Discussion in 2021: A new series of online seminars
Last year on March 13, the UPCE conference “The measurement of creativity: Theory and practice” was unfortunately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although at the moment an in-person conference is not possible, UPCE would like to continue the creativity discussions through a series of online seminars (see below the up-to-date schedule). If you are interested in participating (one of) these seminars, do not forget to book the time on your agenda! Further below, you can find the ZOOM meeting links for these seminars (so no registration is needed). We hope to see many of you!
Warm regards,
The UPCE team
Seminar schedule (More speakers are to be added!)
Speaker |
Date |
Time |
Topic |
Dr. Elisa Kupers (finished) |
07-04-2021 |
15:00 – 16:00 |
Measuring Creativity from Moment to Moment |
Dr. Vlad Glăveanu (finished) |
20-04-2021 |
11:00 – 12:00 |
Educating for possibility: A new agenda for creative education |
Dr. Trinidad Garcia & Tania Pasarín Lavín (finished) |
03-05-2021 |
17:00 – 18:30 |
The Role of Creativity in Learning Disorders and in Special Education Needs (SEN) |
Dr. Inge van de Ven & Dr. Myrthe Faber (finished) |
25-05-2021 |
17:00 – 18:30 |
Literary Reading, Mind-Wandering & Creativity |
Dr. Mathias Benedek |
17-06-2021 |
16:00 – 17:00 |
Advancements in creativity assessment: A psychometric and neuroscience perspective |
(Date adjusted) Dr. Baptiste Barbot, Drs. Anaelle Camarda, Drs. Chrysta Taylor, & Drs. Sameh Said-Metwaly |
23-06-2021 |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Individual Differences in Creativity and Measurement Issues |
Dr. Xiaojing Gu |
28-06-2021 |
13:00 – 14:00 |
Stimulating creativity: Examining the effectiveness of four cognitive-based creativity training techniques |
(Date adjusted) Dr. Rebecca Marrone |
29-09-2021 |
10:00 – 11:00 |
To be announced |
Upcoming seminars:
June 28th, 13:00
Dr. Xiaojing Gu, Radboud University
Stimulating creativity: Examining the effectiveness of four cognitive-based creativity training techniques
Creative thinking is needed to thrive in our fast-changing world. While earlier research has provided support for the effectiveness of creativity training, the focus is mainly on examining comprehensive training programs that are comprised of various training techniques rather than focusing on any specific techniques. Consequently, it remains unclear whether the combined effects of techniques led to the improvement or whether one technique within the package was sufficient for the training success. Also, questions like which training technique is more beneficial for generating original ideas, and which training technique enhances cognitive flexibility remain unanswered. In a previous study, we made an attempt to fill in these research gaps by examining the effectiveness of four cognitive-based creativity training techniques (SCAMPER, random connection, schema violation, and simple ideation). In this seminar, I will talk about whether and how these training techniques involving different cognitive processes that underlie creativity differ in the type of creative performance they enhance.
Online Event: Click HERE to join us (Zoom Link)
September 29th, 10:00
Dr. Rebecca Marrone, University of South Australia
The role of Creativity in Artificial Intelligence – a student perspective
Creativity is a core 21st-century skill and is taught in education systems globally. Creativity is expected to separate us from machines, but is it? In isolation, machines can be more effective problem solvers than humans, and they can exhibit novelty. The challenge to being creative is exhibiting both novelty and effectiveness simultaneously. As AI is being implemented in classrooms around the world, a key question is proposed; how do students perceive AI and creativity? Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students after receiving training in both creativity and AI. Analysis of the interviews highlights student expectations of both creativity and AI vary. Implications of the results are presented as well as future recommendations to ensure both humans and machine can co-exist.
Online Event: Click HERE to join us (Zoom Link)
Previous seminars
April 7th, 15:00
Elisa Kupers, University of Groningen
Measuring creativity from moment to moment
Many creativity theorists see creativity as a socially and materially embedded, dynamic process. In despite of this, creativity is still measured as a latent, individual, stable trait in the vast majority of the empirical literature. Building upon socio-cultural and dynamic definitions of creativity, we designed an instrument to capture the two core characteristics of creativity (novelty and appropriateness) in microgenetic observational data of the creative process (Kupers, van Dijk, & Lehmann-Wermser, 2018). The idea behind this measure is that all actions and utterances of the participants are coded on ordinal scales of novelty and appropriateness. This allows for quantitative analyses of emergent creativity, such as sequential analyses and other time series techniques. We will discuss the validity of this measure when applying it to teacher-student interactions in different educational contexts.
