Assessing creativity It’s more than just an art thing

Dr Birut Zemits

humanityashore.com

Assessing creativityIt’s more than just an art thing

• Creativity- defining the term• Role of creativity in university study• Research approaches to creativity• Examples of assessing creativity from

common unit• Why is assessment of creativity is important

creativityOrigin Create- late Middle English (in the sense ‘form out of nothing’, used of a divine or supernatural being): from Latin creat- ‘produced’, from the verb creare

Michaelangelo

The iconic image of the Hand of God giving life to Adam.

en.wikipedia.org

CDU Graduate attribute

Personal Practical Knowledge

Can conceive of imaginative and innovative responses to future-orientated challenges and research.

Standard listing but…Within graduate attributes in many Australian universities, ‘creativity’ is listed a quality that students would build and develop during their studies.

However studies often avoid measuring this aspect of progression in desired attributes through a degree, preferring to focus on aspects such as critical thinking, interpersonal understandings, problem solving and written communication (Badcock, Pattison, and Harris 2010).

What is creativity?

Art?

Exegesis of an ostrich- Joan Priegohttp://www.artween.com/Artists/Joan-Priego/Theme/Exegesis-of-an-ostrich2

What is creativity?Writing Creating new metaphors

Omar Khayyam 1048

The moving finger writes; and, having writ,Moves on: nor all thy piety nor witShall lure it back to cancel half a line,Nor all thy tears wash out a word of it.

http://www.goodreads.com

CreativityEngineering?

Innovation

www.developmentgateway.org

What is creativity?

ScienceMountain of matches?

www.creative-science.org.uk

Creativity

Business?

Making money

publicrelationssydney.com.au

Research into creativity

Standard test: Paul Torrance (from 1988)‘Torrance® Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) …substantial insight into the creativity of adults by quantifying figural and verbal creative strengths… 4 norm-referenced abilities …15 criterion-referenced creativity indicators …added …give the creativity index.’ http://ststesting.com/5_2013_gifted.pdf

Research into creativity

Creative tasks are, by their nature, ambiguous, with no clear right or wrong answer. Such tasks require taking intellectual risks, trying, evaluating, and discarding ideas, and making connections.(Berrett 2013, p.18)

Research into creativity

Little variation using specific measures of creativity was found between arts and science students (Furnham et al, 2011).

Research into creativity

Runco (2007) analysis of what constitutes (and what does not constitute) creativity

originality innovation invention discovery serendipity adaptation flexibility artistry imagination

Systems approach

Schematic representation of major levels at which creativity forces operate. (Hennessey and Amabil, 2010, p.271)

Assessment in university?

Creativity challenges established norms of communication in more subtle ways than the written word (bell hooks, 1995) .

Students need capacity to work effectively in community careers…value of arts practices to explore cultural values and develop intercultural understanding … resolve dissonance in an emotional way (Bailey and Desai 2005).

• Sheridan-Rabideau (2010, p.54), passionately argues for the need to include an arts-based curriculum into broader subject areas, considering that curiosity, creativity and collaboration are essential skills to have when seeking solutions to various issues.

Assessment in CUC107

Assignment 1Construct a mind map as a visual representation to show your understanding and analysis of your personal culture (your cultural self).  

(Charles Darwin University 2014).

A1 Example 1

A1 Example 2

Assignment 3Prepare a three minute audio-visual presentation that informs an audience about what cultural intelligence is and how it can be applied in a community, university or workplace environment.

A3 Assessment criteria

Design / Creativity (15%)

Credit- The audio or speaking notes component supports the ideas presented. Graphics and visual aids are acceptable and help explain the concepts of the presentation. Multimedia presentation shows some originality, creativity and innovation.11 10.5 10 9.75

Other aspects assessed are content, organisation, referencing and presentation.

ConclusionCreativity- defining the term- important to prioritise how it can build new thinking.Role of creativity in university study needs clarificationExamples of assessing creativity from common unit

Conversation about why including some assessment of creativity is importantWhat happens if creativity is ignored?

ReferencesBadcock, Paul B T, Philippa E Pattison, and Kerri-Lee Harris. 2010. "Developing generic skills through university study: a study of arts, science and engineering in Australia." Higher Education Research & Development no. 60 (4):17.

Bailey, Chelsea, and Dipti Desai. 2005. "Visual art and education: Engaged visions of history and community." Multicultural Perspectives no. 7 (1):4.

Berrett, Dan. 2013. "Creativity: A Cure for the Common Curriculum." Education Digest no. 79 (2):8.

Buzan, Tony, Chris Griffiths, and James Harrison. 2012. "Modern Mind Mapping for Smarter Thinking." In. Cardiff: Proactive Press.

Charles Darwin University. 2014. Cultural intelligence and capability 2014 [cited 20th February 2014 2014]. Available from http://learnline.cdu.edu.au/commonunits/cuc107/index.html.

Furnham, Adrian, Mark Batey, Tom W. Booth, Vikita Patel, and Dariya Lozinskaya. 2011. "Individual difference predictors of creativity in Art and Science students." Thinking Skills and Creativity no. 6 (2):114-121. doi:Hennessey, Beth A, and Teresa M Amabile. 2010. "Creativity." Annual Review of Psychology no. 61 (1):29.

hooks, bell. 1994. Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Edited by Routledge. New York.———. 1995. Art on my mind: Visual politics. New York: The New Press.

Runco, Mark A. 2007. "Creativity : Theories and Themes: Research, Development, and Practice." In. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.

Sheridan-Rabideau, Mark. 2010. "Creativity repositioned." Arts Education Policy Review no. 111 (2):5.