Creativity and Critical Thinking

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2 Creativity and Critical Thinking Could creativity be the key to more authentic reflective writing in technology education? Could creative writing tools used effectively in a design & visual arts context also enrich reflective writing practices in technology education? Could creativity reinforce Technology learning outcomes by offering tools for sustainable selfdirected learning and critical thinking?

3 Writing is a technology which restructures thought Walter Ong

4 Creativity and Critical thinking stimulate and support deep learning (Padget, 2013) Padget suggests that: Teachers are being creative when they are using pedagogical approaches that involve both themselves and learners in looking at possibilities, looking for flexibility, taking risks and experimenting. Creativity is being employed when there are unusual and exciting learning opportunities that provide high-quality stimuli combined with the structure to generate enquiring language and provide deep support for the learners thinking and efforts. Learners are thinking critically when they step back and reflect on what they have achieved in relation to a desired outcome

5 Linked by Language Creativity and Critical thinking are linked by language: The primacy of language in the learning process and how this links with creative learning and teaching and critical thinking Creativity is rooted in the use of language: The dialogic use of language, is a fundamental component of creative thought and of learning: dialogue becomes not just a feature of learning, but one its most essential tools (Alexander, 2004) (Padget, 2013)

6 Visual Arts and Design context In a Visual Arts and Design creative educational context it is considered that writing parallels the practice of making, and that it supports studio learning more effectively when: o it is being used regularly to build up skills and confidence o it is linked to assessment tasks o when it is clearly linked to their personal endeavour (Francis, 2009)

7 Visual Language in Art & Design Within art and design, the role of writing [has been] questioned. There is a viewpoint that through the artefact, the artist or the student communicates without the use of verbal language, using a visual language that is wordless. Yet the reality is that students studying in art and design curriculum create, design and write. They are assessed via the textual and the visual (Orr and Blythman, 2002) (Orr, Blythman & Mullin, 2004).

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9 Research Context Stage 1 / Study Group Bachelor of Fine Art undergraduate students o Creative reflective writing tools introduced through short face-to-face workshops; learning journals; reflective writing tasks o Students assessed on the integration of textual and visual outcomes in self-directed projects Stage 2 / Study Group - Cross Disciplinary Design / Visual Arts coursework Masters degree (fully online degree through COFA.online) o Creative reflective writing tools introduced throughout the online subject; learning journals; reflective writing tasks o Creative writing outcomes are then developed into formal written submissions for exhibition/grant proposals or similar o Students assessed on the integration of textual and visual outcomes in self-directed projects Institution: College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Australia

10 Research Context Stage 1: This research project was developed in a Visual Arts context. The study group comprised eleven 3rd year students developing self-directed projects. Research Aims: develop a set of skills to assist students with writing selfdirected projects and framing creative-research questions increase reflective approach and awareness of incremental decision making assist students to explore the link between concept and process more effectively assist students to develop writing skills in support of professional practice explore creative reflective writing methods and approaches

11 Results Stage 1: 83% of students said that the process of reflective writing always supported their studio practice. 100% of students said that they would like to participate in more creative reflective writing workshops. They described that the creative reflective writing process assisted them thus: writing helps me in all of these ways (practical material investigations; practical technical investigations; conceptually; writing artists statements and other supporting documents; reflective writing). It also provides an invaluable source of information, knowledge, analysis, personal thoughts and responses that create the foundation or future projects. Writing fundamentally helps to clarify and solidify the concepts that inform each project. This then expands to form artist and concept statements for projects and applications my creative and reflective writing revealed a lot about my concept, often describing it in ways I couldn t yet articulate

12 Results Stage 2: Q.5 The course was effective for developing my thinking skills (e.g. critical analysis, problem solving). 80% Strongly Agree / 10% Agree / 10% Moderately Agree Q. 8. I have learned a great deal in this course. 90% Strongly Agree / 0% Agree / 10% Moderately Agree

13 Student attitudes shifted from skepticism to confident communication o Shift from skepticism to optimism o Increased dialogue in response to the tasks o Increased independence to work-through the tasks, take risks, increased capacity to experiment more widely o Vocabulary expansion o Increased awareness of how to apply the outcomes of the reflective creative writing tasks to their individual project-based practices

14 Shift in students attitudes observed Stage 1 increased capacity to articulate complex conceptual ideas Stage 2 extensive increase in the capacity to articulate complex conceptual ideas and the capacity to apply a more sophisticated, meaningful and specific vocabulary

15 An extended vocabulary An extended vocabulary extends a student s sense of ownership over the words they use. It can create new knowledge Allow them to express themselves more explicitly and more creatively Allow them to move away from the trap of using the same words over and over in limited and uninteresting way Re-activate words; considering the right word or alternative words or the closely interrogate the meaning/s of words Increase a students literary competence and confidence

16 What can creativity bring to the reflective process? Allows for experimentation A less formal approach to writing A piece-meal approach Debunk the myth of the single big idea Debunk the myth of the perfect first draft Provides a wider range of specific words to apply to more formal academic or other writing formats

