Increasing employee creativity

Under the title ‘STEM-II’, primary schools in Limburg are working on exploratory learning and design-based learning. Creative thinking is essential in both disciplines. This is not just about coming up with ideas, but also about what kind of ideas are ultimately chosen.

Research among adults shows that new and original ideas are often seen as difficult to implement. As a result, people tend to choose ideas that are more obvious when they think they also have to implement them. A research team consisting of researchers from Maastricht University and the Education Monitor Limburg examined whether 11 and 12 year olds also have the tendency to choose a more obvious idea if they know they have to implement it. The research was carried out at 13 primary schools in Limburg and over 400 pupils participated.

Researcher Kim van Broekhoven of Maastricht University is part of the research team. In this video, she explains what the team investigated and how. She also discusses the research results and makes recommendations to organisations to increase the creativity of employees.