Teaching creativity in computer science

Abstract

In this paper, we describe how a multidisciplinary undergraduate course in Conducting Robots becomes a venue for fostering creativity and teaching strategies for creativity enhancement. We perform a number of creativity measurements and explain our results in the context of creativity research.

Are Undergraduate Creative Coders Clean Coders?

“…However, creativity was not mentioned. The same is true for reports on the creativity of computing students that do not mention code quality [12,29].…”

“…Many published papers on measuring creativity in the SIGCSE community are limited to the constructs of divergent thinking [16,29]. To make matters worse, creativity seems to exist in different contexts, where different kinds of creativity seem to manifest, according to Veale et al [33]: creativity from within yourself, creativity in teams, and creativity on socio-organizational levels.…”

Impact of Open-Ended Assignments on Student Motivation in Introductory Computer Science (CS1)

“…In this increasingly digitized era and in response to grossly expanding CS enrolment rates (Roberts, 2016) much of CS education has become automated and de-personalized, with many undergraduate institutions auto-grading assignments through computerized test cases. Rather than exploring broader ideas of the relevance of CS to the development of society, democracy, innovation, and so on, many first-year CS students receive limited exposure to the creativities and capabilities of CS tools and technology (Salgian et al, 2013). This may be a contributing factor to the widely observed disappointing student performance and low retention rates in CS1 courses across institutions (Shell et al, 2016).…”

“…Several attempts have been taken within CSE research to re-conceptualize aspects of CS1 to increase student engagement and retention (Petersen et al, 2016;Shell et al, 2016). One of the factors these attempts address is the importance of creative thinking opportunities (Knobelsdorf & Schulte, 2005;Romeike, 2007;Salgian et al, 2013) and the need to understand student motivation (Apiola et al, 2010;Senko & Tropiano, 2016). A recurring theme within studies about creativity and motivation in CS is allowing students freedom to explore/experiment by making their own choices on assignments (Alhazmi et al, 2018;Schanzer et al, 2018;VanDeGrift, 2007).…”