Developing creativity amongst first year science undergraduates: art assignments in science curricula

For several years, a range of innovative assignments have been incorporated into the microbiology component of the undergraduate biology/biomedical science curriculum. These assignments have been designed to encourage the development of transferable skills, and have included the design of leaflets and posters providing information to the public, production of video, and other ‘live ’ projects – that is, work that has been commissioned by a real ‘client’. Thus in addition to student learning, additional enterprise and communication skills are acquired (Verran, 1992 a, b; 1993). A recent and ongoing assignment has built on these activities, and has been designed to encourage communication and creativity, using microbiology as the focus. Discussions amongst the microbiology community regarding the content of the microbiology undergraduate curriculum tends to divide (simplistically) between those who teach fundamental principles in early years in order to subsequently address applied aspects, and those who work to initially enthuse students in the subject in whatever way possible, for example by focusing on applications of microbiology and subsequently investigating the underlying scientific principles. Happily at MMU we combine both approaches! MMU has provided opportunities for unusual interdisciplinary collaborations, one being links between microbiology and art. Thus art students have visited the microbiology laboratories to explore and develop project work. Science and art students worked together to design displays for th