CREATIVITY IN EDUCATION; SHIFTING CULTURAL PARADIGMS

Abstract

This spring I had the opportunity to teach at our partner college, Liaocheng University, in China. The lab activities and lectures were designed as explicit modeling of science instructional strategies, physical and earth science topics, and some American educational philosophies. I was amazed at the degree to which college learning has vastly different spectrums of practice in different cultures. For the purposes of this presentation, a discussion will be made concerning the roles of self-discipline, divergent thinking, and creativity in classes in USA and China. I will also discuss the roles of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in how student perceive learning in general and their science educators specifically. Suggestions of how college instructors could shift their teaching paradigms will be made.