A Study on the Effectiveness of the Creative Thinking Canvas Framework in Enhancing Creative Problem-Solving Skills for Digital Media Students.

Abstract

This research study focuses on developing a creative thinking framework, called the Creative Thinking Canvas, to enhance the creative thinking and problem-solving skills of university level students. The aim is to investigate the effectiveness of the framework in addressing the challenges that university students commonly encounter in the creative thinking process. The study worked with 385 Digital Media major students from Bangkok University, Thailand, who participated in a survey —a 10 topic questionnaire rated on a 5 point Likert scale (1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree)— that assessed the effectiveness of the Creative Thinking Canvas framework, including objective setting, target identification, limitations and requirements, idea generation, idea visualization, idea validation, development of details and format, idea presentation, and teamwork. Additionally, open-ended questions were included to gain more in-depth opinions. The survey results indicated that the Creative Thinking Canvas framework was effective in all areas, with an average rating of 4.01 out of 5. The highest rating areas were given for idea validation, objective setting, and idea visualization, while idea presentation and teamwork received lower ratings. Furthermore, over 97% of the students agreed that the framework was beneficial to their creative thinking process. Feedback from students who utilized the Creative Thinking Canvas revealed several benefits. The canvas helped students maintain focus on the problem throughout the thinking process, generated relevant keywords for divergent thinking, and facilitated teamwork by providing a visual representation of the thinking stages. However, students also provided suggestions for improvement, including the need for better explanation of the canvas's purpose, flexibility in filling out all sections, and the availability of a Thai language version. In conclusion, the research findings support the hypothesis, which is "The utilization of a tool or framework, such as the Creative Thinking Canvas Framework, can facilitate university students in navigating the challenges they encounter during the creative thinking process, including difficulties in problem definition, generating usable ideas, and executing them to create practical solutions". The study provides valuable insights for refining and further developing the Creative Thinking Canvas framework. Ultimately, this research contributes to the advancement of creative thinking skills among Digital Media Major students and offers a structured approach to their creative thinking process and problem-solving abilities.