PARTNERS IN INNOVATION: CREATIVE AND SPATIAL ABILITIES

Steve Coxon, Ph.D.Assistant professor of gifted educationMaryville Universityscoxon@maryville.edu http://stevecoxon.com

THE NATIONAL NEED

Artistic and STEM innovations both improve our quality of life, and STEM innovations are responsible for the majority of economic growth in the U.S. (National Academy of Sciences, 2005).

What could be a national talent development pipeline from our preschools through our colleges is bleeding potential.

WHAT IS CREATIVITY? “production of something original and

useful” (Bronson & Merryman, 2010)

a relatively new concept (1950s) still not in many dictionaries by the early 1970s (Piirto, 2004)

not well correlated with general intelligence (g) after a threshold level (IQ of 120 has been suggested) (Piirto, 2004)

improvable with experiences, especially when specific processes are taught within domains (Davis & Rimm, 1998; Erez, 2004; Sternberg, 1990; Treffinger, Isaksen, & Dorval, 2006)

ASPECTS OF CREATIVE THINKING

Fluency (produce a number of ideas) Flexibility (extend ideas into a variety

of categories) Originality (unique ideas) Elaboration (focus on detail and

characteristics) (Torrance, 1966)

WHAT IS SPATIAL ABILITY?

“the ability to generate, retain, retrieve, and transform well-structured visual images” (Lohman, 1993)

a relatively old concept (Galton, 1880) highly related to general intelligence (g), but

less well correlated to math abilities than math is to verbal (symbol system vs. visual system of thinking) (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009)

improvable with challenging spatial experiences (Coxon, 2009; Coxon, 2011; Lim, 2005; Liu, Uttal, Marulis, & Newcombe, 2008; Lohman, 1993; Onyancha, Derov, & Kinsey, 2009; Potter, Van der Merwe, Fridjhon, Kaufman, Delacour, & Mokone, 2009; Sorby, 2005; Urhahne, Nick, & Schanze, 2009; Verner, 2004)

Creative and

spatial abilities

go hand-in-

hand

MC Escher. (1938). Cycles.

I SAW THE ANGEL IN THE MARBEL AND CARVED UNTIL I SET HIM FREE

Michaelangelo

CREATIVE AND SPATIAL KIDS: Both abilities are likely to coincide at high

levels (Liben, 2009), although gifted kids can have a relative strength and weakness

More likely to be introverts (Lohman, 1993)

Much, much more likely to have hobbies (Humphreys, Lubinski, & Yao, 1993)

Spatially-able kids are possibly more likely to have reading problems (Mann, 2006)

Spatially-able kids are more likely to be undereducated and underemployed as adults in comparison to symbol-system leaning students of similar IQ (Mann, 2006)

CREATIVE AND SPATIAL KIDS:

are our future engineers, artists, and scientists (Bronson & Merryman, 2010; Flannagan, 1979; Snow, 1999; Super & Bachrach, 1957; Wai, et al., 2009)

are unlikely to have their needs for daily challenge in their areas of strength met by schools (Coxon, 2010)

creativity has been in decline in the US since 1990 (Kim, 2010)

What can you do?

“School more than any other institution, is responsible for the downgrading of visual thinking. Most educators are not only disinterested in visualization, they are hostile toward it. They regard it as childish, primitive, and prelogical. Classes in mechanical drawing, shop and the arts, in which spatial thinking still plays a role, are considered second-rate intellectual activities.” (Sommer, 1978, p. 54)

IN YOUR CLASSROOM:

Computer programming, especially with LEGO robotics

Puppet shows, theater, including script writing and set design

Academic competitions such as Odyssey of the Mind and FIRST LEGO League

Building challenges (blocks, K’Nex, LEGO, Tinkertoy, toothpicks, craft sticks, note cards)

IN YOUR CLASSROOM

Art projects, especially when focused on innovating to solve a problem or satisfy a need

Mimicking the styles of such artists as MC Escher and Rube Goldberg

Geometry, especially when hands-on Building 3D structures with drinking straws and

twist ties Physics with toys Making molecules with toothpicks and gumdrops Making circuits with wire, batteries, lights,

buzzers, etc.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS), geocacheing, Google Earth (virtual field trips), Google Maps

Toothpick bridges, note card bridges, newspaper structures

Note card architecture Paper rockets (see NASA education) Problem-based learning that includes

opportunities for designing, building, making

IN YOUR CLASSROOM:

Take ___ minutes to build the tallest freestanding tower that you can.

You have 30 sticks and 15 small binder clips. You may not use any other items.

