The Creative "I"-- Defining Creativity
For The Creative “I”—Defining Creativity assignment, I chose to interview my brother, Scott Hansen. Scott is a computer programmer for Union Pacific and is undoubtedly the most creative person I know. Throughout high school and college, I would arrive home to find our kitchen table strewn with wires, LED bulbs, and the various materials of his latest “project.” While I laughed it off at the time, I’ve since realized that his creative ability to construct a working piece of technology from mere wires and recycled materials is the work of a magnificent mind. When presented with the question, “What does the term creativity mean to you?” Scott responded with the conception; “Creativity is a person using their own thought process to produce a unique idea that results in an innovative outcome that has never been achieved before.”
When prompted to explain his creative process, Scott walked me through his thought process as he begins work on his programming assignment. As a computer programmer, his mind has to think of multiple ways of tackling a problem. He starts with defining the problem and thinking of multiple solutions. The tricky part of the creative process occurs when Scott has to account for not just the expected solution, but also multiple forms of a solution.
As we concluded our interview, I asked Scott about his thoughts on evaluating creativity. He agrees that we seek to evaluate the end products of the creative process. "An end product could be an iPhone, a Microsoft Windows Surface tablet, etc. This end product is then evaluated by peers and either heralded or degraded. What tends to get lost in translation, however, is the time and creativity that the pioneers and employees contributed to generate the end product, yet this is the most important aspect. A test can serve as a benchmark for certain areas of study, but it should never determine who a person can or should be. Creativity is personalized for each individual and cannot be assigned a letter grade.”
Reading the article “A New Approach to Defining and Measuring Creativity: Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century” and interviewing my brother helped to enlighten me on the merger between creativity and technology. As the reading acknowledged the need for creativity in education, Scott also correlates his formal education (Physics and Calculus) as a precursor for developing his creativity. Each problem presents multiple ways of being solved, though some may be faster or more efficient than others. I would like to present my students with the opportunity to do more exploration on their own problem solving in math. Our math curriculum presents only one way of solving addition and subtraction problems, but allowing my students to explore their own techniques to problem solving could help to foster their creativity.
The word “unique” was also brought up several times in the reading and interview. I believe we as course members are working to achieve the “unique” aspect of creativity throughout the modules and readings in this course. We are asked to establish what we already know or see about our topic area, but then re-invent and re-imagine those ideas to create a “unique” pattern or understanding. With this re-visioning, I am beginning to look at both letters and objects differently, and see that the world is open to multiple interpretations.
References
Mishra, P., Henriksen, D., & the Deep-Play Research Group (2013). A NEW Approach to Defining and Measuring Creativity. Tech Trends (57) 5, p. 5-13.
When prompted to explain his creative process, Scott walked me through his thought process as he begins work on his programming assignment. As a computer programmer, his mind has to think of multiple ways of tackling a problem. He starts with defining the problem and thinking of multiple solutions. The tricky part of the creative process occurs when Scott has to account for not just the expected solution, but also multiple forms of a solution.
As we concluded our interview, I asked Scott about his thoughts on evaluating creativity. He agrees that we seek to evaluate the end products of the creative process. "An end product could be an iPhone, a Microsoft Windows Surface tablet, etc. This end product is then evaluated by peers and either heralded or degraded. What tends to get lost in translation, however, is the time and creativity that the pioneers and employees contributed to generate the end product, yet this is the most important aspect. A test can serve as a benchmark for certain areas of study, but it should never determine who a person can or should be. Creativity is personalized for each individual and cannot be assigned a letter grade.”
Reading the article “A New Approach to Defining and Measuring Creativity: Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century” and interviewing my brother helped to enlighten me on the merger between creativity and technology. As the reading acknowledged the need for creativity in education, Scott also correlates his formal education (Physics and Calculus) as a precursor for developing his creativity. Each problem presents multiple ways of being solved, though some may be faster or more efficient than others. I would like to present my students with the opportunity to do more exploration on their own problem solving in math. Our math curriculum presents only one way of solving addition and subtraction problems, but allowing my students to explore their own techniques to problem solving could help to foster their creativity.
The word “unique” was also brought up several times in the reading and interview. I believe we as course members are working to achieve the “unique” aspect of creativity throughout the modules and readings in this course. We are asked to establish what we already know or see about our topic area, but then re-invent and re-imagine those ideas to create a “unique” pattern or understanding. With this re-visioning, I am beginning to look at both letters and objects differently, and see that the world is open to multiple interpretations.
References
Mishra, P., Henriksen, D., & the Deep-Play Research Group (2013). A NEW Approach to Defining and Measuring Creativity. Tech Trends (57) 5, p. 5-13.