Intro to Studies in Creativity Personal Reflection Overview An important part o

Intro to Studies in Creativity
Personal Reflection
Overview
An important part ofbeing creative and setting the stage for innovation comes from self-awarenessof ones strengths and weaknesses in regards to the cognitive and personalityfactors that are related to creativity. As such, for the Reflection, you will reflectupon and report on various aspects of yourself and how they relate to yourpotential for creativity and innovation.
You will be provided withseveral prompts, derived from the formula for creativity (developed by RuthNoller and Sydney Parnes, featured in Creativity Rising: by Puccio et al., 2012).Each one focuses on a different element of your personal creativity formula. Within each section you willreflect and report on your thoughts regarding the prompt as they relate to yourinnovative and creative potential.
Although this is a formalassessment, I sincerely hope for it to simultaneously be a personally rewardingexperience that is useful beyond the course. If you take it seriously andinvest effort, I am sure that you will be rewarded in ways beyond your grade.
Evaluation
Submission Formats:
I am open to a variety of different submission formats.  Here are some specs on various formats youmight be considering:
Word Doc. (approx.1000-1200 words)
Video (approx. 8- 10mins)
Other? (check in with me)
Remember, this IS a course oncreativity- so why not be novel, unique, and/or authentic in how you put thistogether.  Subheadings encouraged
Ok, so the PersonalReflection is worth 20% of your final grade so you should spend a considerableamount of time and energy on it. Im open to various interpretations of thisequation as well as the structure for your assignment.  However, here are some things that I thinkabout when evaluating responses:
CONNECTION TO COURSE CONTENT:Did the work reference material in lecture at least once in each section(except the Vision statement)?
DEPTH OF INSIGHT: Did theentries strive for depth and include enough detail to facilitate personallearning? Did the entries exhibit a serious effort to reflect uponthe issues and move beyond the superficial? Did the entries draw uponpersonal experience or other relevant material to illustrate the observationsand to make the responses individualized?
ORIGINALITY: Did the entriesstrive for forms of novelty that are appropriate for the assignment andeducational environment? Did the entries take full advantage of the medium? Didthe entries exhibit the use of creative thinking skills? Are the entries uniqueto the individual?
STYLE: Was the entry writtenin a way that adhered to academic writing standards (e.g., proper grammar,spelling, etc.)?
Instructions
Ruth Noller, a pioneer in the development ofCreative Problem Solving, created the above formula to describe the necessaryingredients for creativity to emerge. In her formulation, Creativity (C) is a function (f)of Attitude (a) applied to Knowledge (K), Imagination (I), and Evaluation(E):
C = fa(K,I,E)
Attitude is considered an exceptionally importantpiece of the formula, and as such, a formula was derived that encompasses thecombined elements that make up Attitude:Vision (V), Deliberate Practice (DP), and IntrinsicMotivation (IM).
a = V,DP,IM
In what follows, you will be asked to describethe nature of each of the elements as they pertain to your life. In order tohelp guide your thinking and help you generate ways to conceptualize this task,you will be given prompts for each section. You need not answer every question listed explicitly in eachprompt, and you are free to write on things not in the prompt that relate tooverarching element, though they may be useful in helping you formulate aresponse. In other words, use these guidelines and suggestions to considerdifferent aspects of yourself in an in-depth way. In the following pages, youwill find the prompts. Please write your responses in another document (.docx),organized according to the elements given in the prompts, though you can formatit however you like).
Pictures, links, or othermediums are welcome if you think they could illustrate something you wish toexpress or share (though note that the word count refers only to your owncontribution. Remember that you need to reference things discussed in class atleast once in each section. Informal citation style is fine (e.g., in class inWeek 4, we discussed). No need for a bibliography.
Prompts
Vision
Visionis considered the destination for your creativity. This can be potential areasyou wish to work in the future, side interests that you have, or mediums ofexpression through which you hope to attain your goals. This could be broadfields of study or work, or highly specific examples of ways for you to expressyour creativity. If you have yet to develop a vision, entertain why you thinkyou might not, and why (e.g., too many options, not enough experience inworld).
Knowledge
Keyto the ability to think creatively is having a rich store of knowledge availableto combine, re-create and re-imagine concepts in novel ways to innovate inareas you care about to solve problems. Also essential are skills, both technical(e.g., programming, drawing, writing) and cognitive (e.g., paying attention,reasoning logically), that will allow you to work effectively. What areas wouldyou consider yourself an expert in? What do you know a lot about? What wouldyou benefit from learning more about? What skills do you currently have thatare related to areas in which you hope to eventually innovate? Use yourcreativity to consider how two areas of knowledge or skills you possess thatdont seem connected might actually be related. These need not be solelyrelated to things you do at school and can include hobbies and other interests.
Imagination/Evaluation
Peoplevary in the extent to which they tend to imagine relative to how much theyevaluate. Some are more prone to generating many possibilities and not thinkingthrough them fully, whereas others tend to think through every situation andchoice thoroughly and consider less possibilities. How do you tend to think? Doyou take too much/too little to day dream and mind wander? Are you constantlyanalyzing everything or do you try to not pass judgment? What are some things that you might have been tooquick to judge? What are some things that you might be curious about but havenot yet explored? Maybe it is a genre of music, field of study, or type ofactivity that you have not been open to. Are you well-balanced? How does thisparticular style seemhelpful for you to be creative and innovative? How does your style seemcounter-productive in your pursuit to be more creative? How can you maximizethe use of your own cognitive style?
Deliberate Practice
Partof building your creative capacity is an attitude of continual learning anddeliberate practice in the areas in which you wish to innovate. Effectivepractice entails both good strategies and good time management. Are youengaging in effective learning strategies, like using the testing effect, orconnecting what you are learning to what you know? Are you distributing yourstudying/practice well within your schedule? Are there impediments to yourdeliberate practice? Am you focusing on things that arent connected to yourlong-term goals? Have you taken on too many responsibilities? What ways can youimprove your strategies for learning or time management?
Motivation
An important part of beingan innovator is figuring out what we are living for and finding motivation.Whether they are causes you care about or people that support or inspire you,these parts of our lives can provide us with motivation to be the best we canbe that are different from that associated with material wealth. Who arepeople, whether you know them or not, that inspire you and make you want to dothe best you can? What causes do you care the most about?  What makes you get out of bed in the morning?Do you feel like you lack motivation? If so, where might you find it?
C = fa(K,I,E) Reflection/Conclusions
In this final section,reflect upon your formula as a whole. Do you think you have what it takes toinnovate or create? Consider some plans of action to improve and ways you couldchange your life that would allow you to be more creative and successful.