Collaborative Research: A Framework for Modeling and Measuring Collaborative Creativity in Early Stage Engineering Design Teams

该研究奖的目标是以一种既考虑个人内部创造过程又考虑通过团队互动发生的外部创造过程的方式，在工程设计团队中建立协作创造力的模型。产生新概念的创造力是工程设计创新的关键驱动力，但一个持续的挑战是制定战略，持续鼓励设计团队产生高质量的概念。许多关于创造力的研究都集中在个人内部认知的理论上，而工程学和组织行为学的研究则集中在团队层面上更一般的创造力活动上。将制定一套全面的实验和衡量标准，以评估个人和协作创造力的这些方面的每一个方面的作用。如果成功，这项研究将有助于促进对工程设计团队创造力本质的基本理解，并进一步加深设计创新的基本知识。这项工作将对许多行业产生影响，从产品开发到汽车再到服务。这项研究产生的度量和方法将作为制定战略的基础，以使设计团队和组织变得更有创造力和创新性。这项研究将涉及麻省理工学院、南加州大学和韦尔斯利学院的本科生、女性和少数族裔的积极参与。研究还将包括城市高中生，以鼓励他们通过接触设计活动来追求工程事业。

The objective of this research award is to model collaborative creativity in engineering design teams in a way that considers both an individual's internal creative processes and the external creative processes that occur through team interactions. Creativity in the generation of new concepts is a key driver of innovation in engineering design, but a continuing challenge has been to postulate strategies that consistently encourage high quality concept generation in design teams. Much research on creativity has focused on theories for internal cognition in individuals, while engineering and organizational behavior research has centered on more general creativity-focused activities at the team level. A comprehensive set of experiments and metrics will be formulated to assess the role of each of these aspects of individual and collaborative creativity. If successful, this research will help advance the fundamental understanding of the nature of creativity in engineering design teams and further the basic knowledge of innovation in design. This work will have impact across many industries, from product development to automotive to services. The metrics and approaches that arise from this research will serve as a foundation from which to develop strategies for design teams and organizations to become more creative as well as innovative. This research will involve the active participation of undergraduates, women, and underrepresented minorities at MIT, USC, and Wellesley College. Research will also involve urban high school students to encourage the pursuit of careers in engineering through exposure to design activities.