Building Creative Problem-Solving Capacity

At-a-Glance

Dates: Weekly, beginning February 16, 2026*
Time: 4:00-5:00 p.m. ET (UTC-5)*
Format: Online, either live or on-demand
Intended Audience:
Time Commitment: 3 hours per week (18 hours total)
Program Fee:
Credential Awarded: Certificate of Completion
Enrollment Deadline: 

*program can be completed on your own schedule as sessions will be recorded

Program Overview

Most creative problem solving instruction leans on defined processes. Learners can follow the steps in the room, but struggle to transfer creative thinking when the context changes, the problem is real, and there is no clear next move.

This mini-course is for educators and learning leaders who want to teach creative problem solving more effectively. Grounded in cognitive science, you will learn how to cultivate the conditions that help learners become capable navigators of their own creative problem solving, rather than relying on a map designed for someone else’s context.

What you will learn

You will learn practical ways to teach creative problem solving by designing for:

• Mindsets as teachable conditions: How to help learners practice mindsets through routines, prompts, and feedback, not slogans.
• Productive ambiguity: How to hold enough uncertainty for real practice without letting learners get lost, and how to increase complexity over time.
• Metacognitive steering: How to build integrated reflection practices so learners can notice what is happening, evaluate progress, and choose better next moves.

Transfer beyond the room: How to design for application so learners use creative problem solving in new contexts, not just inside a single activity.
 

Faculty

Dr. Tessa Forshaw

Co-founder, Next Level Lab, Harvard University
 

Tessa Forshaw, PhD, is a cognitive scientist specializing in how people work, learn, and innovate. At the Next Level Lab at Harvard University, she studies the cognitive processes that support creative problem solving and how individuals and teams can develop innovative capability through practice. A former designer at IDEO CoLab and Accenture, Tessa brings extensive real-world experience applying design and innovation principles to complex learning and organizational challenges. She has taught design and innovation at Stanford’s d.school, the Harvard Innovation Lab, and Harvard DCE. Her design work has been recognized with Fast Company’s Design Award for General Excellence, multiple Core77 Industrial Design Awards, and the Australian American Chamber of Commerce Innovation Awards. Watch her Ted Talk here.