continuous advance (Shena, 2012, 616). The biggest innovations during the human history, made out of nothing existing, are the result of fantasy and imagination. For instance, the laser had no ancestor to follow or improve it, nothing similar was seen before – the light gathered to cut the metal or stone! Without someone’s fantasy we would not have plasma or LED TV hanged on the wall as a painting, the Internet or an iPhone. Imagination makes it possible to get out of the closed circle of thought (out of the box). Imagination takes us into the future, to unimagined discoveries that make life more beautiful, better and more interesting. But it also allows individuals to rise above the average and generate fresh and useful ideas. In the present context of globalisation and the general competition, creativity (creation of new and applicable ideas) and innovation (profitable implementation of creativity) became a condition for survival. “Although imagination is common to everyone, there are individual differences in how individuals use imagination to generate good ideas that solve problems” (Ho, Wang, & Cheng, 2013, 76). Albert Einstein said: “Knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research” (Einstein, 1931, 1085). 1.3. Games and creativity In 1958, Albert Schreiber wrote an article in the Journal of the Academy of Management about “another new teaching technique” which was said to offer “attractive possibilities for improved learning experiences” (Schreiber, 1958, 57). “This new technique was the use of games” (Verzat, Byrne, & Fayolle, 2009, 359). In the literature, the nine-dot puzzle problem – frame of reference (Akin & Akin, 1998) and the Mutilated Checkerboard (MC) problem (Kaplan & Simon, 1990) are well known examples of games that require creativity to be solved. One of the most popular games is Lego. When testing the technical schools in the north of France, “the use of Lego was found appealing to the students and provided an excellent medium for teaching design, programming skills, and creativity” (Verzat et al., 2009, 360). In other cases, which is investigating in the companies Nokia, Daimler–Chrysler, Ikea, and Alcatel, Kimberly Jaussi concluded that “legos work because they let executives visualize abstract concepts like ‘value chain’ or ‘process engineering’ by actually building their interpretations of them” (Sawyer, 2006, 297). “Different games can be used

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with different teaching objectives in mind. “Special creative games should be able to” influence creativity and imagination, stimulate original and innovative ideas, or alter risk-perception is warranted. (Verzat et al., 2009, 366). Some authors of classical understanding suspiciously ask: How can the puzzles improve mental agility? “Precisely because it is innocuous. Puzzles give pleasure in much the same way that jokes do. They create suspense and a mild anxiety, lead us astray, and surprise us with counterintuitive answers. Puzzles stimulate the imagination in ways that logical reasoning cannot” (Donalee, 2003, 3). Games can create ‘imaginary worlds and hypothetical spaces where players can test ideas and experience their consequences’ (Squire & Jenkins, 2003, 8). Play commonly signifies a form of activity with three intrinsic features. It is separable from everyday life (especially as against “work”; it exists within a “magic circle”), safe (“consequence free” or non-productive), and pleasurable or “fun” (normatively positive) (Malaby, 2007, 96). “Play appears to be a creative process in the nature of humour. This is supported by the fact that play and humour are constituted by the same general mood of cheerfulness and enthusiasm and that neither the playful or humoristic situation last beyond the moment they occur“ (Hammershøj, 2014, 176) Study research in literature has shown that the introduction of games as a teaching method is indispensable for the development of creativity and innovation, stimulating original ideas and changing perceptions of risk – the release of fear of failure. On one hand, a game is taken very seriously by the players, but at the same time the players remember that ‘it is only a game’. The game is relaxing and entertaining precisely because it relieves us from the burden of decisions making ‘in the real world’, and allows participants to remain creative (Heifetz, 2010, 791). 1.4. Purposes of the study Through the operational process of imagination, students develop new and creative ideas that can lead to the generation of products or concrete objects. This process provides students with opportunities to explore the world, identify their interests, find solutions to problems, and further develop abilities that are necessary for the future (Ho et al., 2013, 106). Based on these assumptions, we used a specially designed tool to stimulate student’s imagination and applied a combination of two types of creativity trainings: (a) creativity training which is concentrated on developing participants’ creativity and (b) sessions of creative problem solving— based on work with heuristics, tactics and strategies of creative problem-solving (Karwowski & Soszynski, 2008, 164). All generated ideas were systematically collected, recorded, analysed and divided into three main groups of new ideas: ideas for innovation efficiency, ideas for innovation use and ideas for radical innovation. The most critical stage in the development of new products is a new-ideas-generating phase. The lack of good, fresh and original ideas cannot be replaced later by even the best methods of selection, evaluation, development, testing and implementation. Companies use different methods to gather new ideas, using many techniques of stimulation. Realising that all the methods and techniques have, in addition to good features, some weaknesses that limit their effective use, we developed a new tool, which could be universally and globally applied. The starting position is that all people are (more or less) creative but creativity is hidden to the inner being of each individual and requires an appropriate mechanism to express and realise it. The aim of the study is to design a tool that should improve, accelerate the development of innovative products. All companies, whose market survival depends on new and innovative products, need fresh ideas, and the new unlimited source of fresh ideas, are schools and their students. Having in mind the differences in the national cultures, we tested the tool in 5 different European countries searching for the differences in its application and results. Based on the purpose of the research, the basic and specific research hypotheses are defined. General hypotheses H1.

