Creative Problem Solving the Human Condition Appears

Creative Problem Solving

The human condition appears to be creative in nature. Porter (2010) suggested that "ideas appear to arise by chance only when people are actually looking for them. It does not happen to people who are not curious or inquiring or who are not engaged in a hard search for opportunities, possibilities, answers or inventions, " (p.5). The purpose of this paper is to explain a created problem using the Creative Problem Solving Process (CPS). Specifically, this paper will focus on refining the solutions that were presented in an earlier essay.

Original Issue

Within a particular college class room, some of the students regularly come late to the class and left early. These same students also took extended long breaks and were absent from class most of the time. This was not acceptable by the students who always arrived on time and left at the end of the classes. The students who failed to follow rules and did not attend complete class should not have 18 weekly hours reported in the system. The perceived imbalance recognized by the "honest" students was brought to the attention of the professor and a solution was demanded.

Initial Solutions

To fix this problem, the students and teacher came to a mutual agreement:

• Students who want to leave early will also have to arrive early as the teacher will be available for them.

• All students will come back from break on right time.

• Sign in and sign out system will be honestly used by all the students.

• All the students would keep a record of their attendance and will calculate on 1st class of each month, the number of hours they require for completing 90% attendance.

Critical Examination of Best Solution

Goodman (2012) suggested that "the whole idea behind creative problem solving is the assumption that you know something that will help solve this problem, but you're not thinking of it right now." This appears to be the case as this problem is scrutinized once again. This solution is weak and does not address the real issue, learning. College is about learning knowledge, not about following orders. Some students can learn material without attending class, those who can't should enjoy their experience and not worry about what others are doing. The student must teach himself or herself, no one can do it for them and attending class a few extra minutes has no guaranteed effect on learning.

Evaluation of the Argument

This new take on the program is much more relaxed yet promotes that a student's education is the individual's responsibility, not the teacher and certainly not the classmates' either. This is a creative approach that steps outside the norms of the situation in which the problem was created. When a class turns into an argument about attendance, something has gone very wrong, requiring a new philosophical approach to the problem.

Revised Argument

Education is the responsibility of the students themselves, attendance is not mandatory to succeed and does not ensure a student's success. Grades will reflect the knowledge gained in the course. This new approach to the problem places the responsibility on the student to learn, not to attend class, this is what education is about.

Refined Solution with Implementation Plan

The classroom rules were poorly constructed from the start. The teacher will reconstruct the grading plan where no credit will be given for attendance at all.

Step 1 Working Out the Details

A new syllabus containing the breakdown of the course will be produced. Previous grades regarding attendance will be eliminated. This material will be submitted by the teacher through the normal channels to receive any necessary authorization.