Creativity and design: an educational dilemma

This paper explores the issue of creativity in design and considers its educational implications and in particular as it relates to assessment. The paper forms part of an ongoing Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) research project entitled Assessing Creativity: Strategies and Tools to Support Teaching and Learning in Architecture and Design, which rose from the 2008 ALTC Discipline Based Initiative (DBI) study into the architectural discipline across Australasia (Ostwald and Williams 2008a; 2008b). In the DBI study, Ostwald and Williams found that there is widespread confusion and disagreement surrounding assessment practices for design, in particular as they relate to creativity. The current study addresses this ambiguity and aims to arrive at a model of creativity and a set of strategies for assessing creativity in design education that may bridge theoretical and practical approaches to design creativity. This paper forms part of this process and reports on data collected during a symposium with Australian design academics and practitioners who met to discuss their perceptions and experiences of creativity and assessment of design students’ creative works.