Enhancing Student Creativity in Colleges and Universities: The Organizational

Perspective

William J. AshbyProvost, College of Creative Studies

UC Santa BarbaraUniversity System of Taiwan, 2005

Conditions necessary for organizational change

• Support for change from external environment

• Awareness of problem to be solved• Resources available(financial and people) • Organization’s members see advantage to

change• Established structures to support change

Alexei V. Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy, UC Berkeley

CCS ‘79

“The College taught me early to have an open, inquiring, and creative mind, but at the same time one that is logical and critical. This had a lasting and positive influence on my development as a scientist.”

Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University

• “Learning is based on discovery guided by mentoring rather than on the transmission of information.”

• “Faculty can learn from students as students are learning from faculty.”

• “The ideal [is to] …turn the prevailing undergraduate culture of receivers into a culture of inquirers…”

UCSB College Organizational Structure

Provost, College of C reative S tud ies Provost, College of Letters & Science

Dean, College of Engineering Dean, G raduate School o f Education

Dean, School o f Environm enta l M anagem ent

Executive V ice Chancellor

Chancellor

College of Creative StudiesEmphases

Art - Painting, Sculpture, Bookarts

Biology

Chemistry

Computer Science

Literature

Mathematics

Music Composition

Physics

College of Creative StudiesEspecially for freshmen

• Biology colloquium• Accelerated and intensive

courses in:–Chemistry–Computer science–Mathematics–Physics

College of Creative StudiesGeneric Courses with Variable Content

• Biology 101 (Models and Experiments):

– Evolutionary Medicine

– Systematics of Seed Plant Families

– AIDS: Transmission and Society

– Conservation Ecology in Action

– Sex and Evolution

College of Creative StudiesGeneric Courses with Variable Content

• Literature 113 (Subjects and Materials)

– Demons in Early Western Literature

– The Fantastic Short Story

– Shakespeare and Theory

– Japanese and Chinese Poetry

College of Creative StudiesCourses with Variable Content

• General Studies 120 (Advanced Group Interdisciplinary Studies):– Creative Thinking, the Magic of Ideas– Religion and Contemporary Art– What’s Bugging You? (painting and

entomology)– The Physics of Musical Sound– Music and the Related Arts– Flowers (painting and botany)

College of Creative StudiesThe non-competitive grading system

• Pass/No Record

• Variable Units

• Late drop privileges

Angela Belcher, Chipman Associate Professor of Materials, MIT (CCS ’91)

“So I went to the professor and he said, “We don’t let undergraduates take this class –besides, you don’t have the prerequisites…It was in that class that I really fell in love with molecules and proteins…”

College of Creative StudiesStudent colloquia: recent examples

• Modern Scottish Literature• How Science Works: The Nature of

Discovery• Virtual Machines and Language

Translation• How Learning Works

Alexei V. Filippenko, Professor of Astronomy, UC Berkeley

CCS ‘79

“All scientists should be able to communicate difficult concepts to the public, and I got a great head start through CCS.”

College of Creative StudiesWhat is it?

“The formal structure [of the conventional curriculum] is valuable, but as a means rather than an end…the Media Lab starts by putting [students] in interesting environments that bring together challenging problems and relevant tools.” Neil A. Gershenfeld, When Things Start to Think.

College of Creative StudiesSupporting Undergraduate Excellence

• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)

• Budget for lab supplies

• Support for special projects

• Student-edited publications (Spectrum, Into the Teeth of the Wind)

• Gallery for student exhibitions

UCSB Income 2003-04

State and Local Govt.35%

Federal Govt.19%

Tuition & Fees 22%

Other3%

Sales and Services

13%

Private Gifts, Grants & Contracts

8%

College of Creative StudiesSupporting Undergraduate Excellence

• Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF)

• Budget for lab supplies

• Support for special projects

• Student-edited publications (Spectrum, Into the Teeth of the Wind):

• Gallery for student exhibitions

UCSB Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity

• Grants• Poster Session

Showcasing Student Work

• Faculty Research Assistance Program

College of Creative StudiesBuilding the CCS Community

• All College Meeting

• All College Barbecue

• Weekly Coffee Hour

• 24-hour Access to CCS Building

• Student Lounge

• Student Mailboxes

• Student Listserv

• CCS House at Manzanita Village

The Social Matrix of Creativity

• “…traditions feed the need for a connection with place, a unique campus character. The rituals create an aura for a community of learners…” Boyer Commission report

College of Creative StudiesWhat is it?

“The College basically is a place where an idea can flourish, whether the idea comes from the faculty or a student. There’s no authority, there’s no hierarchy, there’s no social strata which will affect the evolution of an idea and the birth and development of it.” Ian Ross, Professor, MCD Biology, in Mudrick Transcribed.

Where is Creativity?

“Important ideas rarely come fully-developed from the brain of a single individual…When students at every level…join with faculty in common inquiry, the opportunities for ‘accidental collision of ideas’ is optimized.” Boyer Commission.

Structural Modes of Faculty Involvement

• Buy out

• Incentives

• Permanent faculty

UCSB Freshman Seminar Program

• The Iraq War as History

• Case Studies in Medical Ethics

• Language and Brain

• Networks in the Chinese Immigrant Community

• Food and Religion

Structural Modes of Faculty Involvement

• Buy out

• Incentives

• Permanent faculty

How to Identify Appropriate Students

• Grades and Test Scores

• Student Statement of Intent

• Letters of Recommendation

• Portfolio

• Interviews

• Prize Competition

Grades (and test scores), A Poor Measure of Creativity

“Students with perfect grades almost always don’t work out…they’ve spent their time trying to meticulously follow classroom instructions that are absent in the rest of the world.” Neil Gershenfeld, Director, Media Lab of MIT

How to Identify Appropriate Students

• Grades and Test Scores

• Student Statement of Intent

• Letters of Recommendation

• Portfolio

• Interviews

• Prize Competition

Student Statement of Intent

“I have always been a hands-on, independent learner, and I am excited to think that even as an undergraduate I would be able to do original research…My love for the oceqan is expressed in everything I own…I am sometimes called ‘Octopus Girl’ at school, due to my well-known interest in these remarkable cephalopods.”

College of Creative StudiesThe Essential Elements

1. Make research-based learning the standard.

2. Construct an inquiry based freshman year.

3. Build on the freshman foundation.

4. Remove barriers to interdisciplinary education.

5. Link communication skills and course work.

College of Creative StudiesThe Essential Elements

6. Use information technology creatively.

7. Culminate with a capstone experience.

8. Educate graduate students as apprentice teachers.

9. Change faculty rewards systems.

10. Cultivate a sense of community.

--Boyer Commission