Creativity and computation
Sonalee Mandke
At a fundamental level, artists and scientists analyze the world around them in surprisingly similar ways. The creative process resonates with the scientific process; artists and scientists observe, collect, analyze, compare and notice patterns. So why then is the science classroom so very different from an art classroom? Picture an ideal art class; children immersed in a variety of materials, cutting, tearing, sticking, joining, sprinkling, separating – learning through making, through mistakes, and through play. Would it not be wonderful if the same sense of curiosity and exploration were brought into a science classroom? Most teachers of science try hard to foster a sense of wonder through their teaching. Even so, the methods and approach to teaching in areas of science are markedly different from those in the artistic fields. This is largely due to the prevailing notion that advocates creative thinking for the arts and critical thinking for STEM subjects. With the movement toward STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art & Design, Mathematics), there are new opportunities to explore creative thinking skills in conjunction with critical thinking. The untapped potential to practice creative ways of inquiring and learning in science is an exciting space in pedagogy and curriculum design.
All ideas are welcome
There are specific approaches that teachers can use in the classroom to promote creative thinking, and there are many resources available online and through organizations which are of immense help. The most important aspect is creating a culture of acceptance in the classroom. No idea is rejected; every idea has value and is accepted by the group. When such a safe space is created, children, and even adults, feel free to explore outside the lines. More significantly, this approach removes cognitive biases from the process to an extent and enables students to analyze their own and others’ ideas objectively. It is important for the participants to consciously not censor their own ideas, even if they themselves do not think that the idea holds merit.
There are specific thinking tools that aid such an objective. These can be used in group discussions as well as individual work. For group discussions, the tool of ‘Yes, and?’ is very useful. In a discussion when a student proposes an idea, the response of the other students is often to think of reasons why the idea might not be effective. For example, in a discussion about the uses of MS Word, a student might say, “we can use Word to draw pictures”. To which another student might respond by saying, “No, but we only write using Word.” Teachers can anticipate this and preface the discussion by disallowing the use of the words or attitude of ‘no, but…’. Instead, replacing this with ‘yes, and’ might elicit a response such as “yes, and we can use punctuation marks to do that!”. The ‘yes, and?’ tool can also be used as a prompt for students to pursue a line of thinking or to develop an idea that is not yet fully formulated in their mind.
Another fundamental way that teachers can positively influence the flow of ideas in the classroom is by using the question ‘how might?’ rather than ‘what is?’. “How might you design this table in Excel?” “What are the ways in which we might construct this flowchart?” Such questioning encourages multiple solutions and divergent thinking. It is important for the teacher to be mindful when asking questions. Implicit in the language of the question is the idea that there is no single right answer. Students are free to imagine a variety of solutions or processes for the same action.
Lateral and divergent thinking
Lateral thinking or divergent thinking is concerned with the generation of ideas beyond obvious associations in order to solve problems. There are two hallmarks of divergent thinking; fluency and flexibility. Fluency of ideas is the sheer volume of ideas that a person might think of for a given situation. This can be achieved through rapid-fire idea generation exercises, where the goal is to have the largest number of ideas. Flexibility is the degree of difference between the ideas. High fluency and rich flexibility are indicators of a dynamic creative thinking process. Such approaches can be used as warm up exercises to bring the mind into a creative mode of thinking, or they might be adapted to become a part of the core pedagogy and curriculum design for computer science.
Suppose the lesson for the day is introducing the concept of a flowchart. A simple warm up exercise could be, ‘Think of as many routes to travel from home to school’. The exercise must be done rapidly and in a playful manner. The routes may be real or imaginary. Teachers may use a ball that is thrown to the student who must propose a route. This exercise could lead into a discussion on flowcharts and decision-making. Teachers can invent similar warm-up exercises designed to promote divergent thinking about a particular topic. This seemingly simple exercise is actually quite complex in the multiple aspects of creative thinking pedagogy that it addresses. The language used in the question encourages multiple perspectives. Using a ball activates a state of mind that is responsive and interactive as opposed to a passive, absorbing state of mind. It also addresses the needs of different kinds of learners, in this case, kinesthetic and interpersonal learners. By accepting imaginary routes, students are primed to think about abstract ideas.