The use of the tool for creativity stimulation causes an increased creativity among the users.

H2. At the level of individual countries, there are significant differences between the experimental groups in the number of the above ideas. Specific/distinctive methods for hypothesis H1 H1.1. There is a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the number of generated ideas in terms of improving the existing products in favour of the control group. H1.2. There is a statistically significant difference between the experimental and control group in the number of generated ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products in favour of the experimental group. H1.3. There is a significant difference between the experimental and control groups in the number of generated ideas for a completely new product in favour of the experimental group. Specific/special methods for hypothesis H2 H2.1. At the level of individual countries, there is a significant difference between the experimental and control group in the number of generated ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products and the brand new products, while there is no significant difference in the number of ideas for improving the existing products.

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H2.2. There is a statistically significant difference between the experimental groups in the number of the generated ideas, where it is expected that the most ideas will be generated for new products, then for the new field of application of existing products and the fewest for the improvement of existing products. H2.3. At the level of five European countries in which the tool was tested, there is a statistically significant difference between the experimental groups in the number of generated ideas. 2. Methods We have used experimental method for our research, and then conducted a comparative analysis of the experimental and control groups. 2.1. Participants 2.1.1. Pilot study In order to determine its effectiveness in encouraging creativity we conducted the 5-day test on a sample of two groups of 20 participants, selected randomly from 40 high-school volunteers aged 15–18 years. Experimental group: 20 Participants 1st class (age 15) – 7 participants 2nd class (age 16) – 6 participants 3rd class (age 17) – 5 participants 4th class (age 18) – 2 participants Control group: 20 Participants 1st class (age 15) – 8 participants 2nd class (age 16) – 5 participants 3rd class (age 17) – 4 participants 4th class (age 18) – 3 participants 2.1.2. Main study Each group of students’ participants from each and every school was divided roughly into two halves, by random selection: into experimental and control group, so both groups were similar in their main characteristics (age, type of school, national culture etc.) Table 1. Table 1 Participants. Serbia

Hungary

Italy

Austria

Croatia

SPL

TNS

SPL

TNS

SPL

TNS

SPL

TNS

SPL

TNS

Participants-total Population size (%) Average age SD for age

717 13.74 16.83 1.72

5218

126 14.24 17.50 1.55

885

483 15.40 16.17 1.46

3136

269 13.56 15.75 0.92

1984

472 12.25 16.92 1.50

3854

Experimental group (E) Population size (%) Average age SD for age

361 6.92 16.33 1.86

64 7.23 17.17 1.80

249 7.94 16.33 1.26

138 6.96 15.83 1.07

240 6.23 16.33 1.25

Control group (C) Population size (%) Average age SD for age

356 6.82 17.33 1.57

62 7.01 17.83 1.26

234 7.46 16.00 1.64

131 6.60 15.67 0.75

232 6.02 17.50 1.71

TNS: Total number of students in the participating schools, SPL: sample.

2.2. Instruments 2.2.1. Shaping the design of the tool Instead of using existing games to encourage creativity, we will design a brand new tool that should be acceptable to all ages and globally applicable. At the same time, the tool needs to stimulate imagination, for which Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” For a tool that can be globally acceptable, the form (shape) and then its content have to be defined first. The two most common forms on the Earth are: a circle and a rectangle. The circle is a symbol of infinity and has a natural form present in the entire Universe, from the atom to the planet. On the other hand, due to the natural need for symmetry (the two eyes),

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Fig. 1. Octagon as a result of two squares intersection.

Fig. 2. An octagon and a circle similarity.

Fig. 3. Assembling the octagons at an angle of 90◦ .

people most frequently use a rectangle form (or a square that is an ideal rectangle with the identical sides) in two or three dimensions. By cutting off the corners of the square (the intersection with another square rotated by 45◦ ), we get the shape in geometry called octagon which also resembles a circle, but there are sides that can be stacked at an angle of 90◦ (Figs. 1, 2). Assembling the octagons at an angle of 90◦ is always possible, because, even when the octagon rotates by 45◦ , the four sides are still at an angle of 90◦ (Fig. 3). This octagon form was widespread in the ancient Roman Empire, and is particularly favoured in decorating the vaults of the imperial palaces. The example can still be seen in the Roman Forum (Basilica of Maxentius–Basilica di Messenzio) and at the St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican. The Octagon was considered a divine form and had a strong psychological effect (Fig. 4). The architects, who worked on the Cathedral of St. Peter in the Vatican, also could not resist this “divine” form and all the arches in front of the main altar are decorated with golden octagons arranged in a row at an angle of 90◦ (Fig. 5). 2.2.2. Designing the content of the tool Following the adoption of forms, it is necessary to define the content. By searching for what is equally present in all parts of the globe – we came to light. Due to different wavelengths of light, the human eye sees objects in different colours. There are four psychological primary colours – red, blue, yellow and green. They are respectively related to the body, mind, emotions and essential balance between these three elements. In the book “The Beginner’s Guide to Colour Psychology” (Wright, 1999) author explained that each colour has its own psychological operation, that is, produces a variety of feelings in people:

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Fig. 4. The ceiling on the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum.

