ASSESSING

CREATIVITY
IN THE
CLASSROOM

A NARRATIVE OF PHASE 1 & 2 OF

THE DESIGN THINKING PROCESS

Caffeine Club: The 5th C

Amanda Wallace, Michael A. OHagan,
Kay Pham, Natalie Priester

DESIGN THINKING QUESTION:

THE AUDIENCE
END USERS:
Teachers who are
Willing to teach creativity
Currently unwilling to teach creativity
Struggling to assess creativity while
teaching 21st century skills
Unsure about the importance of teaching
creativity
Resistant and do not feel the need for
creativity

RESEARCH PLAN
Experts
Tour/interview staff D39
Tour/interview staff High Tech Middle
Academic research
Articles
Journals
Videos
Arts assessment resources
Rubric examples
End Users
Online survey to tech-rich teachers

RESEARCH FINDINGS
ARTS ASSESSMENT RESEARCH:
CCSESA Arts Initiative
National Core Arts Standards
(BCs Fine Arts/Art Education
Prescribed Learning Outcomes)

RESEARCH FINDINGS
INTERVIEWING EXPERTS:
Pauline Crooks, VAPA Coordinator
SDCOE:
Creativity isnt about perfection or following
standards as a step-by-step instruction;
variety of assessment & space; no wrong
answers

Wendy Maples, High Tech High

Teacher:
Standards used as framework in lesson
planning; examples are used to define
expectation levels; co-designed rubrics

RESEARCH FINDINGS
TOURS:
High Tech Middle School

Project Based Learning, emphasis on student

exhibitions
Use the standards as suggestions, not limited to
Artwork fills halls and classroom space,
encourages creativity

Design 39

Student led learning through discovery

Standards-aligned
Open/flexible floor plan
Blank space to encourage individual voice

RESEARCH FINDINGS
ACADEMIC RESEARCH:

Assessment of Creative Writing: The Case of Singapore Secondary Chinese Language

Curriculum
Assessment of Creativity in Education
Making Space for the Act of Making: Creativity in the Engineering Design Classroom
Innovation and STEM Schools
Perception of Scientific Creativity and Self-Evaluation among Science Teacher Candidates
Creativity and education: Teaching the unfamiliar
Fostering Creativity and Innovation Through Technology

RESEARCH FINDINGS
ARTICLE RESEARCH:
Assessing Creativity
Yes, You Can Teach and Assess
Creativity
Assessing Creativity in the Classroom: It
Needs to Happen!

How Can We Teach and Assess Creativity

and Innovation in PBL?

RESEARCH FINDINGS
VIDEO RESEARCH:
Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future
Teaching with Choice & 4Cs of 21st Century Skills; 2 Loves (Decisional not Emotional): for the subject
taught, for the students -Joe Ruhl

Can Creativity Be Taught?

Creativity...is a process of having original ideas that have value. Those who say they aren't creative refer
to "arty," as in art subjects such as painting, dance, music etc.-Sir Ken Robinson

How can we foster creativity in the classroom?

Creativity through time management, what ifs, show & tell, natural surroundings, warm colours, subjectivity
-Anna Lithgow

RESEARCH FINDINGS
RUBRIC EXAMPLES:

RESEARCH FINDINGS
RUBRIC EXAMPLES:

RESEARCH FINDINGS
END USER SURVEYS:

RESEARCH FINDINGS
END USER SURVEYS:
90% of surveyed respondents encourage creativity through "allowing creativity"
Other popular ways to encourage creativity include: allowing choices, allowing time
for reflection & conducting problem solving opportunities
Creativity is defined as: beyond expectations, change, different, abstract, new,
unique, original, surprising, & expressive

RESEARCH FINDINGS
END USER SURVEYS:

RESEARCH FINDINGS
END USER SURVEYS:
Over 80% of respondents use "Observation" as a means to assess creativity; 50% of
respondents use rubrics to assess creativity
Feedback and curriculum standards are used for assessing creativity
Support from colleagues & admin, time & space, rubrics & examples, are the most
common requests for respondents to enforce/increase creative development in
classrooms

EMERGING THEMES & INSIGHTS

EMERGING THEMES & INSIGHTS

EMERGING THEMES & INSIGHTS

How might we connect existing creativity
resources with classroom teachers?

How might we encourage teachers integrate

creative activities with their students?
How might we demonstrate to teachers that
creativity is easily adoptable into all content
areas?
How might we share creativity assessment
techniques with teachers?
How might we help teachers design learning
environments that encourage creativity?

THE NEXT PHASE

IDEATION: