- Title
- Creativity and curriculum design: an integrated model
- Creator
- Meany, Michael
- Relation
- Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference 2017. Refereed Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association Conference 2017 - Communication Worlds: Access, Voice, Diversity, Engagement (Sydney 4-7 July, 2017)
- Relation
- https://www.anzca.net/conferences/past-conferences/2017-conf/p2.html
- Publisher
- Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA
- Resource Type
- conference paper
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- This paper presents a model of curriculum development for higher education in the domain of communication based on the systems model of creativity (cf. Csikszentmihalyi, 1999; Kerrigan, 2013; McIntyre, 2012; Sawyer, 2006). Employing the systems model of creativity allows curriculum design to integrate the desirable elements of student-centred, teacher-centred and content-centred teaching and learning models whilst de-centring each of these approaches. The systems model is composed of three elements: domain, field, and individual. The domain "consists of a set of symbolic rules and procedures", the core knowledge and skills of that area (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 315). The field is "made up of experts in a given domain whose job involves passing judgement on performance in that domain. Members of the field choose from among the novelties those that deserve to be included in the canon" (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 315). The domain evolves as the field admits innovations. The individual may be the visible representative of creative activity but the challenge in this model is to neither over-state nor under-state the importance of the individual in the development of innovations. A person who wants to make a creative contribution not only must work within a creative system but must also reproduce that system within his or her mind. In other words, the person must learn the rules and content of the domain, as well as the criteria of selection, the preference of the field. Creativity "can be observed only at the intersection where individuals, domains, and fields interact" (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999, p. 314) In the proposed model of curriculum neither the teacher, nor the student nor the content has a privileged position; it is the dynamic interaction that creates an engaging learning environment. The teacher supplies the rationale for the course explaining how and why the skills and knowledge presented in the course integrate with the student's program of study. Further, the teacher designs a course that is a sub-set of a larger domain of knowledge - no one course can contain everything. The course is then developed to supply useful and up-to-date content. The role of the course is not only to supply content from the overarching domain but also to enunciate the procedures of assessment and to be capable for accepting novel innovations and modifications. Development occurs with reference to the domain, the over-arching discipline area, and to the field, represented by the teaching team and their Faculty peers with reference to University policies and procedures. The interaction between the student and the course is typically codified in student feedback on course surveys. Likewise, the interaction between the teacher and student is based on assessment events and student feedback on teaching. This paper will present examples of how this model of curriculum development has been employed in media and communication courses. It will argue that engaging learning experiences can be observed only at the intersection where students, courses, and teachers interact.
- Subject
- assessment; creativity; curriculum design; systems model
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1384564
- Identifier
- uon:32102
- Identifier
- ISSN:1448-4331
- Rights
- This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Australian License.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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