Fig. 5. The vault in the Cathedral of St. Peter in the Vatican.

Fig. 6. Sides of the octagon with one colour (left) and two colours (right). (For interpretation of the references to colour in the article, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

• Red (physical) – Physical courage, strength, energy, stimulation. Improves mood, increases a heart rate, breathing and muscular tension. • Blue (intellectual) – Intelligence, serenity, logic, coolness. Calming effect, the opposite of red • Green (balance) – Harmony, balance, rest, equilibrium, peace. Resting appears to be mild; it creates inner peace, resting form. • The combination of these three colours produces a rational control of a strong emotional mood. An additional Yellow (emotional) colour stimulates optimism, confidence, self-esteem, emotional strength, friendliness and creativity. While the red colour increases adrenaline and positive stress (willingness to act), green and blue represent balance, soothe and reduce tension while encouraging concentration (i.e. provide thoughtful and measured action). In developing the tool, three primary colours – red, green and blue (RGB) were applied, which represents the content of the previously defined

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Fig. 7. The two basic positions of the octagon’s centre, “square” and “diamond”.

Fig. 8. Single, double and hybrid edge-matching. (For interpretation of the references to colour in the article, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.)

form. As an additional colour for the centre of the octagon, we have chosen yellow which further encourages optimism and creativity (Fig. 6). In order to visually distinguish these two sets of sides, we inserted into the centre the control element in the form of a square, which, depending on the rotational position may be in a “square” or in the “diamond” position (Fig. 7). This version of the octagon with four fields is incomparably superior to the version when all 8 sides of the octagon have one colour on the edges. It can be seen in the following illustration (Fig. 8):

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Fig. 9. Half and vertex matching.

Fig. 10. 3-color 24 octagons.

Legend: A: single edge-matching B: double edge-matching (simultaneous matching two and two colors) C: hybrid matching (one segment of first octagon with two segments of the same color of the second octagon)

The three colours are allocated to four equal sections, allowing exceptional multi-touching options: colour matching of the edges in three different ways: single (1 to 1), double (2 to 2) and hybrid (1 to 2), as no other tool can provide. In addition to the three basic ways, there are two complementary ways of colour matching: half (half segment) and vertex (the corners) (Fig. 9). The total number of combinations (when the three colours are spread on the 4 fields), without repetition, is 4! or 1 × 2 × 3 × 4 = 24. There are exactly as much unique octagonal tiles in our set. Out of these, 3 octagons have only one colour (single S1–S3), 12 octagons have combination of two colours (Double D4–D15) and 9 octagons combined all three colours (Triple T16–T24) (Fig. 10). ˆ By combining the 3 colours in 4 segments (without repetition) we get a total of 24 unique combinations. There are 1036 (ten to the power of 36) possible combinations for 24 octagons in three colours while the original Rubik’s cube 3 × 3 × 3 has ˆ combinations. “only”1023

