I’m excited to share my recent work with colleagues Richard West, Jason McDonald, and Melissa Warr exploring how instructional designers can intentionally foster creativity through Gl?veanu’s 5A Framework. It was published in the prestigious Oxford Handbook of Creativity and Education edited by J. Katz-Buonncontro, & T. Kettler. In this chapter we take a sociocultural approach to the topic which recognizes creativity as emerging from the dynamic interplay between actors (learners as active agents), actions (processes of experimentation), artifacts (tangible outputs), audience (collaborative interactions), and affordances (resources and contexts). Rather than viewing creativity as something that can be directly taught, our research suggests it must be cultivated through intentionally designed environments. We explore practical approaches—from studio-based learning and makerspaces to open-ended challenges—while emphasizing the importance of rethinking assessment practices to encourage productive failure. By designing with humility and creating fertile conditions for creativity to flourish, instructional designers can help prepare learners to address society’s most challenging problems, working as orchestrators rather than directors of the creative process.

Link to pre-press version of the article and abstract given below.

West, R. E., McDonald, J. K., Mishra, P., & Warr, M. (2025). Designing for Creative Learning: How Instructional Designers Can Influence the 5As of Creativity. In J. Katz-Buonncontro, & T. Kettler, (Eds.). The Oxford Handbook of Creativity and Education. Oxford University Press.

Abstract:

Fostering the kind of learning we want for students is difficult in any domain, but even more so when the goal is to develop students capable of engaging in creative collaborations within their disciplines. Still, because the need is so great for developing creative professionals to solve the wicked problems of society, instructional designers will often seek to design education that can develop the attributes necessary for creative collaborations. In this chapter, we discuss the nature of instructional design as a profession, and how designers seek to influence learning. We employ Glaveanu’s 5A Framework to define the elements of creativity that instructional designers can attempt to influence—namely, the actors, activities, artifacts, audience, and affordances that enable creativity. We then provide specific examples of how designers seek to foster student creativity in each of the 5As through pedagogies, practices, and instructional choices—providing examples of movements such as studio-based learning, makerspaces, open- ended learning, and social learning as effective strategies. We conclude for recommendations for how instructional designers and teachers can enhance the potential for student creativity, as well as cautions against problematic strategies that can increase barriers.