Stages In Creative Pcoess

ABSTRACT This paper discusses how application of new electronic identification technology (i-Button tools) could benefit to instill creativity in students’ thinking process and engineering design during their project work. Several examples of the successful i-Button-based student projects are presented.

PAPER Stages of Creative Project Work In order to impart creativity into the student project work, it is essential to understand the stages that are involved within the creative process. Creativity, by its definition is to be inventive or to have the ability to produce new and original ideas and things. It also allows to understand the problems faced, to stretch our imaginations, to generate ideas, to perform facts finding, to look for various feasible solutions, and finally to come to action planning.

The Creative Process or Creative Problem Solving can be categorized into 3 major components, they include Understanding the Problem, Generating Ideas, and Planning for Action, as was described by Treffinger ,Isaksen, and Dorval [1]. The first stage – Understanding the Problem is when the student group is first time given the project. They need to understand the aims and objectives of the project ,and the likely problems which they will face.This will eventually be required later to find the best possible solution. The next stage is the Generating Ideas. This involves fact-findings, data collection, and investigating all possibilities (for instance, what hardware and software tools to use). During this stage, the student group set aside time to discuss, to brainstorm, and to carry debating on their investigation results. At this time, frequent appointments with the project supervisor for consultation is seem to be very useful and fruitful in order for the student team not to sway away from the targeted results. The stage is very critical to the supervisor in-charge as well. The main concern to the supervisor is to ensure that his or her students are working in the right path.

It is also important to state that to be creative, doesn’t mean that one has to do something totally new. Nothing in our world is created completely new. Usually behind each project there can be found some earlier developed or known basis or idea. Sometime extrapolation, duplication, extension on previous ideas and knowledge substantially help to achieve certain breakthrough in finding the solution. So besides the direct project development, the students at this stage have to also spend time in reading their seniors’ findings and results, data books, data specifications, in

searching ideas using Internet, and in practicing to use the application software. In addition to this, experimental findings and library research are also very essential during this period. In most cases, the students need also to refine those promising solutions which they have worked on. Discussions with their supervisor on the advantages of each perspective solution, its limitations, unique features and possible implementation can be very helpful. Such discussions will eventually lead to finalizing the search to the best solution that would be acceptable in the engineering environment of the practical world. The final stage in the project creative process is the Action Planning where student group identifies possible sources of assistance, plans implementation steps, formulates specific actions, assigns roles for each team member, and drafts the project timing schedules and deadlines. After that the project development proceeds to the project implementation stage where there is still room for creativity but not in such extend as in the stages described above. It has to be mentioned that availability and characteristics of the project implementation tools greately influence the decisions made on all the stages of the project development. In many cases appearance on the market new advanced harware and software products having features that were not available or known earlier acts as a catalyzer initiating new ideas, provoking higher creativity and accelerating project development. One of such tools is so-called i-Button [2] that was developed in the US in the last decade and has gained since the fast growing popularity worldwide in many areas of engineering, services and everyday life.

i-Button: Tool for enhancing engineering creativity Identification Button (i-Button) previously known as Touch Memory is a miniature chip-based read/write electronic label packaged into a small button-shaped 16-mm stainless steel container. The steel button is very rugged and can stand up to the harsh conditions of daily use and even withstands some acts of vandalism or neglect, such as hitting it, dropping it, stepping on it, etc. It also survives in dirty, moist, cold, hot, and even some kinds of aggressive environments. Such robustness makes it possible for a person to wear it as a digital accessory like a ring, key fob, watch, badge, and so on. Besides it can be attached to virtually any object (sea ship container, computer, car, tree, rubbish bin, etc.) travelling with it everywhere and providing instant data accessibility. Information in i-Button is read with a momentary contact, and can be updated in the same way while the label is still affixed to the object.

The electronic identifier can have virtually unlimited number of possible applications in almost any area of our today's life where information needs to be travelled with a person or an object. Besides, the i-Buttons is inexpensive and its applications are supported with a variety of userfriendly developing tools. All of this makes the i-Button an ideal instrument for student project work as it combines high-tech contents with the simplicity of application. However what is even more important – it gives a lot of room for students’ engineering creativity, as the students less concentrate and spend time on the routine technical implementation issues (writing and debugging lengthy software, dealing with fabrication of hardware elements, etc.) while devoting more attention and efforts for finding, discussion and planing for new useful applications of their systems. This stretch their imagination, encourage them to look around and to find what can be

done better in industry, services and just everyday life, and how the goal can be achieved. It is also important that such projects carry not just educational contents, but in majority of cases they have industrial potentials. This makes students confident that their knowledge and skills are sufficient to really contribute to the society. Several examples of such i-Button-based projects developed by the Singapore Polytechnic students are presented below. i-Button based student projects One of the i-Button application areas can be characterized as a personal identification Every iButton has inside it a guaranteed unique factory-programmed permanent serial number. This number can not be tempered or changed by intruder, and it can be considered as a globally unique (never duplicated) identifier that can not be counterfeited. Combining this with i-Button's ability to hold some 8000 or more characters of information that can travels with its owner everywhere, be updated instantly, and be password or encryption protected, we get an ideal personal identification document. If however even greater security is required i-Button can be combined with the traditional technologies such as photo, bar code, magnetic stripe, etc. Feasibility of using the i-Button as some sort of all-in-one ID (keeping personal data, critical medical information, bank and ATM accounts) was studied by student project "Use of Touch Memory Chips as Basis for Personal Data Card".

