Recent studies have emphasized group creativity as a social-cultural conception, but they lack a focus on the relationship between group creativity and knowledge creation. This paper aims to build a framework for group creativity in a learning context which includes both theoretical understanding and empirical methodology. Thus, a literature review is led by the following questions: How has creativity theory been developed from individual to group level? From a social-cultural perspective, how can group creativity, knowledge creation, and their relationship be understood? And what methods have been employed to study group creativity? As the review demonstrates, creativity theory has been driven by new insights from recent sociology studies. Three focuses have been shaped from group creativity studies: 1) group creativity in context, 2) group-level creative synergy, and 3) strategies for developing group creativity. Individual knowledge is a potential resource for group creativity, and group creativity could be a driver of knowledge creation. Empirically, group creativity can be examined through both qualitative and quantitative approaches, which also calls for a creative combination of methodologies in future studies.
Amabile, T. M. (1996). Creativity in context: Update to the social psychology of creativity. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Amabile, T. M., & Gryskiewicz, N. D. (1989). The creativity environment scales: Working environment inventory. Creativity Research Journal, 2, 231-253. HUdoi:10.1080/10400418909534321U
Aschenbrenner, J., & Hellwig, M. (2009). Socio-cultural perspectives: The influence of our social environment on development. URL (last checked 4 June 2012). http://workbloglearning.wordpress.com/2009/04/01/socio-cultural-perspectives-the-influence-of-our-social-environment-on-development/
Baumard, P. (1999). Tacit knowledge in organizations. London: Sage Publications.
Beghetto, R., & Kaufman, J. (2007). Toward a broader conception of creativity: A case for “mini-c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts, 1, 73-79. HUdoi:10.1037/1931-3896.1.2.73U
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. Chicago, IL: Open Court.
Borghini, S. (2005). Organizational creativity: Breaking equilibrium and order to innovate. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9, 19-33. HUdoi:10.1108/13673270510610305U
Choi, H. S., & Thompson, L. (2005). Old wine in a new bottle: Impact of membership change of group creativity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 98, 121-132. HUdoi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.06.003U
Cole, M. (2005). Culture in Development. In M. H. Bornstein, & M. E. Lamb (Eds.), Developmental science: An advanced textbook (5th ed.). Mawah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Corsi, P., Richir, S., Chiristofol, H., & Samier, H. (2006) Innovation engineering: The power of intangible networks. London: ISTE Ltd.
Craft, A. (2005). Creativity in schools: Tensions and dilemmas. New York: Routledge. HUdoi:10.4324/9780203357965U
Craft, A., Jeffrey, B, & Leibling, M. (2001). Creativity in education. London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
De Laat, M., & Lally, V. (2004). Creativity and the net: How do researchers collaborate creatively using the internet? In D. Miell, & K. Littleton (Eds.). Collaborative creativity, contemporary perspectives (pp. 126-143). London: Free Associate Books.
Dreyfus, H., & Dreyfus, S. (1986). Mind over machine. New York: The Free Press.
Ekvall, G. (1987). The climate metaphor in organization theory. In B. M. Bass, & P. J. D. Dretch (Eds.), Advances in organizational psychology: An international review. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
European Commission (2008). Proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the European Year of Creativity and Innovation (2009). Brussels: European Commission.
Fiedler, F. E. (1962). Leader attitudes, group climate, and group creativity. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 65, 308-318. HUdoi:10.1037/h0048284U
Goncalo, J. A., & Staw, B. M. (2006). Individualism-collectivism and group creativity. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 100, 96-100. HUdoi:10.1016/j.obhdp.2005.11.003U
Grossen, M. (2008). Methods for studying collaborative creativity: An original and adventurous blend. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3, 246-249. HUdoi:10.1016/j.tsc.2008.09.005U
Guilford, J. P. (1950). Creativity. American Psychologist, 5, 444-454. HUdoi:10.1037/h0063487U
Jeffrey, B., & Craft, A. (2001). The universalization of creativity. In A. Craft, B. Jeffrey, & M. Leibling (Eds.). Creativity in education (pp. 1-13). London: Continuum International Publishing Group.
