Strengths and Limitations
Future Research Work
Recommendations to Enhance Practice
their work and / or their self-identities is consistent with other studies. For example, science teachers in Turkey reported medium-levels of creativity in selfevaluations which it was argued was either because of their perceived inadequecies or because they were unclear about the concept( Demir, 2015). Issues around confidence in identifying oneself as being innovative were also revealed in a South African study that highlighted the power of cooperative learning in positive identity formation( Kempe and Reed, 2014). Students themselves may struggle similarly with such self-identities, although an online intervention to raise awareness of creativity among bioscience postgraduate students in England found it developed participants’ confidence to see themselves as creative( Adams et al., 2010). Staff are role models for students and so, with appropriate intervention / support, need to show awareness of their own creativity and innovation, claiming these labels for themselves as well as confidently applying them to students and enabling students to do likewise.
The broader literature is also in alignment with our finding that the creative process is routine practice in research, driven in part by the need to solve problems, with examples drawn from Greece, Slovenia and the USA, spanning Science, Engineering and Music( Charyton and Snelbecker, 2007, Daskolia et al., 2012, Juriševič, 2011). However, the view held by some of our participants, that the terms creativity and innovation are necessarily valueladen, is challenged in the literature. Berg and Östergren( 2006), who study innovation in HE in Sweden, propose that innovation, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad as there are many types of innovation. Daskolia et al( 2012), who study creative thinking in relation to environmental education in Greece, argue that creativity is not inherently good, benevolent or constructive, but there is the potential for harm if awareness of the impacts on society and the environment is lacking( Cropley et al., 2010, Sternberg, 2010, Craft et al., 2008, Daskolia et al., 2012).
Such differences of opinion resonate with our findings that understandings of these concepts are likely to be associated with disciplinary concerns. As we have seen, multiple factors( such as the need to build awareness and confidence, to develop critical thinking skills within assessment-driven cultures, and to talk about the emotional impact relating to value judgements) were indicated as impacting on using, articulating and embedding creativity and innovation into both staff and students’ everyday learning and teaching practices.
Strengths and Limitations
A key strength of this work is that we have drawn on international literature and empirical data from staff who work in various disciplinary contexts. Our analytical approach was iterative, involving repeated discussions and reflection. Consequently, by taking our time to reach consensus, we got deeper into our data which enabled us to go beyond what we set out to achieve. This enhanced our personal and professional development.
The main limitation is the lack of qualitative data from students; had we gathered their insights about these concepts, we may have gained more knowledge about their understandings and enhanced our findings. Sample size and sampling context are also limiting factors in terms of generalisability but our findings still likely have broader relevance beyond LSHTM.
Future Research Work
It would be prudent to gather more detailed qualitative and quantitative data from LSHTM students to identify whether or not our findings resonate with their experiences. We could conduct baseline surveys( pre-implementation) to evaluate students’ understandings and self-evaluations of their skills, knowledge and understandings about creativity and innovation. Following implementation of the current recommendations below into a number of taught courses at LSHTM, we could then conduct a post-implementation survey and interviews with staff and students, relating to our current findings above and the impact of implementing them into practice. The study could also be extended to other settings.
Recommendations to Enhance Practice
We recommend the following to enhance learning
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