Enhancing creativity and innovation in engineering education

With the rapid progress of modern civilization, creativity and innovation within a techno-economic perspective are becoming the major driving forces behind the sustainability of economic growth and competitive achievements. The current paper will focus on developing a clear concept of the terms creativity and innovation, and investigate their possible relation with engineering education. The parameters that could be essential for the enhancement of creativity or innovation are discussed from the perspective of the individual and the community. An engineering creativity enterprise diagram (ECED) is introduced to be reflective of the industrialization and technological level of any community as correlated to creativity and innovation. A systematic approach is designed to help developing the possible courses and activities that would enhance creativity and innovative skills and capabilities of a graduate engineer.     

通过有效途径,培养创新能力

在小学数学教学中培养学生的创新能力 ,是教学追求的重要目标之一。只要在教学实践中 ,坚持激发学生的学习兴趣 ,创设教学悬念 ,概念联系实际 ,加强操作实践 ,精心设计练习 ,学生的创新能力就能得到有效的培养     

Examining creativity through a virtual reality support system

This study explores the effects of immersive VR on an individual’s creativity and factors related to creativity including flow, attention and meditation (i.e., mental relaxation or stress). Sixty undergraduate students were invited to participate in an open-ended challenge to design a wearable technology functioning as a smart phone individually, either in the immersive VR condition (N?=?30) or in the paper-and-pencil condition (N?=?30). Surveys and electroencephalography (EEG) measurements were used to collect data. Findings showed that the participants in the immersive VR condition had higher quality creative products than those in the paper-and-pencil condition. The sequence analysis of the participants’ EEG brainwaves also showed that the participants in the immersive VR condition maintained a more stable focus or attention, while those in the paper-and-pencil condition were more relaxed. Research results led to a deeper understanding of using a VR support system for individual creativity. Recommendations for the design and application of an immersive VR creativity support system are discussed.     

激发兴趣,开启心智,促进大学生创新能力的培养

在大学教育中如何激发学生对科技的兴趣,对促进大学生创新能力的培养有重要的意义.在这方面进行了有益的实践与探索,通过举办各类实验比赛、研究社会热点问题、建设创新实验室等,初步形成了具有特色的、促进大学生创新能力培养的新模式.     

Using improvisational exercises in general education to advance creativity,inventiveness and innovation

Creativity is the process of generating something new or original that has value to an individual, a group, an organization, an industry or a society. Improvisational theater techniques are used to enhance creative thinking and action in a variety of disciplines as broad as education, theater, dance, painting, writing and music, law, business, and most recently, entrepreneurship. This paper describes an academic setting that draws upon the definition, techniques and improvisational methods as prerequisites for a progression of increased experiences of idea generation, new product invention and innovation. Improvisation is used as a critical ingredient to enhance creativity for undergraduate liberal arts students in a freshman general studies course leading to student product development and field-based innovations.     

重视实验的创新和探索提高学生的创新能力

培养学生的创新素质是中学教学的主要任务之一。如何充分利用课堂教学这一主阵地来培养和提高学生的创新素质呢 ?本文结合教学实践 ,提出了通过实验教学的探索来培养学生的创新意识、创新思维、创新能力和创新人格的一些尝试。     

通过练笔激发学生成就动机的探索

为了激发学生的成就动机,以练笔为"突破口"进行了教学探索:赏识优美语句,加以仿写;"为之动容"处多练笔;"周记"形式多样却不失人性化。在不断审视课堂教学的实践中,将进一步整理出具有实效性的练笔素材库,从而提高学生的语文素养。     

Advancing the case for creativity through graduate business education

We describe an MBA course focusing on creativity and innovation in organizations. Drawing on the creativity literature and experiential learning theory, the theoretical foundations of the course are discussed. Core aspects of the course include reading articles from academic journals and business periodicals, engaging a wide variety of experiential activities, keeping a personal journal, and completing two individual projects. We sought to understand the effect of the course on students’ perceptions of the importance of creativity for organizations, their own creativity and self-perceptions of creativity, as well as their perceptions of the utility of journaling. Data were collected at the beginning and end of the course to examine these issues. The results suggest that the course had a positive influence in each case. These results are discussed and thoughts for future research are provided.     

The discourse and nature of creativity and innovation: Ways of relating to the novel

In the discourse of the knowledge-based economy, the link between creativity and innovation is usually taken for granted. However, not only is this link of recent date, it joins together two diametrically opposed concepts: the economic concept of innovation and the humanistic concept of creativity. In research too, there is a lack of enquiry into the nature of the processes of creativity and innovation and into how these processes are similar yet different. Building on the original insights of Henri Poincaré and Joseph Schumpeter, I present the hypothesis that creativity and innovation are similar in nature, not in regard to knowledge or skills, but in that both are ways of relating to the novel. My findings suggest, meanwhile, that creativity and innovation differ in that creativity is about experiencing the novel in the creative process, whereas innovation is about willing the novel as a strategy for the innovative process. Furthermore, my findings suggest that there exists a structural similarity between creativity and innovation and Aristotle’s concepts of practical and philosophical wisdom, in that innovation is a form of practical wisdom in regard to the novel, whereas creativity is a form of philosophical wisdom in regard to the novel.     

