Problem solving in education is a transformative component in fostering creativity and learning. An educator is constantly seeking new ways to better enhance and to create meaningful learning experiences. In a world that is so driven by technology in the digital age, finding ways to creatively use Computational Thinking and Computer Science skills will create innovative thinkers among our students. Besides the foreseen challenges of the ever changing upgrades and application of new technologies; how can tools and computing skills be presented in such a manner to create and instill problem solving skills that will be lasting benefits for our students? As I continue to bring my two educational worlds, art and technology, closer together I strive to create problem solvers through engagement, construction of knowledge, reflection, and collaboration.
To create problem solvers I find it most important to engage student learning. This can be done by using a variety of instructional strategies and techniques. For example, as I look ahead to the upcoming school year the participation in an art class is required for all 7th grade students. I will certainly come across several students that might have no interest in art practices, but my challenge is to find ways to engage these students to spark an interest whether it be through a particular subject or ties to technology. In regards to technology, Computational Skills can be incorporated into the art curriculum to further
By having art programs in schools students gain skills such as, problem solving, critical and creative thinking, integration of multiple skill sets, and working with others. Qualities such as these are very necessary for creating exemplary students. Arts have already proven to help with many long standing problems but critical thinking is needed for jobs in the outside world. “ … Creating art supports problem-solving, creative thought and critique like no other discipline.” ( Schoales,2) By participating in artistic classes students gain discipline that most classes fail to teach. These valuable lessons learned from art can’t be found anywhere
In the essay “Creativity in the Classroom” written by Ernest L Boyer, the essay talks about creativity in the classroom and what can affect or empower creativity to occur. At the beginning, the writer stated that if the students and the faculty did not work together to create a prosperous ambiance, and did not see that they are having an important thing to do, the effective education atmosphere will be minimized. Another point that the writer stated carefully was when the professor spoiled the book and the students did not react disappointed because they did not need to read the book they had the information’s that they need from the professor. Therefore, in my opinion, the writer point was that students need to get serious about their
The beauty of creativity is that it is abstract, yet ubiquitous: in art, music or how one decides to compose an essay. However, creativity has recently been declining among the human population. According to an article, named, “The Creativity Crisis,” by Newsweek.com in July 2010, authors, Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman, state, “the Torrance Test … indicates that the public’s “creativity quotient” has steadily crept downward since 1990” (Prompt 1). Bronson and Merryman report that the test, which evaluates one’s creativity, had been dispensed to myriads of people across the globe, and have concluded that creativity has been slowly diminishing. Kyung Hee Kim, professor at the College of William and Mary, also comments that this is most prevalent and grave among students from kindergarten through sixth grade (Prompt 1). Consequently, society, or in this case, the world fears that current students and future generations will not be nourished with the creativity required to thrive as individuals, affecting the world as a whole. Ultimately, this poses the question whether a creative thinking class, which solely focuses on the education of creativity, should be taught in the school. This school should impose a creative thinking class, due to the fact creativity is a vital element for the future and is the solution to the creative crisis.
With developments in technology growing exponentially, teachers must show students how to think critically and problem solve, using factual information as a primary resource. By mastering these skills, students become prepared for their college and careers, which will most likely involve some form of technology that has not yet been invented. This will influence many of the decisions I make as a teacher. Instead of assigning a reading passage and then comprehension questions to answer after, I can encourage students to discuss what they read and make connections to their own lives, research a topic for different perspectives or deeper details, or give students opportunities to present what they know to their peers and me in creative ways.
For the entirety of the fall semester, I took on a project to create a three-page layout for a fictional campaign in National Geographic magazine about endangered species. The goal was to create different content for my portfolio, challenging my skills in photography and photo-manipulation. I transformed people into animals and used gel lighting and Photoshop to create my artwork (see Appendix A figure 1 & 2). At the end of the semester, I reviewed my completed pieces and two theorists best fit my creative process, Julie Burstein, and Teresa Amabile. Julie Burstein discusses the best way to foster creativity is by ‘letting go’ she outlines this in four lessons (Campbell and Dubois, “Artist Best practices” 25). These lessons include experiences, challenges, limitations and loss (Campbell and Dubois, “Artist Best practices” 25). While Teresa Amabile discusses how the theory of creativity is fostered through her componential model of creativity (Campbell and Dubois, “On theories of” 14). These include domain-relevant skills, creative thinking skills and motivation (Campbell and Dubois, “On theories of” 14). Both of these theorists go hand in hand providing me with the framework for my best work. This essay will discuss how Amabile’s theory for intrinsic motivation and Burstein’s lesson of experience and loss, align in my creative process to be conducive to my work.
