Creativity is an essential skill for the 21st Century that is innate in all people and can be nurtured. We constantly need new and better ideas for almost every aspect of our professional and personal lives. The goal of this course is to help you recognize, develop and act upon the creativity that you already possess. We will accomplish this using three methods: b aware, b inspired, and b creative.
Upon completion of this course participants will:
Recognize the inherent creativity in yourself and others.
Identify characteristics of a creative person that relate to yourself.
Develop creative problem solving skills using the basic elements of the creative process.
Examine qualities of a creative environment in real world settings.
Evaluate an idea using the creative product criteria.
Ignite Your Everyday Creativity
Offered By
The State University of New York
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Week
1What is Creativity?
In this module, we will be featuring the skill “Look at it Another Way”. This skill is about becoming aware of what ideas, challenges, and solutions feel like from multiple perspectives, views, or mindsets. These ideas may manifest as spoken words or internal thoughts. For example, take a moment to picture a tree. What does it look like? Does it have leaves? What season are you in? Did you picture the tree from straight on? If so, try picturing the tree from a birds-eye view, or from an ant's perspective. If your tree was in full bloom, picture the same tree in winter. It probably looks much different! That's what this module is all about looking at things from different perspectives in order to gain new insights! As you go through this module's lessons, we would like you to consider the following things: * What might be all of the different ways to look at these lessons and assignments? * How does changing your perspective spark your imagination? * When deliberately employing this skill, do you feel more creative? We encourage you to keep this description handy, as we will be asking you to apply this skill throughout the module. Ready? Let's get started! * Skill taken from Torrance, E.P., & Safter, H.T. (1999). Making the creative leap beyond... Hadley, MA: Creative Education Foundation Press.**
12 videos (Total 52 min), 9 readings
12 videos
Everyday Creativity Assignment2m
Magic Wand Wishes2m
Definition of Creativity2m
Myths of Creativity2m
Deferring Judgement3m
Developmental Trajectory of Creativity6m
History of International Center for Studies in Creativity4m
The Four Ps4m
Brendan Bannon7m
Katherine Conway-Turner6m
Brian Nesline4m
9 readings
Course Overview10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
#bAware10m
Week
2The Creative Person
In this module, we will be featuring the skill, “Visualize it Richly and Colorfully”. This skill is about using the five senses to paint a vivid picture of what you're trying to explain or understand.This module will require you to use your imagination during the lessons and the subsequent assignments. We will ask you to picture the many aspects of certain objects -- such as apples -- or to remember something as vividly as possible. Let's give it a shot: picture a flower. It doesn't matter what kind of flower it is -- it doesn't even have to be one that is known to humankind! What does the flower look like? What colors make up the petals? How many petals are there? Does the stem have thorns? Do the thorns hurt? Are the petals soft? Are they damp from a recent dew? How does the flower smell? What do you hear? Is there a bee buzzing around the flower? Are you brave enough to taste the flower? I know that sounds like a lot of questions, but you should incorporate all five senses into the lessons within this module. As you go through this module's lessons, we would like you to consider the following questions: * How does visualization make your memories come alive?* How does visualization spark your imagination?* When deliberately employing this skill, do you feel more creative? We encourage you to keep this description handy, as we will be asking you to apply this skill throughout the module.Ready? Let's get started!* Skill taken from Torrance, E.P., & Safter, H.T. (1999). Making the creative leap beyond... Hadley, MA: Creative Education Foundation Press.
13 videos (Total 56 min), 12 readings, 1 quiz
13 videos
Light Switch Plate Assignment2m
The Big Three Affective Skills3m
Playfulness7m
TRYCycle5m
The Four Components of Divergent Thinking5m
Cognitive Style: FourSight8m
Neuroscience of Creativity3m
Failure and Making Mistakes3m
Mindfulness3m
Progress3m
Ismet Mamnoon4m
Benjamin Streeter3m
12 readings
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
#bAware10m
Week
3The Creative Press
In this module, we will be featuring the skill Enjoy and Use Fantasy. This skill is about imagination, and it is an integral part of creativity and learning. The ability to enjoy and use fantasy is a skill that can be applied to many facets in life. Though it is often misconstrued as inconvenient or inappropriate (especially as we get older), fantasy has been shown to motivate learning while providing a non-threatening environment. The employment of the skill Enjoy and Use Fantasy improves thinking, logic, and communication skills!
