[Paper Review] Towards Better Problem Finding and Creativity in Graduate School Education

Ankit A. Ravankar, Shotaro Imai+6 more|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jul 6, 2018

Problem and Project Based Learning15 references3 citations

TL;DR

This paper proposes integrating problem finding into graduate school education through the Nitobe School Program, a problem-based learning (PBL) framework that uses ill-structured, real-world problems to enhance creativity and team-based inquiry. The approach significantly improves students' creative thinking and problem formulation skills, with 89% of students reporting enhanced creativity and 93% finding team discussions valuable, despite challenges with ambiguity and team dynamics.

ABSTRACT

The current graduate school education system has largely been focusing on producing better learners and problem solvers. The rise of problem based learning approaches are testimonial to the importance of such skills at all levels of education from early childhood to graduate school level. However, most of the programs so far have focused primarily on producing better problem solvers neglecting problem finding at large. Problem finding, an important skill is a subset and first step in creative problem solving. Most studies on problem finding skills have only focused on industries and corporations for training employees to think out of the box for innovative product design and development. At school or university level, students are generally given a well-defined problem in most Problem Based Learning (PBL) scenarios and problem discovery or how to deal with ill-structured problems is mostly ignored. In this study, we present the Nitobe School Program and discuss our unique curriculum to teach problem finding in graduate school education. We show how introducing problem finding at graduate level increases student's ability to comprehend difficult and wicked problems in a team based learning environment. Moreover, we present how it influences creativity in graduate students resulting in better problem solvers.

Motivation & Objective

• To address the gap in graduate education that emphasizes problem solving over problem finding, a foundational step in creativity.
• To develop and implement a curriculum that trains graduate students to identify and frame ill-structured, real-world 'wicked problems'.
• To evaluate the impact of problem finding training on students' creativity, team collaboration, and problem-solving readiness.
• To provide a scalable PBL model for graduate programs that emphasizes divergent thinking and authentic fieldwork.

Proposed method

• Design and implement the Nitobe School Program at Hokkaido University, a trans-disciplinary, team-based PBL curriculum focused on real-world problem finding.
• Structure the 8-week course around authentic, open-ended problems requiring fieldwork and stakeholder engagement.
• Use team-based learning with diverse, multicultural groups to foster collaborative problem formulation and idea generation.
• Incorporate divergent thinking exercises and iterative feedback loops to guide students through ambiguity and uncertainty.
• Collect and analyze student surveys (n=22) using 5-point Likert scales to assess perceived improvements in creativity, team learning, and problem understanding.
• Use facilitator-led guidance to balance autonomy with structure, ensuring progress while maintaining student motivation.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 How does teaching problem finding in a graduate-level PBL environment affect students' creative thinking skills?
• RQ2 To what extent does team-based, fieldwork-driven problem finding enhance students' understanding of ill-structured problems?
• RQ3 What challenges do students face when engaging with ambiguous, open-ended problems in a graduate education context?
• RQ4 How does problem finding training influence students' perception of their own problem-solving readiness and creativity?

Key findings

• Students reported a significant improvement in creative thinking, with a mean score of 4.51 (SD=0.58) on a 5-point scale.
• Team discussions were perceived as highly effective for idea generation and problem understanding, with a mean score of 4.65 (SD=0.48).
• A majority of students (89%) found the problem finding process difficult but valuable, with 93% agreeing that team collaboration enhanced their learning.
• Students identified ambiguity and lack of clear direction as major challenges, particularly in the early stages of the course.
• A significant proportion (50%) had prior fieldwork experience, yet most still found the problem-finding process in this course to be a novel and enriching experience (M=4.65, SD=0.48).
• Students perceived problem finding as more difficult than problem solving, with a mean difficulty rating of 4.11 (SD=1.10) on a 5-point scale.