Abstract:

In our world, innovation and creation are the keystones of the development, both at personal and social levels. At a personal level, creation give meaning in our life. It defines us. We can use AI for self-expression, as a tool, but at the end we need capacities of creation to do a personal meaning around ourselves. At social level, the importance of creative and innovation capacities is directly related with the social, cultural, educative and economic levels of regions and countries. So, the Educative System has a responsibility to enhance and promote the creative and innovation capacities.

With the proposal of developing a tool for teaching and learning the competencies needed for creation and innovation, a model of the creative processes (named CREALAB®) has been developed. Models are established for specific purposes. This determines their greater or lesser complexity. The objective of our model is to facilitate the learning of skills for creation and innovation. In this way, it has been applied in different training actions.

The process of product innovation can be understood in three stages: conception stage or Fuzzy Front-End (FFE), development of the new product and commercialization. Koen et al propose a model for the FFE stage called New Concept Development. Based on this model, on the Creative Problem Solver approach and on the Design Thinking methodology a model for the creative process is proposed. This model is organized in seven modules (Perceiving, Understanding, Generating, Evaluating, Evolving, Designing and Communicating) around a central one: the Creative Environment. These modules represent fundamental activities in the process of creation. This set of activities is not intended to be an exhaustive list of those involved, but sufficient for the model to be clear and useful in education. Each module represents, at the same time, a dimension of the creative process. The understanding of a structure in the creative process and the conscience of the author about in which state is in each moment are important differences between expert creators (writers, scientists…) and novel ones. Our model has a dynamic character, like a machine that rotates cyclically. Those cycles –going and coming– are the dynamics of creation. As an analogy, we can consider the graphic representation of the model, a spiral line, as an engine; and the Creative Environment module would be the axis that transmits the energy necessary to put dynamics to the different activities. As a result, the model has a non-linear, iterative and recursive character with feedback between modules.

The detailed contents of the model are found in an online tool called CREATOOL® (http://creatool.uca.es/), developed within the framework of the teaching innovation program of the University of Cadiz. The tool is implemented in WordPress, and structured according to the modules of the model.

In this paper the model is presented, along with its educational benefits and two applications: in the first, it is used for the design of R&D&I projects—a subject of a master's degree—and, in the second one, the model is applied as a tool to analyse the process of designing and making a respirator for COVID patients during the confinement period.

As conclusion remarks, it can be stablished that the model is a very useful tool for teaching and learning the complex but needed capacities for creation and innovation, having a great potential impact both at personal and social levels.

Keywords:

Creativity, innovation, models, competencies, development.