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Previously created tool we named Doris (an acronym of the nick-names of two contributors to the development of the tool: DORa and ISi). 2.3. Procedures 2.3.1. Pilot study The experimental group was part of a specially designed experiment conducted during the five days. The control group was part of the experiment, only the last day, without participation in activities that the experimental group of participants had. The real goal of the experiment was not told to the participants; it was said that this is a new method of mental relaxation through creative play. This has contributed to the fact that the behaviour of individuals does not change and adjust to the expectations, but is as natural as possible. The participants in the experimental group had available an hour a day, from Monday to Friday to use Doris tool, i.e. to use creative puzzle of 24 octagon in 3 colours. Each participant had their unimpeded space and there was no direct insight into the activities of neighbouring participants. Every day, the participants in the experimental group were given thematic area that has been guiding for the day; (a schedule of topics was the following). First day: free form. Each participant was encouraged to make a 24-pieces figure at its sole discretion, without worrying about matching colours on adjacent edges. Number of figures was not limited; when a figure is completed and photographed, the participant continues to make the next figure until the end of the set time or until they run out of ideas. The participant named the created figure (due to different possible associations with the built form), but without explaining the reasons and motives for making certain figures. The creative figures were results of their “emotion, intuition, innovation and other processes that constitute creativity” (Casakina & Kreitler, 2011, 159). The aim of the first exercise was to break stage fright, introduce participants to the tool and establish trust between them and the moderator. It was emphasised that the participants have complete freedom in creating the figures: there is no wrong solution, criticism, negative consequences; the participants were advised to relax, forget about any worries and problems and enjoy the ‘virtual journey into the world of imagination’. Second day: optimism. Participants were asked to make figures that evoke positive things that relate to joy and happiness (their own or other people). It is necessary to avoid anything that causes participants’ negative thoughts associated with problems or causes discomfort, anxiety or frustration (i.e. weapons, dangerous animals, disease and death). The exercise aimed to eliminate negative thoughts that spoil the mood and all the attention was focused on the positive things that are associated with optimism, happiness and satisfaction, as well as life in which there is no evil that would ruin the infinite harmony. This is an additional incentive to participants to forget the worries and problems of everyday life. Third day: troubleshooting. Participants were asked to reveal all the known problems in their immediate surroundings, among their friends, in the city, country or the planet Earth, which spoil the pleasure and burden life in general. It was necessary to make a figure representing the solution to these problems, setting the stage for the dedication to useful occupation and pleasure. The exercise is aimed to virtually set the participants free of all the elements that can spoil their or other people’s happiness and satisfaction, actively seeking the ways to overcome and eliminate them. Fourth Day: Charity. Participants were offered the virtual prize of 100,000 D , with a request to allocate that amount in a rational and noble way. Number of gifts was not limited, but each participant had to take care not to exceed the budget, and that the chosen gifts, according to participants’ knowledge, are the real answer to the presumed wishes of the person or institution for which the gift is intended. ‘Shopping’ (represented by figures of gifts) is implied including the Internet for e-buying of anything from all over the world. The aim of the exercise was to virtually put participants in the position of ‘donors’ who think about the neighbours and those whose values they respect, regarding the idea that man cannot be happy in an environment ruled by accident, despair, disease and suffering. The relatively large amount of virtual money triggered the adrenaline and the participants felt the ‘power’ to be able to do something for their own need and desires of other people and/or institutions. The power to do something is the best medicine to boost self-confidence and expression of charity. By limiting the amount of money the participants were given a task to think carefully how to allocate the given amount of money and meet as many unmet needs at the same time, and that required a compromise between the need and possibility of developing imagination in rational terms. Fifth day: imagination. Participants were given a set of Doris tiles and were asked to consider the theme: What I want, and it does not yet exist, it is not available to buy or not possible to do. It is necessary to previously consider some additional features: (a) existing products/services which would increase the usability or quality; (b) products/services that already exist, but they could have additional fields of use; (c) a brand new, non-existing products/services, a participant believes that such products/services would be useful for their own needs or generally for all consumers. The time given to think about the ideas was 20 min, after which the participants thought that they could make the figures based on the predefined task. However, after the expiry of the time set for consideration, participants were given a paper and a pencil and asked to write down their ideas on paper in the next half an hour. They were told that it is not necessary to take into account whether the idea can be immediately realised due to the achieved technical and technological level of development. As 50 years ago the idea of a mobile phone or a plasma TV as a picture on the wall sounded like a distant science fiction.

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The number of ideas was not limited, and participants were encouraged to write down everything and that will remain a secret. In addition, participants were encouraged to write down as many ideas without self-censorship. Participants were not promised any awards, ranking of the best ideas or the announcement of the winners. Material and moral incentives were not involved in the process of generating ideas. Participants were provided with complete silence, with no music, no cell phones and mutual conversation, considering that the next 30 min should be devoted exclusively to the idea-generating process. The aim of the exercise is to enable participants the possibility of manifestation of unlimited imagination, with no constraints and barriers. Thematic sessions are designed so that the participants are gradually excluded from reality and become virtually displaced from their surroundings, everyday tasks, deadlines, high expectations (stressors) or monotony, templates and mundane activities that are performed routinely, without mental agility.

2.3.2. Main study • The selection of high schools should represent a variety of different types of school (including students with convergent thinking which mostly moved towards the physical sciences, and those with a divergent thinking that moved towards the humanities (Furnham et al., 2011), such as art, linguistics, tourism and economics, IT, agriculture, techniques, medicine, civil engineering, etc.). • Each school had to assemble one average class (25–30 students), rather than making a special selection of the best students. • All students participate on a voluntary basis, and not because they are forced by the teachers (Non-probability i.e. nonrandom samples). • Participants do not know in advance what will be required of them, except that they represent their school in a kind of competition. This approach had to ensure the applications from students who are curious and inquisitive, brave (to try new things), have enough self-confidence (personal belief in self-esteem) and determined (to defend the reputation of their school). Participants in the experimental groups were asked to play using Doris tiles and trying to make some figures according to their own taste. The goal was to let the students have a chance to express their creativity in the simplest way: each student got 24 Doris octagonal tiles and an opportunity to create any shape they wanted, where there was no wrong decision due to the lack of a predefined task. The number of figures that each participant could make was not specified, but it was dependent on the imagination, interest, desire and ability of each student. In other words, there was complete freedom of choice of form, number and complexity of figures. “Freedom to be unconventional and express their sense of self, emotions and ideas” (Lassig, 2013, 11) was crucial to involve all participants into the creative process. The task was to create something (a concrete object with a specific form and meaning) from the abstract stacks of tiles (i.e. “something from nothing”). After the figures have been created, each student was eligible to make a choice (based on their own opinion) and pick up one out of all shapes they made and then find at least one of the possible solutions, based on a simple rule: matching colours with neighbouring tiles. The total time for all activities was 1 h and 30 min. This task enabled participants to select their most creative idea from all the ideas they generated. This task allowed participants a virtual journey to an imaginary world where they felt relaxed and free, where there were no wrong decisions and fear of failure, just relaxing game in a stress-free atmosphere that awakens the imagination and desire for the creative potential expression, the desire to compete with themselves and with others to strengthen self-confidence. An open learning atmosphere that encourages and emphasises innovation facilitates the development of imagination and the ability to engage in creative expression. Teachers play a key role in establishing the atmosphere of the teaching site. Establishment of an open and free creative space by teachers will provide an environment that will not threaten the students but will encourage their imagination. This type of atmosphere will help students generate notions that are not limited by current thinking modes and promote a continuous flow of creative ideas. (Ho et al., 2013, 69) (Fig. 11). Beside the previously specified activities of forming shapes by imagination and desire, the participants had the opportunity to articulate their imagination concerning the concrete issues of everyday life. “Creative thinking, by its very nature, asks students to move out of their comfort zone, take intellectual risks and explore new ways of thinking in order to generate new ideas” (Robbins & Kegley, 2010, 41). The last 10–15 min of work in a creative workshops, participants in the experimental groups were ‘put in the shoes’ of some important person in charge and were given the opportunity to put their ideas on a particular issue, raised by the moderator, on paper, without explaining the details, but their vision of solving a given problem in an original way (for example: I am the general manager of a car company, faced with the particular problem I would do the following...). Participants generated the list of ideas on how to solve the given problem. This task intends to capture the creative quality of the responses, not simply the number of ideas. The participants from the control groups were asked to do the same, but without the aforementioned training with the Doris tool. “For the idea generation phase, the measures of interest were the number of ideas that a participant listed and the creativity of ideas (‘a creative idea has to be both useful and novel’). Creative ideas, as all creative products, do not have a distinct, inherent level of creativeness; the creative worth of an idea is usually determined by complex sociocultural and