Technologies is currently changing and due to how business market products to educators we need to constantly reinvent new ways to implement this information to be in alignment with the twenty first century critical learning. Students are constantly involved in technology and we educators would benefit to learn new ways to deliver our classroom instructions to promote better students’ interact and to have students to become critical thinkers.
Students are routinely connected with technology participating in social media and games where they acquire and apply their knowledge collaboratively. Their time is being spent more in social networking sites, multimedia, and virtual environments that are highly engaging and many times encourages creative thinking and problem solving.
Creative development allows children to be creative using various different resources and materials. By encouraging creativity through play, make sure children have a wide range of materials to work with that are age appropriate; for example, paints, pencils, markers, play dough, buttons and pasta. Using a different variety of textures will enable children to explore sensory materials as well as art materials. Creativity through music is great way to allow children to respond to a range of music and sounds; they love to jump up and down to music. Children should be provided with resources so they can make their own music for example, shakers, rattles anything that can let children create their own music and sounds. Providing a setting with
According the most recent national assessment recorded in the Washington post, “the nations high school seniors have shown no improvement in math and reading performances since 2009.” In the most recent years, education has taken a huge downfall. Since 2010, over 45% of students drop out. Many students have problems with the grading system, so many different testing programs and having to follow a set of rules and not expand on those rules. The education system needs to induce more creativity, enforce the ways on how education is important and elaborate more on the rules of grading.
PCS Edventures promotes hands-on, project-based learning as a means of helping students develop the foundations of scientific inquiry, engineering design and computational thinking while exercising 21st century problem-solving, communication, reflection and collaboration skills. Our content is designed to integrate instructional goals into application-based learning experiences. With the freedom to experiment and design, students gain the tangible benefits that come from frequent analysis and reflection.
This literature review is concerned with the effective and engaging way to deliver visual art lesson to students. This is a significant educational topic because research suggests that students’ engagement in the classroom has been distinguished as the important indicator for students’ academic success (Harbour, Evanovich, Sweigart, & Hughes, 2015). Errey and Wood (2011) also suggest that the higher the level of students’ engagement will result in a better learning outcome. However, many students have fallen in the category of disengage during their classroom practice, which also includes art classroom. The existing literature on visual art education proven that many students in art classroom claimed that they were bored and showed resistance in their art classes (Pennisi, 2013), they were also not as enthusiastic about their art project as the teacher (Andrews, 2010). So, the purpose of this literature review is to discuss several approaches for teachers to effectively deliver art education in the classroom.
The term creativity is used for the purpose of describing the ability that is concerned with the process of creating something new or valuable. This ability allows a person to surpass the rules, practices, methods, forms or similar kind of activities that the traditional society may be performing at that time. Creativity is one of the most important things that have allowed the people of the society to move forward and urge for development. All the development that has been made in various aspects of human life can be directly connected with the creativity. All the industry leaders of the world have secured this place because of the level of creativity and innovation that they showed. They used this creativity for creating something new that has allowed them to develop completely new methods for this purpose.
The advancement in technology is becoming a great benefit in the classroom. More students are learning to use their creative side, which is encouraging individual learning and growth. Through technology, students find it is easier for them to work together with others. The group members can join together over the internet and they don’t have to be in the same room. As there continues to be new improvements in the various types of technology, it is helping the student prepare for the real world.
Because of recent emphasis on standardized evaluation and testing, the learning environment created within public schools has shifted its focus toward “the test” and away from the student. This focus on “the test” has also caused the arts to become a marginalized subject within the public school system, because of the belief, that the arts, offer the students nothing more than ‘play time’ and cannot directly improve the student’s academic performance. Although what I have stated is only my opinion, I have found that my interest lies with developing a creative classroom which places the student at the center of learning, combats the creation of a pressured learning environment, and provides the student with opportunities of social and
Obtaining a childhood education has various outlets for students who have different styles of learning. Every student has strengths and weaknesses that are all catered to within the classroom. One of the major ways to increase and impact learning in elementary schools is through performing arts programs. However, over the years, a change in the education system’s views on the importance of art in education has begun to decline. Priorities have shifted and art in education has unfortunately been set the least bit of concerns of the school system. With this major change in school system’s academic curriculum, students are missing out on the benefits that a performing arts program can offer.