ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses the meaning of creativity in problem solving and the theoretical background to the research. It presents a detailed literature review focused on understanding macroscopic and microscopic models of creativity and research on mathematics learning and teaching. The book outlines the research design, and the construction of the conceptual framework on which to build the comprehensive model of creative problem solving. A cognitive psychology student was assigned the practical exercise of tape recording a mathematics student throughout the process of solving a novel mathematics problem. Protocol analysis was to be used to identify different types of activities, such as problem representation and processing actions inherent in the field of cognition, within the protocol. The cognitive psychology student reported several different problem-solving activities.