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Fig. 11. The example of Doris figures generated by students.

historical processes, which makes it difficult in an experimental setting to determine an individual’s creative performance” (Ritter et al., 2012, 23).

3. Results 3.1. Pilot Study The participants were initially somewhat reserved, but over a period of time, due to the everyday – publicly expressed – evaluation of the facilitator before the session of the previous successful day, became more relaxed and excited as they can be when detached from worries and were virtually brought back to their days of childhood, which is just a synonym for serenity, play and optimism. According to their statements, after a one-hour session, they all felt relaxed and satisfied as if they recharged their batteries, waiting eagerly for a new session with new challenges. The replacement of traditional education methods with creative and playful activities inspired the participants because, as they admitted, they were allowed to use their imagination. The last day they had a chance to be wizards and created whatever they wanted. Without knowing that they are generating ideas from their deepest unspoken wishes and fantasy without any limitations, they filled up papers with their pencils as if they were magic wands, feeling happy to be able to express their wishes freely. Unlike the brainstorming sessions, where participants have to speak aloud about their ideas, and where, because of a few dominant participants, they are not able to express them, or because of self-censorship and fear of mistakes, they give up presenting their ideas, by using the Doris tool those negative effects were avoided. Respect for privacy and respect for personality of each participant of a creative workshop is a prerequisite for success, which is achieved by introducing the rules of complete trust and faith between participants and a moderator. The control group was approached and asked to write down their ideas without previous training and use of the Doris tool. They had a task to write out their ideas in the time period of 30 min. The main difference in generating ideas in the experimental group which had a five-day training compared to the control group which had no previous preparation, is significantly higher imagination which manifests itself in creation of more and relatively larger share of ideas for new or breakthrough innovations, while the control group represented a less number of ideas which were mainly for functional or design modifications of the existing products/services.

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Table 2 The differences between the experimental and control group in the number of ideas. Ideas

Group

AS

SD

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

2.37 5.75 10.55 5.71 12.41 3.42

2.06 3.73 5.83 3.92 8.20 3.60

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

t (2065)

p

−25.63

.000

22.07

.000

32.09

.000

E: experimental group, C: control group.