The other realized interesting project was "Smart Guard and Inspection System Using Touch Memory". The main idea of the project can be described as follows. The i-Buttons (that provide unique serial number, memory and internal permanent clock/calendar within a single component) are attached to some designated locations, e.g., to the objects that should be inspected and premises that should be visited by security guards during their routine patrolling. A small-size hand-held datalogger device (battery-powered i-Button reader/writer) is given to each patrolling guard. On the route of patrolling the guard touches the buttons attached to the pre-assigned locations by the datalogger. This provides recording at each location the unique serial number of the button, the time and the date of the inspection into the hand-held device. The time and the date of the last inspection as well as some other relevant information (e.g., the results of the inspection) can optionally be recorded into the button itself. Upon returning to the central office (e.g., guardhouse) the data on the patrolling and inspection are downloaded from the hand-held reader/writer into the main computer. This information then can be stored in the special data base, processed, printed as a formal report serving as an undisputed proof that the guards have visited designated locations and perform their tasks as instructed. One rather important additional feature of this project is that such a guard tour and inspection system could be directly applied in the polytechnic or school where it has been developed in improving the level of security at the place.

Access control was one more area for i-Button related projects. Such an application can be an ideal solution when featuring high security programmable access control to some restricted areas (buildings, offices, laboratories, etc.) or objects/resources (safes, computers, networks, and so on) is required. The range of complexity of such access control equipment can be very wide - from a rather simple stand alone terminals, providing activation for just a single lock when a valid button is presented, to a very sophisticated networked systems regulating access to a great number of premises (areas, objects, resources) which have different pre-assign levels of security and specified time access zones. The system can also be configured to perform a multitude of

additional data collection and other tasks such as: scheduling, attendance, collecting payroll, etc. The data completed with the time, date and i-Button serial number can be recorded and stored for further processing or passed immediately to the system host via modem. Project "Application of New ID Technology for Postal Services" was of particular success among our i-Button technology application results. It was featured in our 1997 final year project COMMEX exhibition, and was received favourably among the judges. When Singapore Post required a system check to improve quality of collection/delivery of mails for the public, naturally the i-Button came as a cost-effective and efficient solution. The project was developed in close co-operation with the Singapore Post. It was rated with industrial potential and was selected for Techconnect ’97 Exhibition & Teleconferences (29/9 to 1/10/97),at SUNTEC City. The main idea of the project is to equip each post box with its own i-Button containing information in it. A postman when doing his round of mail collection will then use the hand-held device (so-called Touch Pen ) to record the pick-up time and date plus the relevant information inside the i-Button. Upon returning to the central office, the collected data is downloaded into PC where it can be stored in a database, processed and analyzed, printed as a formal report. Periodical analysis of the acquired data (scheduling and actual collections/delivery time, average delay/early collections, number missing collections, etc.) allows to take required actions to improve postal collection/delivery services rendered to the public.

Several other i-Button-based projects are currently under development (Intelligent Storage and Retrieval System, Class Attendance System, System for Monitoring of Usage of Manufacturing Equipment). Our experience shows that students tend to find more and more areas of new applications for this information technology. As a result we are all the time end up with the number of project student teams that is lower than the list of projects that they would be able to realize, and this is generally a good sign showing enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of the students towards application of i-Button technology.

Conclusion In this paper an advanced electronic product - i-Button was briefly introduced. It was discussed to see how its application would benefit to enhance students engineering creativity in project work, and several examples of such projects were presented. The i-Button technology is cheap, friendly and easily available. It can be used in project work on different educational levels: from secondary schools, to colleges, polytechnics and universities, and this is very strong point in favour of technology as it supports principle of continuity in education.

By writing this paper one more important goal was targeted: it can be considered as an invitation for broader discussion on new technologies that can be implemented in the educational environment (in the laboratories, student and staff projects, etc.) making our institutions more competitive and advanced in the fast changing today's world. And I will be glad if this invitation would find response from the colleagues - lecturers, engineers, technologists both from academia and from outside industry.

References 1.

Creative Problem Solving : An Introduction (Revised Edition) by Donald J. Treffinger, Scott G. Isaksen and K.Brian Dorval -July 1997, Centre for Creative Learning,Inc

2.

Ibutton Electronic Identification Technology: hi-tech tool for final year student project development, by M.T.Chew,S.Demidenko,B.Tok,D.Koh,J.Hon,P.S.Loh,D.Lim and J.Lee nd -Microelectronics Education, Proceedings of the 2European Workshop, The Netherlands,14-15 May 1998