Video Welcome Message

This brief video is a welcome message from Dr. Don Treffinger, President of the Center for Creative Learning and senior author of the CPS in Education distance learning course.

This video requires Quicktime. If you do not have Quicktime 7 installed, please download the free player here. Windows 98 and Me users will require Quicktime 6.5. Click here to download.

If you are hearing impaired or, for any reason, are unable to play the video, clink on the button below to read the text of the welcome message.

About the Module

This module consists of ten units that will provide you with an introduction and overview of our contemporary approach to Creative Problem Solving: CPS Version 6.1™. The module will help you to learn, practice, and apply the following elements of CPS:

• Four Factors that Contribute to Creative Productivity

- Personal Characteristics and Style

- Operations

- Context or Environment

- Outcomes or Creative Products

• The Foundations for CPS

- Definitions

- Guidelines

- Basic Tools

• Three Process Components and Six Stages

- Understanding the Challenge (Constructing Opportunities, Exploring Data, Framing Problems)

- Generating Ideas (a component and stage)

- Preparing for Action (Developing Solutions, Building Acceptance)

We divided the module into several “units;” these are like the chapters in a book. Each unit will have a number of screens. Some of these will present information, others will present questions or activities for you to think about and carry out. A number of screens will include links to other files or websites. At the end of each unit, there is a very brief self-quiz that you can use to check on your own comprehension of the unit’s content. You will see an outline of the module, listing all the units (and the sub-topics for the unit on which you are working at any time); these are also links that you can click to move from one unit to another at any time.

We designed the contents of the module to be consecutive, and in some ways, what you learn in one unit will contribute to your understanding of material in later units. However, you can always access any of the units at any time, so it is not mandatory that you proceed from one unit to the next in a linear, sequential manner. (If you find that you are missing information you need, you can always move to a previous unit to investigate the background material that you need.)