A NEW definition of creativity: Next article in series

by | Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Creativity AmbigramThe latest in our series Rethinking Technology and Creativity in the 21st Century is now available. The article was co-authored with Danah Henriksen (and the Deep-Play Research Group) and it titled: A NEW approach to defining and measuring creativity. In this article we seek to provide a definition of creativity, and in turn offer an example of an ongoing research project in which this definition is being used to develop rubrics for evaluating the products of the creative process. Here is a link to the full article

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. 

Here is a key quote from the article:

In this paper, we provided a NEW (Novel, Effective, Whole) definition of creativity as well as introducing a possible way of using this definition to create a contextual, flexible rubric for evaluating creative products. While this is clearly a work in progress, it is through the use of such emergent and flexible structures for evaluating creativity that we hope to provide a way of measuring creative work in the classroom. We understand that there always will be an element of subjectivity in this process; just as there is subjectivity in any open-ended, complex, artistic or problem-solving work or thinking (Mishra & the Deep-Play Research Group, 2012). It is, however, important to have a structure to guide judgment and give each project or artifact a fair, systematic, consistent and comprehensive assessment. This examination of the meaning and definitional components of creativity, along with our current work in the evaluation of the products of the creative process, is meant to further the broad understanding of the topic and its role in teaching and learning.

This article continues the series of papers that the group has been writing. Here is a complete list

  1. Creativity, TPACK & Trans-disciplinary learning for the 21st century  (With Mishra, Koehler, & Henriksen)
  2. Crayons are the future  (Mishra)
  3. On being (in)disciplined  (Mishra, Fahnoe & Henriksen).
  4. Creativity, self-directed learning, and the architecture of technology rich environments. (Mishra, Laura Terry, Henriksen)
  5. Square peg, round hole, good engineering (Mishra, Colin Terry, Henriksen)
  6. Of Art and Algorithms. (Mishra, Yadav)
  7. A Room of their own (Mishra, Cain, Sawaya, Henriksen)

 

A few randomly selected blog posts…

MLK

Martin Luther King, Jr. January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968 Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted —in Strength to Love, 1964

Games, claims, genres & learning

Foster, A. N., Mishra, P. (in press). Games, claims, genres & learning. In R. E. Ferdig (Ed.), Handbook of research on effective electronic gaming in education. [PDF document] Abstract: We offer a framework for conducting research on games for learning. Building on a...

On merging with our technologies (Unpacking McLuhan 4/3)

On merging with our technologies (Unpacking McLuhan 4/3)

This is the fourth of what was supposed to be a three post-series about how media influence our thinking. The first post, uses the invention of writing and print to unpack the meaning of McLuhan’s statement, “The medium is the message.” The second post, focuses on a...

TPACK in a podcast

Just discovered a podcast on TPACK (titled Understanding TPCK) at the msad75mltinews website. It appears to be based on the article (Too cool for school) that was recently published in Learning & Leading with Technology.

Creativity & Courage

Creativity & Courage

Here is the next article in our series Rethinking Technology & Creativity in the 21st Century for the journal TechTrends. This article features an interview with Dr. Yong Zhao, Foundation Distinguished Professor in the School of Education at...

Photos from Twente

I have uploaded a set of photos from my walk around the Twente University campus onto Flickr. You can see the entire set by clicking on the image below. Enjoy.

Design for democracy

Very nice piece in today's NYTimes about ballot design (How Design Can Save Democracy). The article offers a list of problems with the traditional ballot and suggests a solution. A good example of the value of information design. Check it out here

By the numbers

Today's NYTimes story about an economist ranking art by the numbers (see A Textbook Example of Ranking Artworks) bothered me a bit. As the article says, David Galenson's method is based not on the aesthetic qualities of the artwork but rather on "how frequently an...

Jean Baker

Jean BakerColleague and Friend In MemoriamSo runs my dream, but what am I?An infant crying in the nightAn infant crying for the lightAnd with no language but a cry. Alfred, Lord Tennyson

2 Comments

  1. ABDELAZIZ BOUMAHDI

    Punya Mishra, I’m following you on the Arizona webinar, it’s interesting, thank you

    Reply
  2. Mithun Ranjan Dey

    Very nice and informative

    Reply

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