Jung, D. I. (2001). Transformational and transactional leadership and their effects on creativity in groups. Creativity Research Journal, 13, 185-195. HUdoi:10.1207/S15326934CRJ1302_6U
Koskinen, K. U., Pihlanto, P., & Vanharanta, H. (2003). Tacit knowledge acquisition and sharing in a project work context. International Journal of Project Management, 21, 281-290. HUdoi:10.1016/S0263-7863(02)00030-3U
Kurtzberg, T. R. (2005). Feeling creative, being creative: an empirical study of diversity and creativity in teams. Creativity Research Journal, 17, 51-65. HUdoi:10.1207/s15326934crj1701_5U
Kurtzberg, T. R., & Amabile, T. M. (2000-2001). From Guilford to creative synergy: Opening the black box of team-level creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 13, 285-294. HUdoi:10.1207/S15326934CRJ1334_06U
Leon, P. G. B., Mann, L., & Pirola-Merlo, A. (2001). The innovation imperative: The relationships between team climate, innovation, and performance in research and development teams. Organisational Behavior, 32, 55-73.
Leonard, D., & Sensiper, S. (1998). The role of tacit knowledge in group innovation. California Management Review, 40, 112-132.
Leonard-Barton, D., & Swap, W. C. (1999). When sparks fly: Igniting creativity in groups. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.
Levine, J. M., & Moreland, R. L. (2004). Collaboration: The social context of theory development. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 164-172. HUdoi:10.1207/s15327957pspr0802_10U
Littleton, K., Rojas-Drummond, S., & Miell, D. (2008). Introduction to the special issue: “Collaborative creativity: Socio-cultural perspectives”. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3, 175-176. HUdoi:10.1016/j.tsc.2008.09.004U
Lohman, M. C., & Finkelstein, M. (2000). Designing groups in problem-based learning to promote problem-solving skill and self-directedness. Instructional Science, 28, 291-307. HUdoi:10.1023/A:1003927228005U
Mayer, R. E. (1999). Fifty years of creativity research. In R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 449-460). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Miell, D., & Littleton, K. (2004), Collaborative creativity, contemporary perspectives. London: Free Associate Books.
Moran, S., & John-Steiner, V. (2004). How collaboration in creative work impacts identity and motivation. In D. Miell, & K. Littleton (Eds.). Collaborative creativity, contemporary perspectives (pp. 11-25). London: Free Associate Books.
Newman, M. J. (2005). Problem based learning: An introduction and overview of the key features of the approach. Journal of Veterinary, 32, 12-20.
Nielsen, K. (2002). The concept of tacit knowledge—A critique. Outlines, 2, 3-17.
Nijstad, B. A., & Paulus, P. B. (2003). Group creativity: Common themes and future directions. In P. B. Paulus (Ed.), Group creativity: Innovation through collaboration (pp. 326-346). New York: Oxford University Press.
Nonaka, I. (1991). The knowledge-creating company. Harvard Business Review, Novermber-December, 96-104.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company: How Japanese companies create the dynamic of innovation. New York: Oxford University Press
Nonaka, I., & Toyama, R. (2003). The knowledge-creating theory revisited: Knowledge creation as a synthesizing process. Knowledge Management Research & Practice, 1, 2-10. HUdoi:10.1057/palgrave.kmrp.8500001UH
O’Hear, S., & Sefton-Green, J. (2004). Creative “communities”: How technology mediates social worlds. In D. Miell, & K. Littleton (Eds.), Collaborative creativity, contemporary perspectives (pp. 113-125). London: Free Associate Books.
