2/6/06 Creativity, second class 1

Creativity, ISP 5660

Class 22/6/06

Class: http://www.is.wayne.edu/drbowen/crtvyw06Moodle: http://techtools.culma.wayne.edu/moodle

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Agenda

1. Initial the signin sheet2. Issues for online students3. Review of assignments4. Initial ideas about creativity5. Writing for the creativity course6. And…

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Issues for online students

• Technicalo Keep email inbox open

• WSU Webmail shows % of capacity

o Call Instructor if her/his email inbox is fullo Watch your file sizes (graphics)o Understand the methods of contacting

Instructor (face time, telephone, email, conference)

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Issues for online students

• Non-technicalo You are not out there on your owno Ask for help early (don’t let a problem build

up)o Don’t let backlog build up – it’ll bite ya!o To get the most out of course, jump in to

messagingo Have opinions! Express yourself!

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Review of Assignments

• Where we are in the course

• What you should do

• How I grade messageso Substantiveo Related to course contento Satisfactory / Unsatisfactory (does not count)

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Hey folks!Semester is 25% over and some people haven’t gotten started yet

• Sherman Gray• Gregory Jones• Kyle Mack• Sherrie Robinson

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Hey folks!Some people are off to a slow start, at least in postings

• Dana Brazelton• Ana Ross• Kay Russell• Tiffany Russell• Monique Williams

The Assignment Schedule (in the Syllabus on the course web site)

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Every Week

• Reading (carry a book with you!)

• Messages to conference. Comments on your reading make good comments. Read actively!

• Thinking about the essay for that book

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Every Week

• Check email

• Check Forumso Subscribing to a Forum does give you a lot of

email, but has clickable links to the Forum

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Once only but past due:• First three messages (intro, creative person,

What about creativity is interesting)• Choice of topic for Essay 1

o Not yet: Beall, Brazelton, Chevalier, Bacher, Kuffa, Landrum, Russell (both), Wilburn, Williams

o Essay topics on course web site• “Essay Topics for ISP 5660”

• Four-credits? Choice of fourth book next week (Williams) Draft essay topic for fourth book as a Forum

message

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Posting in Forums

• Relevant to course (loosely interpreted, but comments on reading are good)

• If content is a reply, theno Message should be a replyo Use Reply to establish a context

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Using Moodle

• Subscribing: signed up for email messageso Unsubscribing – two steps

• “Edit profile,” change “Forum auto-subscribe” to “No: don’t automatically subscribe me…”

• Click on “Forums,” then on all “Yes” in the “Subscribed” column

• “Grades”o Number of “Satisfactory” posts

• Apparently cannot see this post-by-posto Grades on other assignments

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Using Moodle (cont’d)

• To see only your own posts:o “Activity report” then “Forum posts”

• To see everythingo “Activity report” then “Complete report”

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Initial Ideas About Creativity

1. Definitions and related concepts

2. Creativity and (children, ADD / ADHD / mental illness, popularity)

3. What’s inside

4. Conflicting characteristics

5. Corporate Creativitya. Compare to Csikszentmihalyi

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Creativity and Friends #1

• Creativity – something new that meets a need or solves a problem(in the symbolic culture)o Big C Vs little co Creative product?

• Innovation - something new that meets a need or solves a problem (in the material culture)

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Creativity and Friends #2

• Novelty – something that is new, without solving a problem or meeting a need (e.g. a fad like the hula hoop)

• Problem-solving – meeting the problems of everyday life

• Performance

• Flow – internal state

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Creativity Process1. Preparation2. Block3. Inspiration (aha)4. Finishing (assessing, revising)

Your creativity requires autonomy, can be cut off but not steered or directed

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Creativity and Children

• Often have novel and appealing ideas

• Not so good at:o Choosing a significant problemo Assessing and revising

• Few famous children go on to remain so as adults

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Creativity and mental illness

• Similar to children – novel ideas but significance and follow-through are difficult to manage

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Creativity and Popularity(alignment)

Aligned Domain

Non-aligneddomain

1. Helps to be out on the edge if you are going to move the domain.2. Easier to see the change in an aligned domain

The arrows are the same length

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Conditions for Creativity

• Autonomy, Free Time and Focuso Letting your unconscious do its thing

• Support from and connection to the fieldo Example: poetry (not so popular in US). How would

you learn what a poem is? You need the field.• Some early success• “Weak links”

o Strong (e.g. family) Vs weak (e.g. via email) links – you get nothing new from your strong links – you know them too well

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What’s Inside

Me as an example

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Conflicting traits• Creativity, The Creative Personality

Chapter Threeo extroversion Vs introversion (both)o traditional and conservative Vs rebellious and

iconoclastico humble Vs proudo I believe these arise because creative projects

require contradictory traits at different times – e.g. proud enough to propose something new, humble enough to seek advice

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Corporate Creativity• Many people think that business is the opposite of

creative – manipulative, controlling, resistant to change, but all of the business world that we see is the result of creativity and innovation

• Business has some advantages, eveno Good at bringing in extra people and resources,

otherwise available only to the famouso One way to get the opposed personalities without the

inner conflict

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Corporate Creativitycompared with others

Corp. Creativity (Pg 12) Csikszentmihalyi etc.

1. Alignment Structured (pg 39)

2. Self-initiated activity Autonomy

3. Unofficial activity Idea before refinement

4. Serendipity Luck in problem choice

5. Diverse stimuli Know the field, domain

6. Communication Weak links (elsewhere)

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Writing for Creativity• Content, Form, Mechanics

o CONTENT: Part of my purpose is to see that you have read and understood the texts

o FORM: Title, Intro, Body, Conclusion, consistent voice (I, you, one, etc.), changes in opinion, tense etc. are under control and not accidental (transitions)

o MECHANICS: Use spell-check and grammar-check (but ~ 1/3 passive tense is OK), needed sometimes, e.g. when you don’t know the actor

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Writing for Creativity

• CONCLUSION: No new information, else thinking is not done. (exception – to open subject up to show its larger significance)

• TITLE: Describe essay, can have fun with this• Include your own opinions, feelings, comments,

experiences, reactions• Cover sheet: your name, which question (you

don’t really want me to guess, do you?)

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Some new Architecture

• Architects (and sculptors and composers) clearly require a field

• Architects want to design creatively

• They also want people to be innovative and creative within their buildings

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