Enhancing creativity through design technology : opportunities for developing children's creative thinking

Creative problem solving is essential to technology education. In our research project we explored the suggestion that creativity may need to include a time of ‘non-thinking’ during which innovative responses to problem tasks are generated. The period of non-conscious cognitive process (NCCP) time is considered to be when the brain makes connections between independent ideas and when inappropriate responses can be forgotten, allowing more relevant responses to be made available for problem solving. Our research provided an opportunity for several primary school teachers to focus on enhancing creativity in technology education and to explore the notion of the NCCP time for creative problem solving. In this chapter we review the current literature on enhancing creativity and comment on how the teachers fostered creativity as they implemented a design, make and appraise technological task to produce recycling devices in their classrooms. Classes and children were observed and teachers interviewed about their perception of children’s creativity and the NCCP time. In this study, a time frame of only several days appears to be ideal for non-conscious cognitive processing to occur and more time may hinder creativity. These findings have implications for teachers of technology who assign the same day and time each week for technology learning.
During the non-task time, which included the NCCP time, children were able to discuss their ideas with family members. As children learn in social and cultural contexts, these discussions can be fruitful. The teachers indicated that peer discussions also played an important role after the generation of designs.

Reductions in nutrient discharge from aquaculture through recycling of water utilising floating media and activated carbon filtration

Nutrient discharge into coastal areas, such as the Great Barrier Reef can result in the degradation of coastal ecosystems. For example, excess nitrogen and phosphorus can damage corals through inducing algal bloom and subsequent shading. Excessive phosphorus can further weaken coral skeletons making them susceptible to damage. Land based industries such as aquaculture can contribute to such problems. This study set out to develop a system whereby water from aquaculture can be constantly reused resulting in minimized waste discharge. A three-stage filtration system utilizing floating media and activated carbon was designed to harness bacterial processes that could reduce both particulate and dissolved compounds to the extent whereby approximately 100% reuse of the wastewater became possible. This involved efficient and effective particulate and biological removal mechanisms in both aerobic and anaerobic zones of the filtration system. This design reduced dissolved nitrogen levels by up to 70% and maintained low phosphorus levels, which allowed the reuse of water for the successful culture of barramundi with a survival rate of 97% over 25 days. This pilot scale study demonstrated the potential of reusing aquaculture wastewater from the viewpoint of reducing nutrient input into coastal environments. Future research will refine these processes and assess the performance of the system at several commercial scale applications.