Developing Creativity Skills

Beejal Shah Senior Lecturer in Marketing

The Business School

(b.7.shah@herts.ac.uk)

Disc

ussio

n Q

uesti

ons

Why should HE help to develop the creative potential of students and advance understanding about the role of creativity in HE?

How can interest / curiosity in creativity be stimulated beyond the disciplinary fields that have traditionally embraced the idea?

How can tutors examine their own understandings of creativity in their disciplinary and curriculum contexts and develop their practise in ways that will enable students to experience and develop their own creativity?

LTI P

roje

ct –

Cre

ative

Ski

lls S

urve

y

Business SchoolDepartment of Marketing & Enterprise

Jan 2012 - present

Project Lead – Beejal ShahProject Team – Sofie Mallick

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Objectives

To develop business students’ individual creative

capacity for problem solving, creativity and innovation

skills in teaching and learning

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Method

Linked with PPP skills sessions for UG Level 4 Marketing degree Students

On-line Questionnaire pre and post survey

Creativity Guide

Developing Creativity Skills Lecture – 1 hour

Interactive Creative Techniques Workshop – 1 hour

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Questionnaire

Sample Questions

How creative are you?What is your current level of confidence in your creative ability?Do you think you have greater potential to be creative?How important do you think it is to be creative in your studies?How enthusiastic do you feel about the opportunity to develop your creative potential?What opportunities would you like to develop your creative potential in your studies?

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Four Creative Thinking Techniques

Mind MappingRandom Word AssociationDe Bono’s Six HatsVisualisation

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Creativity GuideMind Mapping

www.buzan.com.au

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Creativity Guide

Mind Mapping1. Set your purpose/goal.2. Start in the CENTRE of blank paper turned sideways.3. Quickly sketch an IMAGE of your focus in the centre.4. Use at least 3 COLOURS, foremphasis, structure, texture, creativity5. Draw curved lines, radiating from centre (thick to thin) CONNECTING main branches to central image & at each level.6. Use 1 key word or image per line for more power and flexibility in thinking.7. Use images throughout as a picture paints a 1,000 words.

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Developing Creativity Skills Lecture

“Creativity – Involving the use of the imagination or original ideas in order to create something”

Oxford English Dictionary

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Developing Creativity Skills Lecture

Maximise the Power of Your Brain – Tony Buzan MIND MAPPING

Youtube.com

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey Creative Skills Workshop

Mind Mapping

Write creativity in the middle of the paper and mind map what it means to you

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Evaluation

Currently Data collection and analysis

Preliminary findings reveal improved appreciation of individual creative potential

Extremely creative Very creative Moderately creative Slightly creative Not at all creative0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

7.7

40.7 40.7

9.9

1.1

12.2

42.9

32.7

12.2

0

How creative are you?

PrePost

%

Sample: 91pre; 49 post

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Extremely high Very high Moderately high Slightly high Not at all high0

10

20

30

40

50

60

5.5

19.8

54.9

16.5

3.3

8.2

32.7

42.9

14.3

2

Confidence in creative ability

PrePost

%

Sample: 91pre; 49 post

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Sample: 91pre; 49 post

Pre Post0

20

40

60

80

100

120

95.6100

Do you think you have greater potential to be creative?

YesNo

%

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Evaluation

What opportunities would you like to develop your creative potential in your studies?

To have more workshops on

creative techniques

Having fun games, listening to music, drawing pictures

Studies being more involved

in creativityTo put my ideas into

action

More lectures on creativity

To have more creative assignments

Cre

ativi

ty S

kills

Sur

vey

Next Steps

Complete data collection Complete evaluation

FutureProposed longitudinal study - level 5 and level 6 students over next 2 yearsInteractive creativity guides in collaboration with ASUDiscussion group with academics on developing an imaginative curriculum

Disc

ussio

n Q

uesti

ons

Why should HE help to develop the creative potential of students and advance understanding about the role of creativity in HE?

How can interest / curiosity in creativity be stimulated beyond the disciplinary fields that have traditionally embraced the idea

How can tutors examine their own understandings of creativity in their disciplinary and curriculum contexts and develop their practise in ways that will enable students to experience and develop their own creativity?

Disc

ussio

n

Convergent Divergent Thinking

Sciences -----------> Social Sciences ----------------->Arts

Analytical Mode Associative Mode

Adapted from Furnham et al, 2011 and Williamson, 2011

Quote

“The formulation of a problem is far more often

essential than it’s solution, which may merely be a

matter of mathematical or experimental skills. To raise

new questions, new possibilities, to regard old

problems from a new angle requires creative

imagination and marks real advances in science”

Albert Einstein in Jackson et al, 2006

Disc

ussio

n

Ref

eren

ces

Adams. D.J, Hugh-Jones. S, Sutherland. E, 2010, ‘Raising Awareness of Individual

Adams. D.J, Grimshaw.P and Paxton.S, 2006, Creativity in Biosciences.

www.fbs.leeds.ac.uk/creativity (accessed 1 March 2012)

Creative Potential Bioscientists Using a Web-site Based Approach’,

http://www.bioscience.heaacademy.ac.uk/journal/vol15/beej-15-5.pdf

Burleson. W, 2005, ‘Developing Creativity, motivation and self actualization with

learning systems’, International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 63 ,436-451

Furnham. A, Batey.M, Booth.T.W, Patel.V, Lozinskaya.D, 2011, ‘Individual different

predictors of creativity in Art and Science’, Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6, 114-121

Jackson. N, 2005, ‘Making higher education a more creative place’ 2005, Journal

for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching 2, 1, 14-25

Jackson.N, Oliver.M, Shaw.M and Wisdom.J, 2006, Developing Creativity in Higher

Education: An imaginative curriculum, Routledge

Sawyer. K.R, 2012, Second Edition, The Science of Human Innovation - Explaining

Creativity, Oxford

Williamson.P.K, 2011, ‘The creative problem solving skills of arts and science

students – The two cultures revisited’, Thinking Skills and Creativity, 6, 31-43

Ref

eren

ces

On-line Resources

www.buzan.com.au

www.commarts.com

www.creatingminds.org

www.mindtools.com

www.youtube.com