Creative and Collaborative Problem Solving in Technology Education: A Case Study in Primary School Teacher Education

In this article, the Creative Technology Education Project (CTEP) is presented, and phases of problem-solving processes in which the participating primary school student teachers generate alternatives and evaluate ideas are analyzed. The aims of this project were to introduce technology education go...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of technology studies 2004-04, Vol.30 (2), p.107-115
Main Authors: Lavonen, Jari, Autio, Ossi, Meisalo, Veijo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cooperation
Creativity
Educational Objectives
Individual Development
Problem Solving
Questionnaires
Science Projects
Student Attitudes
Student Teacher Attitudes
Student Teachers
Teacher Education
Teaching Methods
Technology Education
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Summary:In this article, the Creative Technology Education Project (CTEP) is presented, and phases of problem-solving processes in which the participating primary school student teachers generate alternatives and evaluate ideas are analyzed. The aims of this project were to introduce technology education goals and contents to these students, as well as to offer tools for learning and teaching technology, and to facilitate personal growth. One purpose of the project was to encourage the students to become familiar with technology and problem-solving processes and to develop especially creative skills and abilities (e.g., ideation and the evaluation of ideas). For these purposes, a model was introduced, named the Overall Mapping of a Problem Situation (OMPS). This model helps students in ideation (the generation of alternative solutions) and evaluation of ideas when working on project teams. This model was practiced with concrete technology education projects. Thus, the project focus was on collaborative problem solving, with special emphasis on ideation and the positive evaluation of ideas. The purpose of the study presented in this article was to discover how students perceive the creative process and to what extent they learn creative skills, especially those that involve generating alternative ideas and the self-evaluation of these alternatives. This case study indicates that creative problem-solving approaches may be efficiently used to improve teacher education. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)
ISSN:1071-6084
1541-9258
DOI:10.21061/jots.v30i2.a.8