Creativity and Problem-Solving: Closing The Skills Gap

Innovation, creativity, and entrepreneurship are becoming key focus areas for employers looking for the 21st century employee. This means the academic side of the create-a-better-employee relationship should adapt the curricula to address this need by including problem-solving and creativity; and, this introduction should occur as early as possible in a student’s course of study. This article relates the development and implementation of a problem-based learning (PBL)-modeled class in a business-oriented curriculum designed to help freshman and sophomore students learn about problem-solving and creativity techniques. One learning goal of the class is to have students be able to describe at least five problem-solving methods or activities. Results showed a clear majority—88% of the students satisfied this short-term, course goal. Additional results show observable changes that indicate more long-term learning concerning creativity and problem-solving occurred. Finally, some implications for upper division business curricula are discussed.