April 20th, 11:00
Vlad Glăveanu, Webster University of Geneva
Educating for possibility: A new agenda for creative education
In this talk I will explore the intersections between creativity, education and the emerging field of possibility studies. I will argue that we need to look, in education, beyond creative individuals, products and even processes and consider the roots of creative expression which are found in guided explorations of the possible. We need therefore to consider the way in which creativity relates to a series of other processes such as wonder, serendipity, counterfactual thinking, and anticipation, among others, and the way it helps us go beyond the here and now of direct experience and explore what could be, what could have been and what can never be. A creative education, adapted for the challenges of the 21st century, is necessarily grounded in an orientation towards the unknown, the possible and the future. In this context, Pedagogies of the Possible emerge as an alternative to the culture of standardisation and pre-determined outcomes that continue to dominate educational practice. It represents are an open invitation to consider the kinds of possibilities and impossibilities associated with current educational practices and to strive towards educating fostering the former and learning from the latter. Some practical consequences of educators are discussed towards the end.
May 3rd, 17:00
Dr. Trinidad Garcia & Tania Pasarín Lavín, University of Oviedo
The Role of Creativity in Learning Disorders and in Special Education Needs (SEN)
In the current educational context, characterized by a high diversity, cultivating creativity implies developing talents of both gifted students and those who present educational needs due to biological, intellectual, social or cultural conditions. Within this context, the relationship between creativity and High Intellectual Abilities is well known. However, the relationship between creativity and other frequent childhood conditions, such as Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are now receiving much attention from researchers in the fields of Education and Psychology. The aim of this seminar is to deepen into the characterization and measurement of creativity within these conditions from both theoretical and practical viewpoints. We will also explore the potentialities of Differentiated Instruction (DI) as a model to promote effective teaching and learning experiences.
May 25th, 17:00-18:30
Dr. Inge van de Ven, University of Tilburg & Dr. Myrthe Faber, Radboud University
Literary Reading, Mind-Wandering & Creativity
Have you ever experienced that you most creative ideas come to you when you are taking a walk in the park, or taking a shower, or just generally letting your mind wander freely? This has been called ‘divergent thinking’, and it is associated with creativity: when you’re not staring at the task at hand, your thoughts might flow more freely, and you start looking at problems from a fresh perspective, solving problems or using objects in unusual ways. The relation between creativity and mind wandering in reading, so far has not received a lot of scholarly attention: perhaps because in learning how to read literature, the emphasis is usually on close, attentive reading.
Is mind wandering in reading literary texts always detrimental, a distraction from the meaningful experience? Or can it be beneficial: might it be meaningfully related to creativity and if so, how can we test this? Our session will focus on the relation between reading, mind wandering, and creativity. During this session, we will also conduct a little ‘experiment’ with mind wandering while reading texts, with a reading assignment followed by a creativity test and a short discussion.
June 17th, 16:00
Dr. Mathias Benedek, University of Graz
Advancements in creativity assessment: A psychometric and neuroscience perspective
The assessment of creativity using divergent thinking tests and similar measures has a long history, but there is considerable uncertainty in the field on how these tests should be best administered and scored. Recently, there have been increasing efforts to rigorously examine the psychometric quality of existing tests, and to explore new approaches capitalizing on advancements in cognitive research and computational methods. Moreover, evidence from neuroscience offers new insights in the neurocognitive processes underlying creative thinking, which can inform more valid assessments. This presentation gives an overview over relevant findings and promising developments in the field of creativity assessment.
June 23th, 13:00
Dr. Baptiste Barbot, Dr. Anaelle Camarda, Dr. Chrysta Taylor, & Dr. Sameh Said-Metwaly, Université Catholique de Louvain – UCLouvain
Individual Differences in Creativity and Measurement Issues
Identifying and understanding individual differences that impact creative behavior, performance, and achievement has been the focus of a great deal of research. Conclusions regarding the individual differences that affect creativity have important implications, particularly in education. Thus, it is vital to have a clear understanding of the measurement issues that might influence these conclusions. This seminar will explore several issues in the measurement of individual differences in creativity related to the research conducted by postdoctoral scholars in Dr. Baptiste Barbot’s lab at UCLouvain. Dr. Christa L. Taylor will present work examining the Greater Male Variability Hypothesis in creativity, which suggests that males demonstrate greater variability than females and are overrepresented in the lowest and highest ranges of creative ability, and discuss the use of indicators of variability to measure individual differences in creativity. Dr. Anaëlle Camarda will present work examining the ability to overcome fixation during the generation of creative ideas in childhood and adulthood, and discuss the nature of the fixation effect, as well as its development and methods of measurement. Dr. Sameh Said-Metwaly will present work exploring the properties of an Arabic version of the Verbal TTCT, and discuss conclusions for its factor structure, measurement invariance, and latent mean differences across gender, year of study, and academic major.