Paavola, S., Lipponen, L., & Hakkarainen, K. (2004). Models of innovative knowledge communities and three metaphors of learning. Review of Educational Research, 74, 557-576. HUdoi:10.3102/00346543074004557U
Pahl, G., Beitz, W., Feldhusen, J., & Grote, K. H. (2007). Engineering design: A systematic approach (3rd ed.). London: Springer.
Paulus, P. B. (2000). Groups, teams, and creativity: The creative potential of idea-generating groups. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 49, 237-262. HUdoi:10.1111/1464-0597.00013U
Paulus, P. B. (2003).Group creativity: Innovation through collaboration. New York: Oxford University Press.
Polanyi, M. (1994). Personal knowledge. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Punch, K. F. (2009). Introduction to research methods in education. London: Sage Publications.
Resnick, L. B. (1991). Shared cognition: Thinking as social practice. In L. B. Resnick, J. M. Levine, & S. D. Teasley (Eds.), Perspectives on socially shared cognition (pp. 1-20). Washington DC: American Psychological Association. HUdoi:10.1037/10096-018U
Robinson, A. G., & Stern, S. (1997). Corporative creativity: How innovation and improvement actually happen. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
Rojas-Drummond, S. M., Albarrán, C. D., & Littleton, K. S. (2008). Collaboration, creativity and the co-construction of oral and written texts. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 3, 177-191. HUdoi:10.1016/j.tsc.2008.09.008U
Rosenberg, N. (1982). Inside the black box: Technology and economics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ryhammar, L., & Brolin, C. (1999). Creativity research: Historical considerations and main lines of development. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 43, 259-273. HUdoi:10.1080/0031383990430303U
Sawyer, R. K. (2006). Explaining creativity: The science of human innovation. New York: Oxford University Press.
Sawyer, R. K. (2007). Group genius: The creative power of collaboration. New York: Basic Books.
Sawyer, R. K. et al. (2003). Creativity and development. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press.
Smith, E. A. (2001). The role of tacit and explicit knowledge in the workplace. Journal of Knowledge Management, 5, 311-321. HUdoi:10.1108/13673270110411733U
Sonnenburg, S. (2004). Creativity in communication: A theoretical framework for collaborative product creation. Creativity and Innovation Management, 13, 254-262. HUdoi:10.1111/j.0963-1690.2004.00314.xU
Sternberg, R. J., & Lubart, T. I. (1999). The concept of creativity: Prospects and paradigms. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of creativity (pp. 3-15). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Strijbos, J. W., & Martens, R. L. (2001), Group-based learning: Dynamic interaction in groups. Proceedings of EURO-CSCL Conference 2001, Maastricht, 22-24 March 2011, 569-576.
Thompson, L., & Brajkovich, Leo, F. (2003), Improving the creativity of organizational work groups. The Academy of Management Executive, 17, 96-111. HUdoi:10.5465/AME.2003.9474814U
Tylor, E. B. (1889). Primitive culture: Researches into the development of mythology, philosophy, religion, language, art, and custom. New York: Holt. (Original work published 1871)
Villalba, E. (2008). On creativity: Towards an understanding of creativity and its measurements. Brussels: European Commission.
Wagner, R. K., & Sternberg, R. L. (1986). Tacit knowledge and intelligence in the everyday world. In R. J. Sternberg, & R. K. Wagner (Eds.), Practical intelligence: Nature and origins of competence in the everyday world (pp. 51-84). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Weber, M. (1922). Die protestantische ethik und der geist des kapitalismus. URL (last checked 1 June 2012). http://www.s-hb.de/~klaus.boenkost/pdf-docs/Weber-Protestantische-Ethik.pdf
Weisberg, R. W. (1999). Creativity and knowledge: A challenge to theories. In R. J. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of Creativity (pp. 226-248). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Woodman, R. W., Sawyer, J. S., & Griffin, R. W. (1993). Toward a theory of organizational creativity. Academy of Management Review, 18, 293-321. HUdoi:10.5465/AMR.1993.3997517U