Abstract:

This paper presents results from the large national project “Investigating the impact of non-routine problem solving on creativity, engagement and intuition of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) tertiary students” dealing with the intuition aspect of the project. The study was conducted over 2018-2020 by a team of researchers and practitioners from four higher education institutions in New Zealand. The sample included 680 participants who were taught non-routine problem-solving strategies stemming from the pedagogical theory of Puzzle-Based Learning (PzBL) approach, which was developed by Michalewicz and Michalewicz (2008) internationally. A mixed-method methodology was used with comprehensive pre-test and post-test questionnaires, a lecturer questionnaire, and focus group interviews. Although the results indicated that there were no significant changes in students’ intuitive thinking before and after the puzzle-based intervention, there were some interesting findings related to the gender.

Keywords:

Intuition, puzzle-based learning, convergent thinking.