Assessing
creativity
It’s more than just an art thing
Dr Birut Zemits
humanityashore.com
Assessing creativity
It’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
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creativity
Origin 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 Priego
http://www.artween.com/Artists/Joan-Priego/Theme/Exegesis-of-an-ostrich2
What is creativity?
Writing
Creating new metaphors
Omar Khayyam 1048
http://www.goodreads.com
The moving finger writes; and, having
writ, Moves on: nor all thy piety nor
wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a
line, Nor all thy tears wash out a word
of it.
Creativity
Engineering?
Innovation
www.developmentgateway.org
What is creativity?
Science
Mountain 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 normreferenced abilities …15 criterionreferenced 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
discovery
flexibility
innovation
serendipity
artistry
invention
adaptation
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 1
Construct 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 3
Prepare 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.
Conclusion
Creativity- defining the term- important to prioritise
how it can build new thinking.
Role of creativity in university study needs clarification
Examples of assessing creativity from common unit
Conversation about why including some assessment
of creativity is important
What happens if creativity is ignored?
References
Badcock, 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.