17 The Process of Writing Reflectively (Moon, 1999b)

18 These tools are most effective when: Learning journals are used 2 nd stage of reflection summary and/or double entry journal Linked to a project Practice, ideally introduce concepts in year 1/2/3/4 and a into range of different units Results take time and are cumulative

19 Aims for application in Technology Education include: expand student vocabularies activate creative and critical thinking design development increase the range of design variations that are being considered, interrogate the pros/cons of these more closely enrich the use of learning journals stimulate creative and engaged reflective writing

20 Creative Reflective Writing Tools Use Questions Generate Questions Concept Mapping Writing Tools Lists Non-hierarchical lists Vocabulary extension Draw the research process Write a Poem Stream-of-Consciousness Writing Take a sentence

21 Creative Reflective Writing Tasks Task Reference/s Summary of approach Use questions Generate questions (Moon, 2006, p.142; Johns, 1994) (Moon, 2006, p. 142 citing Hahnemann, 1986) Questions help learners to get started in reflecting or to deepen their reflection. (Moon, 2006, p.142) Develop a set of program specific learning journal (or reflective) questions involving the writer (Johns, 1994, p.71-5) An intermediate stage between the use of pre-posed questions and unstructured writing is to ask learners to develop their own questions. (Moon, 2006, p.142) Pat Francis calls these Reflectionnaires (Francis, 2009, p.51).

22 Creative Reflective Writing Tasks Task Reference/s Summary of approach Concept mapping or graphic representation of ideas (Moon, 2006) A concept map encapsulates an idea and the themes radiate from the main idea and subdivide hierarchically, (Moon, 2006, p.143) Writing lists (Francis, 2009) Lists are a way of limbering up, and helping develop associations (Francis, 2009, p. 105) Non-hierarchical lists including a Spiral (Francis, 2009, p. 96); the Plait (Francis, 2009, p. 97); the Daisy metaphor (Francis, 2009, p ); Vocabulary extension including Mnemonics (Francis, 2009, p.127); creating words (Francis, 2009, p ); repetition (Francis, 2009, p. 135); nouns and verbs (Francis, 2009, p )

23 Creative Reflective Writing Tasks Task Reference/s Summary of approach Free-flowing or stream-ofconsciousness writing (Moon, 2006 citing Elbow, 1973) This process can be used as a lessformal warm-up (Moon, 2006, p. 143). Take a sentence (Moon, 2006 citing Hahnemann, 1986) Draw or map a research process (Moon, 2006) / Visualizing Research (Gray and Malins, 2004) Hahnemann (1986) asks her students to take one sentence and write on its meaning (Moon, 2006, p. 144) Draw your project (Moon, 2006, p. 151) Undertaking a contextual review: mapping the terrain, visual models of mapping research (Gray & Malins, 2004, p )

24 Creative Reflective Writing Tasks Task Reference/s Summary of approach Draw an image (Moon, 2006, p.150) Write a poem (Moon, 2006)/ create Textual ontology (Hall, 2012) Progoff uses the drawing of images to facilitate reflection or to summarise a session of reflection (Moon, 2006, p. 150) The writing of poetry can enable the emotional content of a topic to be more freely expressed (Moon, 2006, p.157). A poetics of textual practice may encourage student designers to put more meaning into their writing by making challenges to form, (Hall, 2012, p )

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28 Writing Lists: Non-Hierarchical Lists

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32 A list of new words and/or glossary of terms:

33 to juxtapose (from latin "juxt" and french "poser") to place side by side. if I juxtapose two things or ideas, I put them close together or next to each other to create a context, a dialogue, a relationship or to emphasize the difference between them. As an artist I also juxtapose to enhance the expression of one of the elements or both, and/or to allow crossfertilisation. It also allows me to challenge a perceived hierarchy and try and find a new or unique relationships I was not aware of before. I think the word is more concise in that we are talking about opposites. Using the word relate does not imply that necessarily. excogitation - thinking something out with care in order to achieve complete understanding of it excogitate is a type of (narrower) - the process of using your mind to consider something carefully - "thinking always made him frown"; "she paused for thought" An investigation of new terms and words

34 Artist s Manifesto or Design Philosophy Statement

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36 Task 6: Some words which inform my creative dialogue. I went through my spirals and also through some previous texts to identify these words. In the process of writing I tried to think of alternative words as well but they are not necessarily new. It became a process of reminding myself that I want to consider words more carefully before I use them in the future. In the end I wanted to visualise for myself the layering of words and the relationship/inter-dependency between language and image. I used a work I did recently for drawing ("joy") which was inspired by the spiral in this writing unit - I am practising this going backwards and forward and merging drawing and writing. I find it a wonderful way of ordering and processing what I have learned. It combines new and old words and these new words are visually hinting at how they are connecting and interacting with my concepts of nature and desire and identity. I have no idea how I am doing but I have a feeling that there is movement inside me and I am becoming more fluent moving between text and physical creation, less inhibited if that makes sense.

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38 Conclusion Creativity is integral to learning, teaching and evaluation. Recent research suggests that critical thinking can be enriched, independent thinking supported, and evaluation made more meaningful for students by the introduction of creative and reflective writing practices. This paper shows how reflective writing, learning journals and secondary reflection practices that are both formative and summative can be used to enhance Technology education pedagogy.