Teaching for Creativity: Mini-c, Little-c and Experiential Learning in College Classroom

Magdalena Grohman

doi:10.18778/2450-4491.07.06

Authors

Magdalena Grohman The University of Texas at Dallas, Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2450-4491.07.06

Keywords:

creativity, mini-c, little-c, education, experiential learning, pedagogy

Abstract

The wave of changes in teaching approaches due to the introduction of the 21 century skills – including creativity and problem solving – has affected not only K through 12 classrooms, but also colleges and universities. Thompson (2014) suggests that when designing courses and curricula college educators should consider not only the content knowledge, skills and dispositions their students need to learn, but also what capacities ought to be developed and through what type of pedagogies. In this article, I propose that pedagogies of engagement are developed and used to teach content and skills in a college level course on Psychology of Creativity. In the main section of the article, I present three groups of creative assignments developed in collaboration with Dr. Heather Snyder: journal activities, creative project assignments, and creative problem-solving workshops. I argue that these assignments not only affect students’ motivation, engagement, and deep learning, but they also facilitate the development of mini-c and little-c creativity.

Author Biography

Magdalena Grohman, The University of Texas at Dallas, Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology

Grohman Magdalena G. – her research background is in creative thinking, problem solving, and education. Her research and teaching interests revolve around creative problem solving, creativeness, and most recently around ethics in creative problem solving and design thinking. Dr Grohman is also an associate director of the Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology, UT Dallas. Dr Grohman has published several chapters and articles on creativity, both in Polish and English. She received her MA and PhD in psychology from the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland.

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