A fuzzy logic software tool and a new scale for the assessment of creativity

Abstract

It is difficult to measure something we cannot clearly define. No wonder that, for the over 100 definitions of the creativity proposed in the literature, there are almost as many scales and assessment tools. Most of these instruments have been designed for research purposes, and are difficult to apply and score, especially in the educational environment. Not to mention that they are expensive. The research described in this paper is aimed to develop a free, fast, and easy to use software tool for the assessment of creativity in the educational context. To this purpose, we have designed a new scale with 20 items, based on a novel approach focusing on detecting the factors known to block the creativity, like stereotypical thinking, and social conformity. The user input is collected through a web based interface, and the actual interpretation of the results is automated by means of a fuzzy logic algorithm. The proposed solution is interesting because it can be easily integrated in almost any e-learning platform, or used as a stand-alone tool for tracing the evolution of the students involved in courses for the development of creative thinking skills, and also for possible other applications.