Creativity in College

Creativity can best be described as an onion. There are multiple layers and each layer represents a different section or category of creativity. Kaufman and Beghetto describe creativity as having 4 layers that they call the 4-C model. The layers consist of Big-C, Little-C, Mini-C, and Pro-C. Their model is very well put together and covers a lot of what creativity is about. Still, there is much to be learned about creativity and all that it truly encompasses.

            Creativity is so important because it is something that us humans do each and every day whether we know it or not. Creativity can be the littlest things such as drawing, writing a story, building something, or solving a problem. All of these are examples of Little-C creativity. Each and every day we use Little-C creativity which is why it is important to teach students ways to strengthen their creativity.

            Perhaps the best place to help students grow their creativity is at college. In college students can be taught how to improve their creativity through critical thinking problems, real world applications, hands-on studies, projects that exercise thought, and many more ways. Students can also grow their creativity on their own by utilizing a campuses academic creativity resources. There are programs specifically designed to help students increase their inventive and innovative skills.

            Many colleges have preparatory and improvement seminars that students can attend to learn new ways in which they can improve their habits and skills. Students can learn tips on time management by making schedules or attend workshops that help to boost ones reading or writing proficiency. Students can take in all of this information and modify it to their benefit, enhancing their techniques that will ultimately make them better students with a stronger sense of creativity.

            LLC’s (Living-Learning Communities) are great for students to be a part of because they nurture creativity and promote growth in all students. These communities are where students and faculty of similar interests can collaborate to stimulate creativity and advancement. Creativity can be found everywhere and everyone is capable of expressing it. It is the job of teachers to help students grow the seed of creativity that is within them.

How much do we know about creativity?

Creativity as a whole is a topic that is insufficient. By insufficient it is meant that there is a lack of knowledge in this field. I can tell that this is true because even in my own daily life I never think about creativity or what it is. But, little did I know that I experience creativity on a daily basis, however, it’s that lack of knowledge on creativity that didn’t allow me to see that. Being creative doesn’t have to mean that you have to come up with crazy inventions or develop new theories. The kind of creativity we experience is everyday creativity. This can consist of adding a new ingredient to a recipe or doodling something on a piece of paper. Creativity is originality! The more we look into what creativity is and how can accomplish it, the more we can incorporate this concept in our lives. Therefore, knowledge about creativity is very important. Being able to involve ourselves with creativity will even alter how our minds think, in a good way of course. We will make smarter decisions and think twice before doing something. Creativity has a way of allowing us to not have such a linear mindset but to think outside the box being able to put piece together and with this we are able to have a sense of accomplishment in our lives. We can feel that we were able to achieve something on our own through an original thought. It doesn’t take much to be creative but when we know how to achieve its amazing how much it has an impact on our lives. 

Why Creativity

Creativity is used by everyone around us. It is used so often people usually do not even realize its happening. But why is it important? Creativity gives us our unique identity. When we use our creativity we are producing an idea that no one else has experienced or thought of in that exact same way, this gives us so much power because the possibilities are endless with creativity. We show our creativity in what we wear, how we decorate, and the crafts we do. In a professional environment we show creativity by the way we tackle the problems we have to solve and by ways we will present the information so that customers will enjoy it. This is so important to the way our society runs; if we weren’t creative everyone would be the same and there would only be one idea for how to accomplish any task. Many of the new advancements in technology would not be around because someone was uniquely creative and made it. Our lives are heavily impacted by the creativity of others by drawing from their inspiration. We look at the ideas of others and expand them into something that could be entirely new. Creativity brings joy to the entire world and it develops a sense of community. Music and art are appreciated around the world. People spend their lives listening to music and when groups get together and sing the same songs it brings a sense of unity. This is especially true in a concert setting or in smaller settings such as a car full of friends. Art is appreciated in galleries all over. People travel to Europe to visit famous pieces of artwork as well as traveling to art galleries that are local. People fill their homes with artwork because we love individual creativity, people would not want to go into another house that is filled with the same art, we want that sense of uniqueness. Creativity balances out our society by giving each person a unique place. If we open ourselves to the idea of being creative and giving ourselves permission to explore our creative side, we will begin to accomplish much more than we ever thought possible. The world needs to support creativity on a more public level to inspire the community to open themselves to it. 

Creativity and innovation

Creativity is far more than what meets the eye. Creativity is what makes everyone unique,helping them with the creation of their own special set of skills. These skills transfer over to one's level of creativity and level of engagement in everyday life.  We tend to find people who have more open personalities are more creative, than those who are more closed off and introverted. Based off of the similarities and differences in these texts we are able to better understand creativity and how it affects everyday life. It helps us understand how we incorporate it into our lives. 

