Competitive Design of Web-Based Courses in Engineering Education - Web-Based Engineering Education: Critical Design and Effective Tools - page 125

About Theory of Inventive
Problem Solving

and not too narrow, not driven by solution, not
driven by assumptions.
Problem analysis is focused on causes leading
to the problem. In this respect, relevant data about
problem should be gathered and structured. Vari-
ous sides of the problem should be explored, as
well as viewed from different perspectives. This
very often could lead to problem reformulation.
The process of generating solutions deals
with all about finding various ways to remove
the causes that generate the harmful effects and/
or transforming the disturbing factors into use-
ful factors. Each potential solution must be clear
formulated both in terms of concept and steps on
how to solve the problem.
The selection process of the most appropriate
solutions from the generated set requires the use
of ranked criteria. These criteria should consider
benefits (e.g. cost-effectiveness over the life-cycle,
technical strengths, etc.) and disadvantages (e.g.
risks, costs, technical weaknesses, etc.).
The implementation stage requires careful
project planning and organization to put the solu-
tion into practice. Specific project management
tools are considered in this respect.
The most challenging phase of the innovative
problem solving process is the solution generation
phase because it requires finding mature ways to
solve the problem without compromises. There
are more than one hundred tools and algorithms
used in practice for supporting the creative pro-
cess. Sometimes it is quite difficult to select the
best tool for a given problem. However, literature
published in the last decade mostly promotes a
limited set of inventive problem solving tools. In
the top of the list is the theory of inventive problem
solving method (TRIZ) and its derivates: ARIZ,
ASIT, USIT, CSDT, etc. (Altshuller, 2000; Brad,
2005; Brad, 2008). Basics about TRIZ method are
further highlighted.

TRIZ is a method that helps in solving difficult
problems through identification and elimination
of conflicts that are presented within systems.
TRIZ is a systematic approach for generating
creative solutions using the present day scientific
progress (Altshuller, 2000). TRIZ uses 39 standard
technical characteristics (also called standard
parameters) that may cause conflicts within a
system. Examples of elements from this set of
standard technical characteristics are: capacity,
complexity of control, accuracy of measurement,
waste of substance, stability, reliability, harm-
ful factors acting on object, brightness, area of
moving object, etc. These characteristics are very
generically formulated in order to comprehend
any particular problem; therefore, their meaning
should not be interpreted in a strict sense. To ap-
ply the TRIZ procedure, any particular problem
should be translated into a generic problem, where
the conflicting specific technical characteristics
find equivalents within the set of TRIZ standard
technical characteristics. According to countless
opinions, this is one of the most difficult tasks in
TRIZ implementation, because the applicant(s)
must associate a particular, tangible problem to
a very generic one. For example, the amount of
information delivered in a course could be associ-
ated to the TRIZ standard parameter “amount of
substance”; and the level of interest of students
about the course could be associated to the TRIZ
standard parameter “temperature”, etc.
A conflicting problem is about the conflict
occurring between two parameters x and y when
attempting to improve the performances of both
parameters; for example, by trying to improve
the performance of parameter x , a harmful effect
will be generated upon parameter y lowering its
performance. Innovative problem solving means
to improve the performance of parameter x without