3.2. Main study 3.2.1. Idea generation All collected ideas are divided into the three main groups: (a) Ideas aimed at improving the existing products/services (ideas for innovation efficiency) (b) Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products/services (ideas for innovation use) (c) The brand new products/services which are not produced/applied (ideas for radical innovation). Einstein said: “When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.” Ideas, relationships, connections, and dreams lie just below the surface, waiting to be perceived and unpacked (Caine, 2004, 14). The examples of the 3 main groups of ideas are: (a) Ideas aimed at improving the existing products/services: a wristwatch that not only shows the exact time in analogue or digital form, but has an additional audio function i.e. the ability to “pronounce” the exact time, useful for all, but especially for blind persons (b) Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products/services: an auto-pilot for cars, much like the auto-pilot in the airplanes, which can prevent car accidents and (c) The brand new product/service which are not produced/applied, and the respondent believes that such products are useful for their own needs or generally for all consumers: a device for learning during sleep, which is especially useful for foreign language learning etc. These examples show “the development of new perspectives and unusual mental angles through the use of strategies that shift viewpoints” (Bassendowski & Petrucka, 2006, 41). The students-participants have showed great satisfaction that they had the opportunity to express their ideas, because, as they all admitted, they were never asked to do anything like that before; they assessed the creative workshop as interesting and extremely helpful and they also think that it should be included in regular school activities. 3.2.2. The effect of the Doris tool on creativity All the above mentioned results of experimental groups were compared to the results of the control groups. Based on the t-test for independent samples, the significance of differences between experimental and control groups in the number of ideas was tested. The results show that there are significant differences in all three groups of ideas. The subjects of the experimental group have a significantly smaller number of ideas for the improvement of the existing products, but significantly greater number of ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products and the brand new products, which confirms H1.1, H1.2 and H1.3 hypothesis (Table 2). H2.1. At the level of individual countries, there is a significant difference between the experimental and control group in the number of generated ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products and the brand new products, while there is no significant difference in the number of ideas for improving the existing products. As it can be seen in Table 3 the same pattern of difference which is obtained in all the countries together is conspicuous at the individual country level. The only difference is obtained in the case of Italy, in which the control group achieved significantly higher scores on a number of ideas for new areas of application of the existing products. H2.2. There is a statistically significant difference between the experimental groups in the number of the above ideas, where it is expected that the most ideas will be generated for new products, then for the new fields of application of the existing products and the fewest for the improvement of existing products. By using the general linear model for repeated measures, the differences in the number of ideas in the experimental groups were examined. The results show that there are significant differences in the number of ideas (F(2.1050) = 1860.60, p = .000). In order to determine in which ideas there are significant differences, the post -hoc test was applied (Table 4). The post-hoc test indicated significant differences between all groups of ideas respectively, and that the greatest number of ideas generated in the group of an idea for a brand new products which are not yet produced, and then for the new areas of application of the existing products, and strikingly small number of ideas have been created for the improvement of the existing products.

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Table 3 The differences between the experimental and control groups in the number of ideas at the level of individual countries. Serbia

Group

AS

SD

t (715)

p

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

3.26 7.72 12.93 4.21 9.06 2.16

2.29 4.63 6.61 3.46 6.42 2.27

−16.41

.000

22.05

.000

19.14

.000

Hungary

Group

AS

SD

t (124)

p

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

1.48 4.90 9.73 6.42 4.28 1.63

1.16 2.72 4.27 4.30 3.66 2.01

−9.23

.000

4.35

.000

5.02

.000

Italy

Group

AS

SD

t (481)

p

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

1.71 4.97 10.89 6.09 16.91 6.27

1.23 2.52 4.86 3.59 9.29 4.12

−18.27

.000

12.30

.000

16.09

.000

Austria

Group

AS

SD

t (267)

p

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

3.79 5.02 5.49 6.20 14.58 5.67

2.40 2.87 2.42 3.57 5.79 4.39

−3.81

.000

−1.93

.000

14.16

.000

Croatia

Group

AS

SD

t (470)

p

Ideas for improving the existing products

E C E C E C

1.13 4.14 9.73 7.16 13.71 1.67

0.98 2.33 5.16 4.23 7.83 1.54

−18.41

.000

5.93

.000

23.00

.000

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet E: experimental group, C: control group.

Table 4 Differences in the number of three groups of ideas in the whole sample. (I)

(J)

Difference AS (I − J)

Std. deviation

p

Ideas for innovation efficiency

Ideas for innovation use Ideas for revolutionary innovation Ideas for innovation efficiency Ideas for revolutionary innovation Ideas for innovation efficiency Ideas for innovation use

−8.18 −10.05 8.18 -1.87 10.05 1.87

0.19 0.27 0.19 0.35 0.27 0.35

.000 .000 .000 .000 .000 .000

Ideas for innovation use Ideas for revolutionary innovation

H2.3. At the level of countries (Serbia, Hungary, Italy, Austria and Croatia), there was a statistically significant difference between the examinees in the experimental group in the number of ideas. The variance analysis examined the differences between the experimental groups from different countries in relation to the number of ideas for each category of ideas. The results show that there are significant differences between the examinees in the experimental groups compared to the number of ideas for all three groups of ideas (Table 5). In order to gain an insight into which countries show significant differences, the Scheffe’s post hoc test was applied. In the case of number of ideas for improving the existing products, there are three distinguished groups of countries, according to the results of the post hoc test:

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Table 5 Differences between the experimental groups of examinees from different countries in a number of ideas. Ideas Ideas for improving the existing products Ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products Brand new products which are not produced yet

