About this course: This course deals directly with your ability for creativity which is a critical skill in any field. It focuses on divergent thinking, the ability to develop multiple ideas and concepts to solve problems. Through a series of creativity building exercises, short lectures, and readings, learners develop both an understanding of creativity and increase their own ability.

This course will help you understand the role of creativity and innovation in your own work and in other disciplines. It will challenge you to move outside of your existing comfort zone and to recognize the value of that exploration. This course will help you understand the importance of diverse ideas, and to convey that understanding to others.

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

Creative problem solving is a skill that can be developed. It requires extensive work by learners, but the lessons, while not conveying traditional content, will change the you in ways you do not foresee, but ways which are cherished.

Week 2: Divergent and Convergent Thinking

In this unit we'll look as some of the ways we can describe creativity and examine the concepts of divergent and convergent thinking. We'll look at generating more ideas, how to critique and make improvements, and continue to practice our development of ideas.

Week 3: Creative Methods

Sometimes, we need external methods to help us touch all the bases in our creative capability. Here, we'll look at a couple of good methods for helping us generate new ideas.

Week 4: Creativity and Observation

A lot of the time, creativity can be spurred by something in the environment, triggering connections with new ideas. We react to things we have seen and our experiences; that is from where we build our new ideas.

Week 5: Creativity Models and Theories

There are a lot of different ways to examine the complex concept of creativity; we'll look at some of them and continue to build our own creativity.

Week 6: Conclusion

The goal of the course is for you to continue to develop your own creativity, in your own way and in your own life. Here are some ways to move forward.