Posted: February 9th, 2015

Creativity and Problem Solving

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

 

 

Assessment brief

You are required to write an essay of no more than 2,500 words.

Your essay must address the following two Separately main parts:

 

1. Part one

(a) identify a ‘social problem’ that interests you; then

(b) apply a problem solving technique to ‘solve’ it in an original fashion; and, finally,

(c) outline your solution. Spend about 1,500 words on this section;

 

2. Part two

 

try to identify an organisation that you think is creative. Outline who the organisation is and what it does, before detailing why you think the organisation is creative. Use examples to make your arguments persuasive and cogent. Spend about 1,000 words on this section.

 

Guidance!

This guidance is numbered to correspond with the list of requirements, above.

• Part one

Clearly the first step here in planning your work is to identify a social issue that interests you. There are literally hundreds –thousands, perhaps – to choose from; indeed, Wikipedia has a fair few to choose from on its ‘Social issue’ page.

 

In preparing your essay, you need to outline what the problem is, remembering to reference, reference, reference, throughout your work. As you ought not reference Wikipedia, so find something else, even if this was the start of your ‘research trail’. One small word of warning, here: Not all social issues are equal (in many respects but, here, in how easy they are to ‘solve’).

Also, not all issues can be resolved using the techniques we have covered, so you have to be strategic in

your choice and perhaps ‘try out’ a few issue/technique combinations to see which work best.

SEE PPT ATTACHMENT

In attempting to ‘solve’ the problem you should try to apply a known problem solving technique, and perhaps even an overarching problem-solving strategy.

 

Detail what that technique is and how it works before applying it. The application is the tricky part and, perhaps naturally then, is the more mark-worthy; everything else thus far has been fairly descriptive. Critically evaluating your technique and comparing it to others with a view to arguing for use of your technique in these circumstances garners the highest marks. SEE PPT

 

Obviously you need to present your conclusion – the solution that you have identified. Remember that whilst, for our purposes, the creativity is about producing something that is useful, it doesn’t necessarily have to be economically practical, say; what’s being assessed here is your ability to apply a recognized problem-solving technique (or, perhaps, multiple technqiues) to an identified problem. It does, however, have to be an original solution!

 

 

• Part two

 

The second part of the essay is distinct from the first so you can prepare for this quite separately, before part 1, if you so wish.

 

Similarly to part 1 of the assessment, the first aspect here is quite descriptive; you must simply identify an organisation and provide some contextual details about it (who they are, what they do, etc.).

 

The next part – why you are arguing that they are creative – is the more involved requirement; you must advance (a) clear argument(s), backed up with examples, to make sure you score well.

It seems likely that to inform your points you’ll need to provide (a) definition(s) of creativity; critically considering those found during your research and choosing one/a few for your purposes.

• Remember that an organisation isn’t creative only because of its products and/or services, it may be because of its organisational structure, organisational culture, approach to research and development, workforce skills, demographic factors, market sector, technology, levels of competition, leadership, etc. etc.!

 

It is highly likely that the single biggest issue here will exist in the clarity and cogency of students’ explanations of why a given organisation is creative. Take care and time in getting this part right. As ever, reference thoroughly.

 

 

Please also observe the following formatting requirements:

1. Format your essay appropriately, with an introduction, a ‘middle bit’ and a conclusion. Include other niceties like a cover page, contents page, appendices (if required), etc.

 

1. Reference correctly (in accordance with the Harvard convention) and critically engage with the resources you employ;

 

 

1. Your introduction should provide brief ‘signposts’ as to what is coming up in the essay; linking these to your headings is sensible;

 

1. Include page numbers, and utilise headings and sub-headings to aid reader navigation of your work;

 

1. Do not type your name on your work – student numbers only, please;

 

1. Keep your styling ‘clean’ and professional – presentation is marked;

 

1. Similarly, marks are awarded for good English and grammar. This means that it is important that you:

# Write in full, proper sentences, without employing comma-splices or run-on sentences;

# Ensure that your text is properly split into paragraphs;

# Advance full arguments – that is, conclusions supported by reasons;