Category: Creativity
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Creativity + Science: Prep for the third course edition
Next week I start teaching a new edition of the online Creativity + Science course for science PhD students. Once again, we had an extremely positive response from students doubling our enrollment from last year with more than 65 enrolled students. Of course I’m pleased for students’ interest, but to me this also indicates the…
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Making synthesis visible
Although we synthesize information every day, the activity of synthesis is often thought as mysterious or described as hard to explain. In simple words, synthesis is a turning point in problem solving: when we crystallize understanding and start to see connections from among the many discoveries and ingredients from our analysis. Whether if you are…
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Maybe you don’t need interviews
The use of research in design has increased dramatically in the last ten years. Nowadays, most design programs include research as part of the curricula, and courses about design research have also become common. However, research in design has also become synonym of “interviews”. Too often, I hear students said: “Yes, I did interviews,” or…
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Creativity ≠ Design
Me: My Creativity + Science course is going really well.Colleague: That’s great; so, you are teaching them design, right? Me: No, the class is about creative thinking, not about design at all.Colleague: Ah… but…are these different things? The fact that this conversation happens too often indicates the big misunderstanding that still remains about what creativity…
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Creativity + Science: Understanding the role of problem statements
Last week we arrived at the end of the Creativity + Science course with the final project presentations. This cohort created strong and visually engaging presentations, and did an excellent job communicating their research goals and ideas. Interestingly, some of the ideas presented had similarities with that of the first group. For example, robotics seems…
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Creativity + Science: Understanding students’ barriers
After a successful and very rewarding first experience, I’m teaching again the Creativity + Science course for science PhD students. This semester, due to high demand, we expanded enrollment to all universities in Argentina, rather than limiting it to students in the University of Mar del Plata as we did for the first cohort. As…
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Creativity + Science Course Final Presentations
After eight weeks, this Thursday was the last class of the Creativity + Science online course I taught for science PhD students at the School of Exact and Natural Sciences (University of Mar del Plata, Argentina). The course was structured in two units: Unit 1. Personal creativity: Students learned the science behind creative thinking to…
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Nurturing creativity with dots and lines
Last week at the Creativity and Science course, students completed The Dot and the Line exercise, included in the Guide to Creative Action by Parnes, Noller and Biondi, to me, the bible of creativity education. The initial goal of the exercise is to “stimulate [students] toward a self-analysis of the degree of balance between self-discipline…
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I’m a scientist and I’m creative
Yesterday I finished the third class of the online Creativity + Science course I’m teaching for PhD students at the School of Natural and Exact Sciences, University of Mar del Plata in Argentina. We have 12 students of varied backgrounds: biologist, biochemists and chemists; and from different research levels: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th year…
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Creativity + Science: Online Course for PhD Students
Researchers aim to create new applications to their work, and to develop novel discoveries. However, many scientists start their research projects with pre-conceived ideas and assumptions, making it harder for them to make extraordinary contributions or explore the unknown. Similarly, PhD supervisors tend to give advice based on their past experiences and familiar ways of…
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Are Designers Creative? Project
Developing creative thinking, and reconnecting with the imagination and the capacity to envision new futures and different realities is essential to address system-level challenges. Similarly, Don Norman, Ken Friedman, and Terry Irwin, among others, have indicated creativity as the skill to master in the 21st century. In the introduction to the Design Thinking, Design Theory…
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Information Design for Education: Rethinking Textbooks
Many people link technology with innovation and new ideas. This is particularly true in the context of education, and even more these days with remote learning, Zoom, Mural and other digital tools. And this is also true for information design as for many people interactive data visualizations are the way to visualize information. However, an…
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