You may not break sticks or dismantle clips.

Two to three feet is a good start.

What processes did this building activity require?

SIX THINKING HATS (DE BONO, 1999) Simple, but effective: Taught in preschools and

major corporations (including Siemens, NASA, and FedEx)

Intended to replace argument Focus on ‘what can be’ rather than just ‘what is’ Everyone uses every hat, not one hat assigned to

one person ‘Parallel thinking’ means that everyone ‘wears’ the

same hat at a given time The teacher may help refocus students The steps may be repeated Except for blue which begins and ends, the hats

may be used in any order, but only one at a time.

THE BLUE HAT

Control of thinking/Metacognition Used at the beginning and end (the

other hats may be used in any order to suit the situation)

At the beginning it indicates: Why we are here Definition of the situation What we want to achieve A plan for the sequence of other hats to

use

THE WHITE HAT

Facts and figures Neutral and objective What information is known? What additional information is needed? How are we going to get missing

information?

THE RED HAT

Emotions and feelings Feelings can be useful, but aren’t

always correct All involved individuals must share their

feelings—there is no ‘pass,’ but you may say ‘neutral’ or ‘undecided’

No need to justify

THE BLACK HAT

Cautious and careful Point out possible dangers, difficulties,

potential problems Critical thinking/questions evidence Prevents mistakes and excesses A neutral way to point out potential

difficulties without being seen as negative

THE YELLOW HAT

Optimistic thinking Constructive Make things happen Consider the ideal conclusion

THE GREEN HAT

Creative thinking and new ideas Put forward possibilities Alternative Change New approaches

THE BLUE HAT

Control of thinking/Metacognition Used at the beginning and end (the

other hats may be used in any order to suit the situation)

At the end it indicates: What has been achieved Conclusion/solution Next steps

CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (TREFFINGER, 2006)

Explore the Challenge: Objective Finding (identify the goal, wish or challenge) Fact Finding (gather the relevant data) Problem Finding (clarify the problems that need to be

solved in order to achieve the goal)

Generate Ideas: Idea Finding (generate ideas to solve the identified

problem)

Prepare for Action: Solution Finding (move from idea to implementable

solution) Acceptance Finding (plan for action)

FREE ONLINE INFORMATIVE RESOURCES

Ken Robinson’s TED talk: Do schools kill creativity? (online video): http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_sa

ys_schools_kill_creativity.html Lifelong Kindergarten: Design, Play,

Share, Learn (search YouTube—hour+) Anna Cassalia’s CPS Embedded in the

Curriculum (free article):

http://www.nagc.org/uploadedFiles/THP/THP_Articles/THP_Fall_2010_CreativeProblemSolving.pdf

FREE ONLINE CLASSROOM RESOURCES

NASA Education: http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html

GIS for schools: http://www.esri.com/industries/k-12/index.html

Academic Earth: http://www.academicearth.org/ (free, online video classes from leading universities)

SOME FREE/SOME PAY ONLINE RESOURCES Makezine and Instructables: http://makezine.com/

and http://www.instructables.com/ (two great sites for building just about anything)

Children’s Engineering Convention: http://www.childrensengineering.com/ (based in Richmond, VA: has a publication, some online resources, and hosts an annual conference in February)

LEGO WeDo: http://www.legoeducation.us/sharedimages/resources/WeDo%20User's%20Guide.pdf (a free, 41 page teacher’s guide to LEGO WeDo—robotics for K-3)

PROBLEM-SOLVING METHOD TEXT RESOURCES

de Bono, E. (1999). Six thinking hats. Suffolk, England: First Back Bay.

De Brux, E., & Stambaugh, T. (2010). Invitation to Invent. Waco, TX: Prufrock. (physical science unit for grades 3-4)

Treffinger, D. J., Isaksen, S. G., & Dorval, K. B. (2006). Creative problem solving: An introduction (4th ed.). Waco, TX: Prufrock.

STEVE’S RESOURCES

Coxon, S. V. (expected 2012). Serving spatially-able learners. Waco, TX: Prufrock.

Coxon, S. V. (2011). Steve Coxon’s Web: Build it! Activities. Retrieved from http://stevecoxon.com/

Coxon, S. V. (2010). FIRST LEGO League, the sport of the mind. Teaching for High Potential, Winter, 6)8.

Coxon, S. V. (2008). STEMbotics: Using Edward deBono’s Six Thinking Hats and LEGO NXT robotics to understand STEM careers. Williamsburg, VA: Center for Gifted Education. Available for download at http://stevecoxon.com/STEMbotics unit Coxon.doc