Engaging Creativity: Fostering creative thinking in art and design education through assessment strategies

Creativity is a valued aspect of art and design practice and is thus an inherent aspect of pedagogy in this domain. However, in universities, art education typically occurs within a learning context characterised by frameworks involving prescriptive tasks, set assignment criteria and prescribed deadlines which can impact on students' confidence and desire to experiment, risk and explore imaginative approaches. Creativity is often hindered by ‘fixation', a term used to describe attachment to a limited set of concepts or possibilities as a result of drawing only on pre-existing knowledge. We argue that fixation can also occur when students are focused on outcomes and grades rather than exploring possibilities and extending their practice. Creativity can also be affected by curriculum design and pedagogical approaches, and educators can orchestrate conditions that influence student engagement and creative capacity – both negatively and positively. Many students arrive at university with pre-existing skills acquired through routine interaction with ever-changing communication and media technologies, and a preference for collaborative and constructive learning, which challenges traditional, transmissive pedagogical models. Consequently, learning design which supports creativity also needs to take into account the shifting and diverse learning styles of current student cohorts. This paper examines some pedagogical strategies which have been employed to motivate students to utilise and develop their creative thinking. It presents two case studies - one involving a practicebased course and the other, a theory based subject and focuses on connections between creativity and assessment. The first study examines the implications of assessment feedback on student creativity and considers what helps and what hinders. It involves strategies and reflective practices designed to encourage students to generate multiple ideas and actively engage in creative thinking and risk taking through assessment. Underpinning this approach is the notion of assessment for learning and as learning, as a means of encouraging creative thinking. The second case study explores strategies employed in an introductory art history course to facilitate meaningful connections between theory and praxis. It considers how assessment can be constructed to facilitate these aims and to foster creativity and collaborative learning. The paper examines these cases to consider how art educators can design curricula and assessment tasks that generate conducive learning environments for enhancing pre-existing abilities and supporting creative thinking