Designing effective online courses—especially for technical disciplines like engineering, data science, and computer programming—requires more than organizing lectures, videos, and assignments. It demands creativity at every level, from course structure to learner engagement. But what kind of creativity are we talking about?
A fascinating 2018 paper by Leslee Lazar, "The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity," provides a roadmap. According to Lazar, design creativity is distinct from both artistic and scientific creativity. It’s uniquely tied to how humans solve complex, ambiguous, and evolving problems—what the paper calls “ill-structured tasks.” For instructional designers in the digital space, especially those working with technical subjects, this insight is profound. To truly prepare learners for the real world, our courses must engage their "design brains."
Embrace Ill-Structured Problems
In traditional education, especially in technical fields, we often rely on "well-structured" problems—those with clear parameters, predictable outcomes, and established solution paths. Think of solving an algebraic equation or calculating the flow rate through a pipe. While these tasks are useful for teaching fundamentals, they fall short of preparing students for the ambiguity and complexity of real-world challenges.
Lazar emphasizes the power of “ill-structured” problems—open-ended scenarios where both the problem and the solution evolve during the process. These are the kinds of problems that designers and engineers face daily: how to reduce waste in a city, optimize a software interface, or create a sustainable energy model. In online technical education, embracing this approach means offering scenarios that encourage learners to frame the problem themselves. Instead of handing students a tightly defined task, present them with a realistic challenge and ask, “Where would you begin?” This not only cultivates critical thinking but activates deeper brain networks associated with creativity and real-world problem solving.
Foster Divergent Thinking
One of the hallmarks of design creativity is the ability to generate many possible solutions to a problem. This process, known as divergent thinking, involves connecting seemingly unrelated ideas, drawing analogies, and pushing past conventional answers. It’s also associated with right-brain activation—particularly in the prefrontal cortex and medial temporal regions tied to memory and mental imagery.
To foster divergent thinking in an online technical course, instructors can build in brainstorming activities and reflection prompts that go beyond “what’s right?” to ask “what else could work?” For instance, in a course on systems design, pose a challenge like “design a water filtration system for a desert environment,” and invite students to submit five distinct conceptual sketches or approaches. Tools like digital whiteboards, collaboration platforms, and creative forums can provide the space for learners to explore without judgment. Emphasizing breadth before depth in the early stages of learning taps into this essential phase of the creative process and helps learners become flexible, innovative thinkers.
Balance with Convergent Thinking
While divergent thinking opens up possibilities, convergent thinking brings clarity. It is the process of narrowing down options, analyzing trade-offs, and making decisions. According to Lazar, this phase activates more analytical regions of the brain—primarily the executive control networks in the prefrontal cortex. Together, these processes form what researchers now view as a “dual-process model” of creativity: oscillating between the expansive and the focused, the imaginative and the evaluative.
In online learning, this means we shouldn’t stop at brainstorming. Learners also need structured opportunities to analyze and refine their ideas. For example, after generating a set of potential designs for a circuit or a software interface, students can be asked to evaluate each against a rubric that considers feasibility, efficiency, and user experience. Peer reviews, instructor feedback, and self-assessment tools can support this critical convergence stage, helping students internalize the skills needed to assess and refine their own solutions. Building this evaluative loop into course design teaches not only technical accuracy but the judgment needed for innovation.
Integrate Emotion and Intuition
An especially intriguing insight from Lazar’s review is the role of emotion in design decisions. During evaluation and final decision-making, brain areas like the medial prefrontal cortex and default mode network become active. These regions are associated with emotion, intuition, and personal preference—what designers often describe as a “gut feeling.”
This has profound implications for online learning. While we often focus on cognitive load and performance metrics, we shouldn’t overlook the emotional and intuitive dimensions of learning. Giving students space to reflect—through design journals, voice notes, or video reflections—can deepen their engagement. When students articulate why they chose a specific solution or how they felt about their learning process, they begin to integrate their analytical and emotional selves. This not only mirrors how real designers work but helps learners develop self-awareness and intrinsic motivation.
Use the “Design Brain” to Train Technical Brains
The neuroscience evidence is clear: expert designers think differently than novices. Their brains activate differently, especially in regions responsible for hypothesis generation, analogical reasoning, and mental imagery. Importantly, these skills can be taught—but not through lectures alone.
To help online learners move from novice to expert, instructors must model their thinking processes. Use screen recordings, narrated walkthroughs, or “design thinking in action” videos where experts tackle real problems. Make your own reasoning visible: how you define a problem, discard options, draw analogies, and iterate. This transparency helps learners build mental models of expert thought. Scaffold assignments with opportunities for learners to practice these same steps—first with support, then independently. Over time, learners will internalize the cognitive habits of expert designers, which are essential for mastering technical fields in the real world.
Conclusion: Teach Like a Designer
Teaching technical subjects online is a challenge—but also an opportunity. By drawing on insights from neuroscience and design cognition, we can create courses that mirror how real problem-solving happens. Instead of just transmitting content, we can build learning environments that activate the same brain systems used by innovative designers, engineers, and thinkers.
When we do this, our courses don't just inform—they transform. They help students become agile, creative, and confident problem solvers, ready to tackle the complex challenges of tomorrow.
So the next time you open your LMS or course builder, pause and ask: am I laying out a lecture... or designing an experience?
Reference
Lazar, L. (2018). The Cognitive Neuroscience of Design Creativity. Journal of Experimental Neuroscience, 12, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1177/1179069518809664
