The innovation of this SBIR Phase I project will be to design cloud-base social games to enhance the students' creativity and develop a set of computational methods to measure the creativity quotient (CQ) score. Creativity is the first step along the journey towards innovation which leads to commercialization and job creation. SparkTing will design quest-based creative?thinking mobile and browser-based games. The quests will be designed using the well-known pragmatic approach in which the students have to come up with more than one effective way to complete them. This approach is the core of idea-generation (also known as "ideation") which encourages outside-of-the-box thinking and hence, enhances creativity. The project plans to develop a unique way to evaluate the responses using the combination of two methods: (1) Divergent-Thinking approach in which the responses will be evaluated based on fluency, originality and flexibility. This approach will use word or phrase-based associative weight where the algorithm will measure the uniqueness of the associations between words and phrases. Any unique association has a higher weight. (2) Hybrid of Consensual-Assessment approach by others in which the responses are rated and influenced by experts and non-experts to assess the level of creativity. Understandably experts have higher influence.
The broader/commercial impact comes from the cloud-based infrastructure that can process large amount of real-time data to measure an accurate CQ score. The cloud infrastructure should support a range of client-side applications on smart-phones, tablets, and browsers. Furthermore, the metrics and modeling approaches will be easily customized for any age group. The initial focus is on students enrolled at the high school and college levels as these groups are beginning to enter the work-force. The initial distribution channel is through a planned partnership with nonprofit organizations such as JA, YEAH, Get-Schooled and NFTE.
In summary, a set of exercises and a system have been designed. To measure the Creativity Quotient (CQ), a semantics-based psychometric model has been created. According to this model, in order for a person to be creative, one must be a divergent and original thinker. Assessments of Fluency and Flexibility measure a person’s divergent thinking (DT) ability. The index of Originality measures a person’s originality. Based on collaboration with our resident psychologist and subject-matter expert, a scaling factor for each index has been created. Fluency: 100 – 400 (90th percentile > 360) Flexibility: 100 – 400 (90th percentile > 360) Originality: 200 – 800 (90th percentile > 720) A set of 8 exercises has been developed. Each exercise measures one or more of the indices above. The exercises are: MapIt: Given a central word or phrase, branch out of it in different directions. Click and drag from the central word, type what’s in your mind. If there are no apparent link between the central word and your connection, the game will ask you to explain yourself. OddIt: Given a set of words, come up with a basis. Based on your basis, decide which word does not belong with the others. There is no wrong answer. Please explain your reasoning. LoopIt: Given an object, provide creative ways to use the object. Be as original as you can. There is no wrong answer. Please explain your reasoning. PairIt: You are given a set of words or phrases. Select two words and find the connection between them. Make the connection as original as possible. Please explain your reasoning. BekIt: You are given an open-minded problem. Write one or more solutions for this problem. Be creative and think outside-of-the-box. TieIt: You are given two words or phrases. Write a paragraph of 140 characters and explain how the two words are connected. SageIt: You are given a topic. Write exactly a 50-word mini-saga about it. ResqueIt: You are given a set of words or phrases. Choose 1-2 words and come up with a problem. Explain your problem. Next, choose 1-3 of the remaining words and come up with a solution. Explain your reasoning.
