IGE: Enhancing imaginative and collaborative STEM capacity through creative inquiry

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

Advanced scientific and technical training is insufficient to position the leaders of tomorrow to solve the complex problems we face. They must also be able to think creatively, to collaborate across disciplines, and to work with people with different perspectives, knowledge, and values. There is compelling evidence that creativity training can stimulate both scientific creativity and interdisciplinary collaboration, but to date, little attention has been given to creativity training in STEM graduate education. This National Science Foundation Innovations of Graduate Education (IGE) award to the University of Georgia will bring a diverse group of graduate students together from STEM and arts disciplines to address issues in the local watershed using creativity-based training methods from the arts. This project will investigate the impact of targeted creativity training on the ability of STEM students to frame problems in new ways and help diverse teams solve complex problems. If successful, widespread adoption of these methods will contribute to equipping STEM graduates across the country with communication and collaboration skills and ultimately increase creative and innovative solutions to complex global environmental challenges. Over each of five semesters, this project will recruit a cohort of ten students in the early stages of graduate study, five from STEM disciplines who self-identify as interested in environmental science, and five from arts disciplines. Cohorts will meet for six workshops facilitated by two faculty members from STEM and arts disciplines. Workshops are designed to build core creative competencies and develop skills for collaborative interdisciplinary practice. Students will gain practical experience sharing disciplinary viewpoints, creating analogies from scientific concepts, and developing collaborative frameworks for complex problem solving. The final workshop will result in a set of proposed solutions to a local watershed problem, collaboratively identified by students and stakeholders. Complementary quantitative and qualitative methods will be used to examine students' abilities to shift thinking (increase "cognitive flexibility"), generate novel ideas, and effectively communicate and collaborate with one another. This project seeks to fundamentally enhance how STEM students are educated by engaging them in creative processes related to their research topics. Successful elements will be incorporated into a scalable training model that will be widely disseminated and available for adoption at other institutions. The Innovations in Graduate Education (IGE) program is focused on research in graduate education. The goals of IGE are to pilot, test and validate innovative approaches to graduate education and to generate the knowledge required to move these approaches into the broader community. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.