F (4,1047) 84.90 50.85 66.73

p .000 .000 .000

1. The increasing number of ideas generated by the examinees of the experimental group from Serbia (AS = 3.26, SD = 2.29) and Austria (AS = 3.79, SD = 2:40), 2. The intermediate number of ideas generated by the examinees from Italy (AS = 1.71, SD = 1.23), and 3. The smaller number of ideas generated by the examinees from Hungary (AS = 1:48, SD = 1.16) and Croatia (AS = 1.13, SD = 0.98). In the case of number of ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products, based on the results of the post hoc test, the three groups of countries can be distinguished: 1. The increasing number of ideas generated by the examinees of experimental group from Serbia (AS = 12.93, SD = 6.61), 2. The intermediate number of ideas generated by the examinees from Hungary (AS = 9.73, SD = 4.27), Italy (AS = 10.89, SD = 4.86) and Croatia (AS = 9.73, SD = 5.16), and 3. The smaller number of ideas generated by the examinees from Austria (AS = 5:49, SD = 2:42) In the case of number of ideas for brand new products which are not yet produced, based on the results of post hoc test differentiates four groups of countries: 1. The increasing number of ideas generated by the examinees of experimental group from Italy (AS = 16.91, SD = 9.29), 2. The moderately greater number of ideas generated by the examinees from Austria (AS = 14:58, SD = 5.79) and Croatia (A = 13.71, SD = 7.83), and 3. The moderately lower number of ideas generated by the examinees from Serbia (AS = 6.9, SD = 6:42), and 4. The smaller number of ideas created by the examinees from Hungary (AS = 4.28, SD = 3.66) • The average number of ideas for the control group has a completely different direction compared to the experimental groups: the largest number of ideas are related to the innovation efficiency, i.e. to the ideas for improving existing products, then to the use of innovation, that is, the ideas for the new areas of application of the existing products, and particularly the smallest number of ideas refer to revolutionary ideas, that is, to the ideas of completely new products. • In addition to the fact that the use of the Doris tools leads to increased creativity it is interesting to note that only in the case of category – improving existing products – the control group generated more ideas than the experimental groups. Explanation of these results can be found in the assumption that this category is not challenging enough for creative people and their creative abilities rather express ideas through greater degree of authenticity. 4. Discussion By providing an open and relaxing atmosphere in the classroom, without any kind of pressure, students feel free to play as they used to as little children in the kindergarten. This is the opposite of regular classes where students expect to be tested at any moment and feel a more or less certain degree of anxiety. This is the first assumption. Complete freedom of choice for the participants in choosing the number and forms of the figures they make is an additional contribution to the relaxing atmosphere. Using 24 octagonal pieces to arrange a shape of their own will, without previous experience, students need to use their imagination to join parts into a whole picture. Even if it is a simple cross or a beautiful figure of a dragon, the self-confidence is increasing every time the teacher encourages students to continue that way. This is a very important point, because the lack of self-confidence is one of the main barriers of creativity. “Roughly half of the people surveyed believe they have skills in creativity while the other half is filled with doubts about their creative abilities. One of the fundamental principles of innovation is ‘Believe in Creativity’. As many great psychologists will tell you, “If you think you can, you can and if you think you cannot, you cannot!” (Dundon, 200216). Doris tool, based on a simple rule of matching colours enables every student to be creative and strengthen the belief in their own creative ability. Many ideas remain unspoken because of the lack of confidence and belief in their value. Students do not need to be artists to make figures that look like an artistic work. What makes their work artistic is their imagination. The fact is that there are two hemispheres of the brain: the “right brain” and “left brain”. Roger Sperry won the 1981 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his ground-breaking work in the area of brain dominance. “Each side, or hemisphere, of the brain possesses specialized and differentiated functions. The left side of the brain is thought to dominate language, logic, and scientific and analytical tasks, while the right side of the brain is thought to dominate visual, spatial, and artistic tasks. Over time, the right brain has become associated with creativity” (Dundon, 2002, 19).

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Fig. 12. The example of variety of Doris figures.

“To be creative it is necessary to think with the right brain; however, the left brain is by far the ascendant and often excludes the other half from becoming actively involved in tasks and activities”. To encourage the right side to take the lead role and exclude the left side for a while, the other half gets the chance to think in its own way. If you give yourself a task to come up with something unusual, for example the characters from the world of fantasy “the right brain has to undertake the work, since there is neither a logical nor easily remembered way to achieve this, so the left brain becomes quite bored with the fiddly work involved and, having not a lot else to do, it effectively goes to sleep. After a few minutes the natural ability for creative thought should noticeably improve” (Tennant, 2002, 121) These creativity trainings with the Doris tool are focused on increasing participants’ creative potential and creative abilities. Making figures by arranging 24 Doris pieces, students engage their spatial and visual cognitive abilities, i.e. the right side of the brain. The very important fact is that each and every student – the participant of the experiment – was able to make numerous figures of their choice, and felt very proud and satisfied with their work. Encouragement by teacher to continue that way, photographing all works and the basic rule repeated perpetually that “there is no wrong solution” but only good, better and the best, made participant very stimulated to try their best to make an original figure and show their creativity. The figures they made look like works of art. As the painters see the same thing in many different ways, the participants made the figures of animals and various things in so many different ways. For example, there were so many butterflies, fishes, houses, cars, airplanes etc. but each of them was different and created by personal sense of participants. “Grounding in the arts is a superb way of supporting the capacity to see beyond the obvious and dance with possibility” (Caine, 2004, 17) (Fig. 12). After the exercise part 1, where the participants trained their imagination, the students were ready for the part 2-a creative problem solving exercise. The starting presumptions were: individual work in privacy and full confidence between each participant and a moderator. Each participant got a piece of paper and a predefined question concerning the problem that needs to be solved. In 10–15 min, participants had an opportunity (not a task) to pretend to be someone else and express their ideas concerning how to solve the problem. For example: “I am the Mayor of Graz and to solve the problem of city transportation I would do the following. . .; or I am the General Manager of the Grand Hotel and to increase the number of the guests I would offer the following new services. . .; or I am the CEO of the Confectionery factory and to beat the competition I would offer the following new products. . .”. It is important to notice that the participants were playing a role of the decision-making persons pretending that their decision is final, and not as an inferior employee who suggest ideas that top level manages can reject without explanation. That encourages participants to be brave and express ideas without fear of judgment. The full confidence is obtained by the moderator’s privacy statement that ideas of each and every participant will be treated as a confession in a church, and if presented to the potential company who is interested to apply that particular idea, it will be treated as anonymous, except if an idea is accepted to be realised in reality, the author of the idea will be revealed publicly and rewarded.