For example, imagine you’ve been given access to the world’s first time machine. As of right now, it only has one setting: to take you on a journey 1000 years forward in time. Just think! You will be the first person from the present to see what the future looks like: what people will be wearing, what businesses will be in place, what governments will be standing, and the effects of the human race on the entire planet. With 100% assurance that the time machine is 100% safe, you hop in and press the One Button: GO!
How do you feel? Is your mind racing with ideas of what you might see? Are you excited to be a part of an unknown future? Are you nervous about running into a future relative? Good – that’s the point!
As you go through this module’s lessons, we would like you to consider the following things:
Are you fully experiencing the joy and child-like nature of fantasy?
How does the deliberate use of fantasy spark your imagination?
When deliberately employing this skill, do you feel more creative?
Ready? Let’s get started!
9 videos (Total 29 min), 6 readings
9 videos
Physical vs. Psychological Press3m
Culture3m
Ten Dimensions of a Creative Climate: Idea Time, Idea Support, and Risk-Taking3m
Ten Dimensions of a Creative Climate: Freedom, Dynamism, & Playfulness and Humor2m
Ten Dimensions of a Creative Climate: Challenges, Debates and Conflict3m
Ten Dimensions of a Creative Climate: Trust and Openness2m
Overcoming Barriers3m
Todd Benzin4m
6 readings
Research Study Opportunity10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
#bAware10m
Week
4The Creative Process
In this module, we will be featuring the skill Break Through and Extend the Boundaries. This skill is about thinking outside of the prescribed requirements. You may know it better by the phrase “think outside the box” – but we want you to think of it as more than that. Expanding the boundaries is a skill that everyone possesses (though it can be developed and honed through practice), and is integral to creativity and problem solving. For example, have you ever had a child, student, or colleague who was perfectly content to give run-of-the-mill answers to intriguing questions? Sure, the answers were applicable and solved the problem at hand, but they lacked the innovation and excitement that you were after. Then one day, in frustration, you told that person to “think outside the box” – and he astounded you with an answer that was completely out of left field! As you go through this module’s lessons, we would like you to consider the following things: • Are you thinking beyond the prescribed requirements? • How does extending the boundaries spark your imagination? • When deliberately employing this skill, do you feel more creative? We encourage you to keep this description handy, as we will be asking you to apply this skill throughout the module. Ready? Let’s get started! *Skill taken from Torrance, E.P., & Safter, H.T. (1999). Making the creative leap beyond… Hadley, MA: Creative Education Foundation Press.
15 videos (Total 61 min), 11 readings, 1 quiz
15 videos
Annoyances3m
Creative Process3m
Brainstorming3m
Divergent Thinking9m
Convergent Thinking2m
Incubation2m
Clarifying Problems3m
Ideation3m
PPCo3m
WISMDI… and How/How3m
Tim Switalski5m
Paul Harris5m
Amy Hartman4m
Mike Fox4m
11 readings
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
Assignments10m
#bAware10m
4.4
50 ReviewsTop Reviews
By EB•Apr 17th 2016
I really loved it! In particular the assignments. I am a creative person, and decided to take this course in order to understand the process and how to help others to be creative in their lives.
By JC•Jan 14th 2018
An excellent course that really opens up the mind to creative opportunities in everyday life, with plenty of tools useful for application throughout work and at home.
Instructors
Dr. Cyndi Burnett
Associate ProfessorCreative Studies
Dr. John F Cabra
Associate ProfessorCreative Studies
About The State University of New York
The State University of New York, with 64 unique institutions, is the largest comprehensive system of higher education in the United States. Educating nearly 468,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs both on campus and online, SUNY has nearly 3 million alumni around the globe.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
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