智能监控系统中图像快速匹配识别方法

计算机图像传感器收集到信息后,一般通过DSP与ARM来完成图像的处理.文章通过对银行系统中钞票流转智能监控系统的实际研发应用,构建一种基于FPGA和ARM的图像处理识别系统,以达到提出特征、去除噪声、增强图像、匹配模板等功效,实现对英文字母与数字符号的全部识别,该系统具有超高的识别速度和性价比.     

Dangerous learning in edgy contexts: creativity and innovation in the South African arts domain

In this paper, we outline a pilot project aimed at exploring the role of contextual factors in the facilitation of creativity and innovation within a range of South African art forms. Interviews with 11 people who have rich experience of the South African art domain delivered an insightful perspective on the contextual factors driving lifelong creativity and its continuous realization in innovative outcomes within these art forms.     

The relations between acculturation and creativity and innovation in higher education: A systematic literature review

This systematic literature review focuses on research findings from 20 peer-reviewed studies on the relations between the constructs of acculturation and creativity as well as acculturation and innovation in higher education. The overall research findings suggested a primarily causal relation between acculturation and creativity through statistical modeling. However, acculturation was also found to be correlated with and predict creativity. Moreover, attributes of acculturation discovered to engender creativity included multicultural learning experiences, individualistic culture type, homogeneous cultural dyads and the acculturation strategy of biculturalism. In contrast to its well-founded relation with creativity, acculturation was tentatively found to be a positive and significant predictor of innovation. This review highlights the strength of acculturation aspects, particularly biculturalism and the integration of contrasting cultural ideas, in influencing the ability to be creative or innovative in postsecondary environments.     

Engaging academics in developing excellence: releasing creativity through reward and recognition

This article explores the importance of giving academics the space to be creative in developing new teaching materials in the context of a government drive to increase the quality of the student experience, and what this means for ‘academic staff development’. Academics who have engaged with a UK Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) in one institution were interviewed about their experiences of the creative process and the reward and recognition strategies put in place to support its activities. The paper acknowledges the pressures and challenges facing academic staff in attempting to develop innovative materials, yet find that enthusiasm for looking at new ways of teaching and learning is still fervent. The paper argues that financial rewards are least important to staff when undertaking projects with the CETL, yet to managers with targets for income it is perceived as a priority. The importance of a supportive team and environment when engaging with CETLs is evident in building staff capacity and developing skills to take learning to a new level. A model of engaging with the CETL in creating e‐learning materials is suggested to illustrate the stages academics go through in the pursuit of developing innovative exemplars of best practice.     

Songwriting for nature: increasing nature connection and well-being through musical creativity

Abstract

We conducted two field studies to examine whether songwriting retreats held in a natural setting would increase nature connectedness, as well as improve emotional well-being and performance on a creative reasoning task. In the first study, high school students took part in songwriting instruction either in their school or at a national wildlife conservation area. Results showed that the natural setting uniquely increased nature connection, while both settings improved mood and creative reasoning performance. In the second study, we observed similar effects for adults who attended songwriting retreats at the same conservation area and compared this to results from a science-based workshop in another remote natural area to assess whether nature connection effects were entirely attributable to nature contact. The findings of these studies imply that both musical creativity and outdoor education experiences improve well-being, while outdoor education also increases nature connectedness, and songwriting also increases creative reasoning.     

Stimulating constructivist teaching styles through use of an observation rubric

One of the difficult transitions for new secondary science teachers is that from novice teacher to master teacher. Often this process involves the novice in adopting survival strategies for teaching rather than those advocated by the National science education standards or the Project 2061 benchmarks. This study reports on an instrument that has been shown to be useful in helping novice teachers reflect on and change their science teaching praxis. Based on the interpretation of this case study, it appears to have the potential to significantly affect the development of secondary science teachers by providing a readily accessible model of instruction that aligns with student‐centered models of instruction advocated by the Standards and Project 2061. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 955–971,1999     

校企合作协同创新实践——以神舟企业校区为例

高职教育校企合作办学机制的改革与发展,由于校企双方在办学动机和利益分配上的认知存在差距,导致难以展开深入的合作。深圳信息职业技术学院计算机学院一一作为国家骨干校建设项目,始终积极推进校企合作办学机制的创新与实践,加强学校与企业的协同创新与合作,以促进校企“合作办学、合作育人、合作就业”为目标,创建了企业校区,共同建设和管理,取得了显著的成果,为目前校企合作办学模式提供了借鉴的案例。