Creative thinking of engineering undergraduates through brainstorming during mathematical problem solving

Abstract

One of the tools that are widely used to develop creative thinking is known as brainstorming. This paper report on a research carried out to determine engineering undergraduates' creative thinking by using SCAMPER as a brainstorming technique. The purpose specifically is to determine the occurrence of using SCAMPER in solving the problems by the students. The research adopt exploratory case study methodology with mixed method research design. Three engineering undergraduates participated in the study. Videotaping is use to collect data during the process of problem solving in order to clarify the students' opinions and behaviors during the sessions of observation and interview. The results of this research suggest that the engineering undergraduates would use brainstorming as a strategy to discuss among themselves, and to generate ideas to solve the given problem. The findings were also consistent with the findings from previous studies showing that brainstorming helps in developing and supporting creative thinking. This give indications that brainstorming is useful as a creative thinking tool to stimulate students thinking in many fields of study including mathematics.