Making A Creativity Game

What was your “experience” of this experiential learning process? What did you learn in this game about the connections between learning, creativity and play?

The session was fun and rather engaging, as we received many "creative aids" that helped our brainstorming session by allow us to see things in different ways. This session has reinforced to me the notion that creativity can be nurtured, and that it is through play that we nurture it. Play is enjoyable, so it allows us to remember the experience and thus learn from it.

How different is this process from “conventional” learning methods. Can it be applied to all subjects? What is the connection between experience and learning?

This is a step away from conventional teaching that works better because it gives us experience by making us do what is taught and then seeing the results that unfold. Experience has always been a better teacher than mere words, pictures and derived conclusions, simply because it gives us a "feel" of the entire process and thus makes us remember. It also helps us learn the small nuances of processes that cannot, or are too insignificant, to put in words.

Experiential learning cannot be applied to all subjects because it requires the creation of a scenario that is designed to give a certain experience without too many instructions (or it'll become nothing more than a lecture with hands-on). The lack of instructions is essential, because looking for a solution to problems is an essential part of every experience. Not everything can be learnt through experience simply because some things require you to have the technical know-how first before you get your hands dirty.

Reflect on the process of using games as research. What were the ideas, techniques and methods you learned from this process?

Using games as research allows us to grasp how certain mechanics will work without seeing them actually in action. It also made me realise that the best ideas aren't the ones that suddenly appear, but the ones that are tailored to fix a specific problem that specific scenario we're in faces.

Explain your first model of the creativity/learning process you created through this game. Include a flow-diagram of the game’s processes. What are the similarities and differences in the creative process for game-creation and other (creative) activities? Explain.

What other insights do you have about the psychology of learning, creativity, play and gaming?

Learning and creativity are linked. Creativity is a result of us looking for solutions to problems or questions through tapping onto past experience.

Play is linked to learning, because play presents us with obstacles that we will use our undivided attention (through play's immersiveness) to solve.

Gaming is an extension of play that makes the experience all the more immersive for us.

How else can you refine your creativity model? What are the gaps in your model? As you start to conceive your creativity model/game assignment, what’s the next step you need to take?

It is difficult to put down in words something as abstract as how to improve a creativity model, because how creativity is applied is relative to the problem one is facing. Creativity is finding new ways to solve problems, and having a creativity model will more often than not restrict a person's creativity because it is a certain set of rules one must adhere to.

That said, there are definitely ways to improve my creative thinking skills. By exposing myself more to things I haven't been exposed to, like places I haven't been to or games I haven't played, I will definitely be better equipped for creative thinking. A large part of creativity is drawing from the past for a solution that is not only new, but also best made to solve the problem at hand.

What are the implications of using games in this way? List some of the issues, pros and cons of doing games research in this manner. How reliable is this method of research?

Coming soon.

Think of some other psychological/social areas in which games can be used as tools of research.

Games can be used to research social interactions between people and human emotions, since 2 of the main reasons people play games are as follows: to experience something extraordinary, and to interact with people.

Bonus Question: As you imagine the possibilities of expanding the creativity process through new methods and techniques, media and technology, think up of an imaginary possibility (or two) of such a creative experience.

The ultimate experience of creativity would be one that throws us into a make-believe world completely and puts us on the seat of the omnipotency. In a position where we can do anything and everything imaginable, many possibilities that we initially did not see will be seen with more clarity and direction. Then, all that's left for us would be to refine these possibilities into something that is feasible in our three-dimensional world.

Compare your group’s brainstorming process with that of the game you created. What similarities and differences are there? What would this mean for a general theory of creativity, and for you to consider when you implement a creativity game?

"Anything goes."

That was the thought we had when we started on conceptualising the creativity game. We did not want to be limited by rules and procedures, and were only guided by one general objective: the game had to inspire creativity. While the game that came out wasn't exactly "anything goes", it was a game where you had to think on your feet; and while the game had rules and procedures, they were light and simple. What, I think, came out of that session was like a child of the creative processes that went through our heads--smaller in scope, but nonetheless effective.