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This confidential “agreement” was a crucial relief factor, because nobody was afraid that their idea will be considered ridiculous, too bold or unreal by other students-participants, or judged at the end of session by anybody. The rule was established that “my ideas will remain secret until somebody finds them novel and useful and wishes to apply them”. This rule enabled them to overcome the self-censorship (also known as the Voice of Judgment) that prevents people from expressing their ideas if they think that they are too bold, crazy or unreal and somebody may treat them with ridicule. “Before our ideas even have a chance to see the light of day or to be reviewed by others, we allow our ego to extinguish them” (Dundon, 2002, 132). The results of the experiment in 5 different countries has proven that students are full of ideas due to unlimited imagination, but usually they pretend to be serious and hide their fantasy and imagination deep inside. If we succeed in making adolescents feel as if they were young children again and let them play games, allowing them to feel careless, with no obligations, no deadlines, nothing to care about, we will turn them into wizards who will give you ideas that you even could not dream of!. After all the generated ideas have been evaluated, the chosen ideas were presented to the potential users. The final decision has been made by companies/institutions that had interest to apply new ideas; the creators of the most remarkable concepts were invited to present their ideas to the potential users and explain some additional details. That was a great fuel for their self-confidence and a motive for other students, who were not invited to think creatively and try to be more successful next time. The crown of the experiment was the adoption of the ideas generated in the workshops. The huge project under name “Flying tram” was inspired by an idea of the student in Austria, the new type of chocolate under name “Anti-stress” is based on the idea generated by a student from Croatia, and the “Roman fire” is a new type of restaurant service inspired by a student’s idea from Serbia. These examples have a countless effect on the students where the creative workshops were realised because they show that new ideas from dreams can become true. The famous innovator, Walt Disney, has made its guiding principle: “Dream. Believe. Dare. Do.” It is important to expand the boundaries and overcome the prejudice of what is possible, and what is not. “If you can dream it, you can do it!”. The usage of the Doris tool (based on a universal language of 3 basic colours) showed that such an imaginative game could raise an interest for the expression of creativity in schools, could build self-confidence of the participants, and enhance creative ways of thinking. The students-participants were in the shoes of principals, managers, mayors, ministers or other decision-making persons and allowed to express their own ideas how to make the world a better place. They were extremely happy to have that chance and unlike the classic repetition of facts, they really enjoyed the opportunity to express their unspoken wishes that nobody ask them to before. It is an encouraging fact that the majority of the generated ideas were the result of imagination and focused on radical innovation or new fields of implementation of the existing technologies (ideas for innovation use), and the minority were ideas for innovation efficiency of existing product/services. 5. Conclusion Schools have a great potential in the field of creativity and innovation. The schools can be an outsourcing party for many companies who tend to maintain or establish a market leadership. Even when the leading companies have their own research and development teams and hire professional agencies for new idea surveys and recommendations, the fresh blood is more than welcome. Unlike experts, who prefer to stay on the safe ground and mostly deal with the improvement of products/services they are well familiar with, students are not “confined” with existing technology and have more capacity to imagine things that do not exist in reality. In other words, students have more chance to generate ideas with a greater imagination than adults. Not all ideas generated by the students will be useful or applicable (at a present time or ever in the near future), many ideas will be ‘Déjà vu’, but among thousand suggestions some of them could be real ‘black swans’. On the other hand, fostering creativity among the students, who will be leaders of the economy soon enough (in their own companies or as employees), will encourage them to start thinking creatively, with a great level of self-confidence and determination to express their own ideas and make them a reality. Doris tool, based on the universal language of colours (thus acceptable globally) and on one simple rule: ‘match the colours’, offering free choice of making a variety of different shapes and figures, with no fear of wrong solution, is a smart choice for fostering creativity in educational institutions. Simplicity of usage, when no special artistic capabilities are needed to create shapes according to the imagination of participants so that something always turns up after a play (making a player proud and satisfied with their work), recommends this tool as an effective trigger of creative ideas. Having in mind its enormous combinations that can be achieved by 24 octagons, the Doris tool will remain fresh and interesting to beginners, experienced or even expert players over a long period of time. The further research In the next creative workshops we will include high-school students from other countries and initiate different themes for generating idea processes, and according to the achieved results suggest to the school boards to organise similar creative workshops on regular basis, and allow all students to participate and demonstrate their creative potential. Once the imagination is set free, there’s no limit except for the sky.

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