Divergent and convergent thinking tools
There are a variety of divergent thinking tools available for teachers to use in order to encourage creative thinking. Brainstorming, where a variety of ideas are rapidly generated, is one such technique which is used often in the classroom. One way to push the creative envelope in this tool is to include a ‘forced connection’. The teacher introduces an object or image at a point in the brainstorming session, when the flow of ideas is beginning to dwindle. S/he asks participants to make direct connections between this object and the subject of the brainstorming. This tool promotes the creation of new associations. It can be possible to apply this tool in the context of computer science. For example, in coding, can a forced connection at a mid point in the exercise lead to students being able to envision new possibilities?
Students and teachers can also be creative in how they use the computer and the software. A computer is a tool like any other. One may find new ways to use the same tool – a pencil can be used to draw a picture, and also to sculpt clay. A thinking tool that can help to achieve this crossing of boundaries is SCAMPER. SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to Another Use, Eliminate, Reverse/ Replace. Teachers can use this tool to develop their own lesson plans and assignments, as well as use it in the classroom to promote divergent thinking. Introducing this tool in a group discussion can reinforce conceptual understanding of functionality and generate alternative uses of a computer or software. For example, to understand flowcharts, students can be asked to apply multiple combinations of SCAMPER in response to a rapidly changing scenario. By providing a realworld context, the pedagogy also aligns with phenomenon-based learning.
Convergent thinking on the other hand enables one to evaluate the many solutions that divergent thinking has given rise to. The convergent thinking tools apply logical reasoning in order to choose or limit options based on parameters set by the group or individual. Examples of convergent thinking tools are the Evaluation Matrix and Hit & Hot Spot Clustering, amongst others.
Designing education for all learners
Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences puts forward eight different ways in which people perceive, analyze and comprehend the world. They are: musical-rhythmic, visualspatial, verbal-linguistic, logicalmathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. The VAK/VARK model also identifies the Visual, Aural, Kinesthetic and Read/write modalities in learning.
How might computer science teaching and learning experience respond to this frame? Is there a possibility for a student to understand and create code through images? Can a musical approach be used to understand an algorithm? Some students learn better when the doing or making happens before the theory is introduced. Perhaps it would be fruitful for the teacher to vary the pedagogy so that it responds to these multiple needs. A class on MS Excel may begin with no ‘teaching’ or explaining; instead, the teacher may set a task that students engage with in an experimental or explorative manner. Such a framework of developing pedagogy not only provides the teacher with opportunities to think creatively but also to foster a creative learning environment that responds to all kinds of learners.
Science fiction and the thought experiment
Science fiction has its roots in science and there are many examples of scientific progress based on science fiction. From objects such as Bluetooth headsets, the flip phone and bionic body parts to social and systemic advances such as surveillance by CCTV cameras and living in a bubble to make life possible in an inhospitable environment – all these and many more began as an outlandish idea by a writer of science fiction. The value of the thought experiment lies in that it requires the thinker to suspend judgment and consider multiple possibilities; even outlandish ones – hallmarks of divergent thinking. Using the thought experiment more proactively in teaching and learning computer science could lead to interesting questions and explorations in the computer science classroom. Teachers can construct thought experiments about specific topics in the curriculum and use them to generate exercises or assignments. This approach can enable students to engage imagination in tandem with factual knowledge, in effect, creative thinking with critical thinking.
Phenomenon-based learning
One of the key pedagogical innovations implemented in the Finnish educational system in 2016 was phenomenonbased learning. This means that learning is embedded in real-life situations and experiences, and crosses ‘subject’ boundaries. The opportunity here for teachers of computer science is to see the potential in enabling students to make ‘real’-world connections with what they learn in the classroom. Students can experience for themselves, and in their own way, the application of their learning in their environment.
A useful approach would be to embed multiple aspects of learning into a single project. For example, the teacher may decide to use the context of the neighbourhood to teach data collection, analysis and visualization. This would require students to engage with a variety of aspects in their neighbourhood, and gather quantitative data. Students may collect data on the number of shops, people in their locality, or trees and animals, colours or cars, the possibilities are endless. This data can be used to learn data analysis through Excel, and the visualization of the data through creative coding. Apart from this, students will have engaged with designing a survey or observation schedule, interviewing people or developing environmental awareness, depending on the focus area they have chosen. The exercise can be even more effective when students have a variety of focus areas that they can share with the class. To make the experience richer, teachers may choose to include qualitative data and weave it into the learning process.
