Trans-disciplinary creativity takes root (slowly)

by | Thursday, May 30, 2013

I wanted to bring attention to two articles that came across my desk today. The first was in the Chronicle of Higher Education titled Creativity: a Cure for the Common Curriculum on efforts at range of universities seeking “to train students in how innovative thinkers …[and] use the tools of creativity to solve problems.”

The second article in yesterday’s Washington Post was titled Engineering students learn how to swing dance during class to help with problem-solving skills.

I have been thinking and writing about this for a while now – and it is good to see some of these initiatives taking root. These are difficult issues to deal with mainly because the return on investment, as it were, for teaching creativity is hard to measure. But that just makes the task all the more interesting.

 

A few randomly selected blog posts…

A New Chapter

A New Chapter

I came to ASU 8 years ago, joining the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College as Associate Dean for Scholarship and Innovation. The primary goal was to support our faculty and doctoral students in their research related activities. That said, my role has shifted over the...

Science teachers and social justice

Science teachers and social justice

I have been editing a series of articles for iWonder: Rediscovering School Science, a practitioner orientated journal for middle school science teachers, published by the Azim Premji University. Our first article was titled "Why teachers should care of...

The Innocent

I first read Ian McEwan many years ago (in the 80's I think) when he wrote grim and macabre novels and short stories, full of strange dark humor. I found him somewhat interesting but not enough to seek out his books. And then, years later, this past fall I read...

Uncertainty, Creativity & Mindfulness: New chapter

Uncertainty, Creativity & Mindfulness: New chapter

Danah Henriksen, Carmen Richardson, Natalie Gruber and just published a chapter (titled: Uncertainity, Creativity & Mindfulness: Opening Possibilities and Reducing Restrictions Through Mindfulness) in the edited volume: Uncertainty: A Catalyst for Creativity....

The Hidden Metal in Ghalib’s Heart

The Hidden Metal in Ghalib’s Heart

Mirza Ghalib, was a celebrated poet who lived in Delhi in the 19th century Delhi. He was as famous for his wit and defiance of conventions as he was for his verses. He mostly wrote ghazals—a form of lyric poetry built of rhyming couplets, each standing alone yet...

Episteme6 @ Mumbai: 2 presentations

Episteme6 @ Mumbai: 2 presentations

This past December I was at the epiSTEME 6 conference in Mumbai. It was jointly  organized by the Homi Bhaba Center for Science Education, TIFR and the Interdisciplinary Program in Educational Technology, IIT Bombay. I presented two papers there, oneabout...

The beautiful futility of art

Just came across this video about Milton Glaser. If you are interested in design you have to watch it for yourself. But here's a quote that stayed with me: The possibility for learning never disappears. Basically you have to admit you never learn it....

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *