The response by Australian universities to rapid technological change and industry dissatisfaction with graduate competencies has been , at least, to identify transferable skills that support lifelong learning. Creativity is a core competency in higher education policy and curriculum frameworks, but is rarely made explicit at the level of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. In this paper we will draw on revisions to Bloom’s Taxonomy (1956 ) to argue that we need to develop the creative capacity of Communication Studies graduates more explicitly. We will focus on explaining the significance of providing an environment that fosters the creative dispositions of graduates in the twenty - first century .
Internationally, industry dissatisfaction with graduate skills and rapid technological change has been driving higher education away from delivering content to developing graduate competencies, transferable skills and lifelong learners. For more than a decade now, the university sector has responded to government and accrediting bodies by trying to identify and integrate competencies within and across curricula. Creative thinking is central to meeting the ongoing personal and professional development of graduates and the needs of employers, and it is one of the competencies identified by all Australian universities as an important graduate attribute. However, there is little evidence that Australian university curricula address it explicitly or assess it formally. The question is how do we teach creative thinking and embed it in the curriculum in a purposive, deliberate way. This presentation examines how a first year unit called Creativity and Innovation at Murdoch University teaches and assesses creative thinking skills.
The response by Australian universities to rapid technological change and industry dissatisfaction with graduate competencies has been to identify transferable skills that support lifelong learning. Creativity is a core competency in higher education policy and curriculum frameworks, but it is rarely made explicit at the level of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. This article argues that creative competency is central to the needs of Communication Studies graduates. We demonstrate why we need to shift creative thinking from the margins to the core of learning outcomes, activities and assessment. We explain the significance of an environment that is connectivist, that raises students’ awareness about creative processes, encourages them to focus on explicit learning goals, find strategies to tolerate uncertainty, take intellectual risks and to learn through experimental play. Finally, we argue that such an environment cultivates creative competency by fostering intellectual risk-taking, a tolerance for uncertainty and an agility to move between knowledge systems and to make connections between existing ideas and skills. Such an environment will enable students to develop the intellectual independence as well as the range and depth of skills required of Communications graduates in the twenty-first century.
This introductory chapter frames the background to our study of creativity and innovation, which consists of intersecting disciplinary developments and historical conditions. This chapter introduces the subject of creativity as studied by some prominent psychologists over the past century and links it to more contemporary conceptualisations, including its economic and cultural manifestation within the discourse of the creative industries. The chapter sets the scene for the chapters that follow by focusing on the importance of human connectedness in understanding creativity and the everyday practice of innovation. We present the argument that 'everyday dynamics', as a shorthand for the ethical dynamism of creativity that depends on and harnesses human connectedness, can become a mechanism for assembling a new form of reality to address the problematic complexities of our world.
This chapter focuses on the meaning of creativity and ways that "being creative" and "creative products" have been approached and valued. We begin by exploring some understandings of what it means to be creative. This includes how creativity and creative products have been evaluated and measured, specifically the degree to which they demonstrate creativity and the cultural, economic and global needs that they cater to. We then turn to the evolution of approaches to creativity that have seen creativity go from a quality and characteristic of a gifted minority to, more recently, something that can be learned, developed and harnessed. We then examine creativity through Mel Rhodes' 4 Ps of creativity: person, product, process and press. The 4 Ps offer a way of focusing in on different aspects of creativity to reveal how creativity happens, to who, with which environmental influences and to what end. To conclude the chapter, we consider recent developments in the theory and practice of creativity, specifically in terms of dynamism, paradox and affect. As we argue in this chapter, creativity can be learned and developed; however, there are considerations and factors that can hasten the process and make creativity accessible to a broader range of people.
The focus of this chapter is unpacking what is meant by the term 'innovation' and explaining how to optimise opportunities to innovate. As such, we explain the importance of culture, identify the main types of innovation, consider the significance of collaboration and teambuilding, and how to build a culture of innovation. The chapter draws on examples to demonstrate the importance of innovation when confronting a whole range of human issues, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. The final section examines key factors that enable or inhibit innovation cultures, including physical and social spaces, incentives and creative constraints, and how to foster an environment that encourages risk-taking and experimentation.
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