1. A Missing Component of Higher Education Programs: Everyone Needs Creativity Ugur Sak, Ph.D. Anadolu University, Turkey 1

2. OVERVIEW  Definition of Creativity  Importance of Creativity  Teachability of Creativity  Training types  Effects of Training  Design of College Level creativity Courses 2

3. Definition of Creativity Creativity involves the production of original, potentially workable, and valuable ideas or solutions that are relevant to context (Besemer & O’Quin, 1999; Lubart, 2001; Sak, 2010). 3

4. Importance of Creativity Few attributes of human performance have as much impact on our lives as creativity. 4

5. Importance of Creativity FOR EXAMPLE  Outstanding achievement in the arts and sciences is held to depend on creativity. 5

6. Importance of Creativity FOR EXAMPLE  Creativity is linked to the leadership of institutions. 6

7. Importance of Creativity FOR EXAMPLE  Creativity plays a role in entrepreneurial activities and long-term economic growth. 7

8. Importance of Creativity FOR EXAMPLE  Good jobs available in modern economies require creative thought. 8

9. Teachability of Creativity Creativity training has been developed for occupations ranging from marketing, business management and educational administration to medicine and engineering. 9

10. Teachability of Creativity A number of approaches have been used to teach creativity:  effective incentives  acquisition of requisite expertise (emphasis on domain-specific knowledge and problem solving)  group interactions  improvement in work climate and culture  requisite career development experiences  cognitive training to enhance components of creativity

11. Teachability of Creativity  Training has been the most common approach for enhancing creativity.  For example, Solomon (1990), drawing from survey data, found that 25% of the organizations employing more than 100 people offer some form of creativity training. 11

12. Teachability of Creativity Training Types Creativity training comes in many forms.  Smith (1998), in a review of training program content, identified 172 techniques, or instructional methods, that have, at one time or another, been used to develop divergent thinking skills.  Bull, Montgomery, and Baloche (1995), in a review of college level creativity courses, identified 70 techniques that were viewed as important components of instruction. 12

13. Teachability of Creativity Training Types Bull, Montgomery, and Baloche (1995), identified a number of general approaches applied in the development of creativity training including  cognitive approaches  personality approaches  motivational approaches  social interactional approaches 13

14. Teachability of Creativity Effects of Training 14 Creativity CharacteristicsNumber of Studies Effect Size Overall69.64 Divergent thinking36.68 Problem solving28.84 Performance16.35 Attitude/behavior16.24 A review of 70 prior studies showed that well-designed creativity training programs improve creative performance (Scott, Leritz & Mumford, 2004).

15. Creativity Framework of Design for College Level Creativity Courses 15 Creativity Course Distinct course segments Seperate chapters in disciplinary textbooks Embedded exercises Creative problem solving activities Distinct course Definitions theories Strategies Techniques (idea generation, problem solving)

16. Thank you for your participation Contact Ugur Sak usak@anadolu.edu.tr 16