Digital and non-digital worlds in the visual arts
In the visual arts at the undergraduate level, we see the result of this separation between the digital world and the ‘real’ world. In the beginning, students find it challenging to switch between hand-created or crafted and digital modes of making. There is a perception of a very strong division between these two mediums of working. But our daily experience is contrary to this viewpoint. Our digital and non-digital lives are seamlessly intertwined, more so with young students. We see this especially in social media such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as the automatic use of online resources to find information and communicate.
The visual arts space offers many possibilities to explore digital and non digital ways of making. Image, type, colour and layout can be explored in interesting ways in both mediums. We find that when students are introduced to thinking creatively using a computer, they are able to adapt quickly and take ownership of their projects. A good exercise that helps in developing this mindset is requiring students to work through a task that switches rapidly between handcrafted and digital making. For example, a single image can be developed by moving through the stages of sketching, monoprinting or cyanotype printing, scanning, digital editing using a raster based software, creative coding, printing, screen printing, illustrating by hand, converting to a 3D sculpture, photographing and digital editing using a vector based software. Teachers may make this process simpler or more complex depending on the proficiency of students. At the same time, the parameters of assessing the quality of the work can be identical, regardless of the medium. During this exercise, students are immersed in making and the boundaries between the digital and non-digital often blur.
Other exercises which require students to engage with their senses – sight, sound, smell, taste and touch – and work in both digital and non-digital mediums are also powerful ways of seamlessly blending the two learning spaces. Perhaps by introducing such ways of engaging with computers at a young age and encouraging creative thinking in the computer science classroom, we will be able to nurture students who are able to engage with tasks with a sense of agency and creative purpose.
There is plenty of research and practice that links the creative fields with computing. There are some practical ways in which teachers of computer science can use this research. Creative coding allows users to design expressive and creative experiences through a programming language. One such language is Processing that can be used to create visuals through coding. The advantage of this language is that it is easy for beginners and can be thought of as a gateway language to understanding programming. Scratch is a free online computer programming language developed at the MIT Media Lab that allows users to create stories, games, and animations. It enables students to develop computational fluency and also be creative at the same time.
Digital artists and designers use code as their medium and produce creative and sensory experiences that are also driven by computational logic. Although they use the language of code as their medium, the underlying principles of non-digital art and design are evident in their work.
A creative digital world
A computer is logical, rational, and predictable. Humans can be all that, but we are also intuitive, emotional, and creative. A computer ‘thinks’ in binary code. But we do not. Combining human ways of feeling and thinking with the computational power of the digital can enrich students learning experiences. Suppressing the creative, intuitive and emotional aspects of one’s lived experience draws unnecessary boundaries around this learning.
Creative and critical thinking complement each other. There is room for both in the curriculum and pedagogy design of the sciences. How wonderful it would be to walk into a computer science classroom filled with tinkerers, explorers, find-outers, what-if-ers, questioners; students with a sense of creative purpose who are as analytical and critical as they are imaginative and intuitive. They will be the problem-solvers of the future. They will envision and create what is to come. One can only imagine the fantastic beautiful world that young people like this might be able to build.
Resources for teachers
References
- Smith, Keri. How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum. Perigee, Penguin Group USA
- www.niu.edu, Northern Illinois University, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Howard Gardner Theory of Multiple Intelligences. March 2016
- Torrance, E. Paul. Torrance tests of creative thinking. Princeton, N.J.: Personnel Press. 1966
- de Bono, Edward. Lateral Thinking. London. Penguin Books 1990
- www.phenomenaleducation.info
- http://vark-learn.com/
- Carey, Benedict. How We Learn.London. Pan Books 2015
The author is a graphic designer and design educator. Her areas of interest and practice are Visual Design, Creative Thinking, and Design Pedagogy. She can be reached at smandke.visualdesign@gmail.com.
