Structured creative problem solving task with vignette-based problem situations and four pre-structured steps¶

Design · All designs
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article constructed structured tasks in which students read a short vignette describing an everyday problem (science, social, or entrepreneurial domain) and are "guided through four pre-structured steps of the task": exploring relevant knowledge in a mind map, framing the problem as a question, generating as many different and original ideas as possible in ten minutes, and selecting their three most creative ideas. Six design criteria governed the vignettes, e.g. "The problem situations are open and non-directive, enabling the participant to form his/her own interpretation of the described situation". Three problems were selected by nine-year-old students ranking six candidate situations on complexity, importance, realism, efficacy, and experience.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

Problem descriptions written in short sentences with word choices suitable for children between 9 and 12 years old; problems presented on paper and read aloud

Constraints¶

The three selected problems ranked lowest on complexity but highest on realism, efficacy, and experience per student rankings

Target Learners¶

primary school students in grades 4-6

Learning Goals¶

eliciting creative problem solving processes and products across science, social, and entrepreneurial domains

Claims¶

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

Van Hooijdonk, M., Mainhard, T., Kroesbergen, E. H., & Van Tartwijk, J. (2023). Creative problem solving in primary school students. Learning and Instruction, 88, 101823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2023.101823

Page metadata

Field	Value
`type`	`design`
`id`	`structured-cps-task-vignette-four-steps`
`title`	`Structured creative problem solving task with vignette-based problem situations and four pre-structured steps`
`description`	`The article constructed structured tasks in which students read a short vignette describing an everyday problem (science, social, or entrepreneurial domain) and are "guided through four pre-structured steps of the tas...`
`status`	`review`
`generated`	by `process:settle-candidates` on `2026-10-22`
`trust`	unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content
`sources`	1 — `van-hooijdonk-2023`

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