Assessing Creativity in College through Writing

Authors

  • Robert J Sternberg Oklahoma State University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.319

Keywords:

analytical skills, creative skills, practical skills, wisdom-based skills, intelligence

Abstract

Assessment of students for college admissions and performance tends to emphasize memory and analytical skills – that is, one’s retrieval of acquired knowledge and one’s skill in analyzing that knowledge. But in everyday life, individuals need creative skills to generate new ideas, analytical skills to assess the value of those ideas, practical skills to implement the ideas and to persuade others of their value, and wisdom-based skills to ensure the ideas help achieve a common good. I discuss in this article a program for assessing the creative, practical, and wisdom-based skills that currently are neglected by many assessments, and provide data regarding the outcomes of the program.

Author Biography

  • Robert J Sternberg, Oklahoma State University

    Robert J. Sternberg is Provost, Senior Vice President, and Regents Professor of Psychology and Education at Oklahoma State University, as well as Honorary Professor at Heidelberg University in Germany. His Ph.D. is from Stanford University in psychology and he holds 12 honorary doctorates. He is a former President of the American Psychological Association and is President of the Federation of Associations of Brain and Behavioral Sciences.

References

Jaschik, S. (2011) Beyond the standard essay. Retrieved on 26 October 2011 from http://www.insidehighereducation.com/news/2011/08/29/oklahoma_state_university_gets_ready_to_ask_broader_questions_in_admissions.

Kaufman, J.C. and Sternberg, R.J. (eds.) (2010) Cambridge Handbook of Creativity. New York: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511763205.

Sternberg, R.J., Bonney, C.R., Gabora, L., Karelitz, T. and Coffin, L. (2010) Broadening the spectrum of undergraduate admissions. College and University 86(1): 2–17.

Sternberg, R.J., and Lubart, T.I. (1995) Defying the Crowd: Cultivating Creativity in a Culture of Conformity. New York: Free Press.

Sternberg, R.J. (2009) The Rainbow and Kaleidoscope Projects: A new psychological approach to undergraduate admissions. European Psychologist 14:279–287.http://dx.doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.4.279.

Sternberg, R.J. (2010) College Admissions for the 21st Century. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.

Sternberg, R.J. (2011) Solving a pesky problem: Standardized testing in college admissions. Inside Higher Education. Retrieved on 2 November 2011 from http://www.insidehighered.com/views/2011/11/01/essay-difficulty-promoting-reforms-admissions-testing.

Sternberg, R.J. and the Rainbow Project Collaborators (2005) Augmenting the SAT through assessments of analytical, practical, and creative skills. In W. Camara and E. Kimmel (eds.) Choosing Students: Higher Education Admission Tools for the 21st Century 159–176. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Sternberg, R.J. and The Rainbow Project Collaborators (2006) The Rainbow Project: Enhancing the SAT through assessments of analytical, practical and creative skills. Intelligence 34(4): 321–350.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intell.2006.01.002.

Published

2012-12-28

Issue

Section

Reflections on Practice

How to Cite

Sternberg, R. J. (2012). Assessing Creativity in College through Writing. Writing and Pedagogy, 4(2), 319-323. https://doi.org/10.1558/wap.v4i2.319

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