Creativity and innovation go hand and hand. You cannot have one without the other. It is a combined force that helps us live our everyday lives. An example of innovation on Unf’s campus would be the osprey robotics club. In the osprey robotics club, members gain a better understanding of the world of robotics while incorporating mechanics, programming and electronics Unf has made that has allowed students to feel safe and comfortable with their own unique ideas. It has allowed students the ability to create innovations that can be not only applied in school but out of school as well. It has shaped a campus into a safe haven where all ideas are welcomed and embraced.

Knowledge and Creativity

            As a person learns more and more about a specific craft, they gather up an increasingly sizeable pool of knowledge about the subject as a result. This is a given, of course, but what’s interesting is what knowledge about something can open up for you. When you know just how you can shape something, and use your experiences and previous failures and continuously improve a specific concept, occasionally diverging from the original concept to make something entirely new, you get this feeling of pride in your creativity.

            In Kaufman and Beghetto’s Four-C Model of creativity, they describe the growth of creativity as made up of four stages: mini-, little-, pro-, and big-C. Each of these stages are split up by how well one understands their personal creative process and, especially at the latter end of the scale, how much one’s creative accomplishments affect the medium itself. Once you have a grip on expressing your emotions, like possibly through a couple fridge drawings as a child, and then done a couple projects or classes on the subject, you’re on your way to pro-C, also known as the “professional” level.

            At this point, this is where at least half of your growth is based on knowledge. If you’re an artist, maybe learning a new artstyle or learning something new about color theory may expand the appeal of your work. If you’re a game designer, perhaps learning about how a new game on the market made players feel will give you a new insight on how to make a meaningful challenge. It’s very important that you broaden your horizons when it comes to your craft. After all, many groundbreaking fantasy authors were anthropology and humanities majors, or at least studied it on the side.

            Of course, what will really bring you to big-C, if you ever get there, is passion and dedication. But knowledge tends to be foundation and your tool to innovate and move forward in your profession, as it can help you light the path towards continual improvement.

The meaning behind Creativity and some examples

Creativity is what makes humans stand out among other species. We as human beings use creativity in our everyday lives without even realizing it. When you wake up in the morning and you put together an outfit that suits your mood for the day, that is an act of creativity. When you are just doodling during a meeting at work or in class, that is an act of creativity; and everyone is creative. Although, we are all creative we all don’t view creativity in the same way. The value you see in creativity depends on what you think is valuable. For example, you may believe that it is better to win the art fair by imitating a work that you have seen before because you ended up winning. But, others may believe that the person who came up with something never seen before, a new way of painting with new mediums, creativity is of more value. Because creativity is at its peak when you form a completely new idea or innovation. These new ideas and innovations can come from anything that sparks an interest in the creator.

With new ideas and innovations being made every day the concept behind creativity was finally made. Two researchers found that they could put all types of creativity into a model called the Four-c Model. This model states that creativity has four types: Big-C,Little-c,mini-c,Pro-c. Each of these different from the next. Big-C creativity deals with creative greatness and genius. Little-c involves a creative act done by an average person. While mini-c is the difference between a 1^st graders insight on astronomy and a senior in high schools insight on astronomy. Both having valid input but one person’s input (the senior) is of more value because of their level of thinking. Lastly Pro-c which involves the difference between someone that has mastered a skill but is just not well known for the mastery of that skill when compared to someone well known for their mastery. This is the difference between a professor that has mastered their subject but will never be as well-known as the person that made the theories they use to come up with their new research and studies. With all these categories of creativity, people will now be able to compare what they believe is everyday creativity (Little-c) to creative greatness (Big-C).

Now that you know what the academic world is defining creativity as you can make your own decisions as to what fits in each category and whether or not you believe these categories fulfill all aspects of creativity. You can decide if everything creative can be confined to this model or you can think of a new concept or think of nothing at all. That’s the whole idea behind creativity you are the one forming new opinions and coming up with new concepts that interest you. You determine what is creative.

Everyday Creativity

The definition of creativity is the use of imagination or original ideas; however, creativity can be expressed in so many different ways. Just throughout the day people use creativity so many times without even knowing, as I have made the transition from high school to college there are more ways to express your creativity in college. For an example, the physical therapy students and the engineering students use their academic innovation to be creative. They do that by creating toy cars for kids that have disabilities, the physical therapists diagnose the kid’s disability and what they can and cannot do and share that information with the engineers. The engineers use the information from the physical therapy students and create a toy car customized for a kid with the certain disability so he can still be like all the other kids and have fun with a toy car.

There are so many different ways of showing your creativity in college, you can join a fraternity or a sorority, or even a club if you want to express your creativity. They each have their own way to keep the members involved and each member is able to express their ideas of creativity. A lot of clubs, sororities and fraternities do a lot of fundraisers which is a great way for them to express their creativity and academic innovation. Fundraisers are great because you can use your imagination, there are no restrictions. Creativity is not something that you have or you don’t, it is something that anyone can have if they want.