Theatre-Based Creativity Activities for the Development of Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Engineering

Previous research papers have shown how creativityCreativity can flourish in learning environments where students are not admonished for taking risks or facing failure. Unfortunately, these types of learning environments/creativityCreativity practices are not interwoven methodologically into most STEM curriculaCurriculum; indeed, studies demonstrate that engineeringEngineering students’ levels of creativityCreativity decrease over the course of their training. Recent studies have revealed that when creativityCreativity is methodologically incorporated into curriculaCurriculum, students are able to apply it immediately and in the long-term. The CreativityCreativity Academy, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a program designed to teach and support engineeringEngineering faculty in higher education with the integrationIntegration (of STEM education and Entrepreneurship, also Entrepreneurial STEM) and implementation of evidence-based creativityCreativity training into their classrooms. The long-term goal is to prepare an innovative engineeringEngineering workforce by creating, implementing, and testing a new educational framework that incorporates creativityCreativity training throughout the engineeringEngineering curriculumCurriculum at the University of Missouri. Our research operates from the twenty-first-century skill21st century skills requirement that educatorsEducators must train students not only to understand and apply engineeringEngineering practices, but also to innovate upon them. This chapter will explain three facets of the CreativityCreativity Academy: (1) the academy design and module learning objectives, (2) a description of the journal reflection assignment that participants completed during the CreativityCreativity Academy, and (3) an outline of one theatre-based creativityCreativity exercise. These three sections identify key methods for integrating creativityCreativity training into curriculaCurriculum: designing learning objectives, reflection through writing, and an embodied theatre exercise that allows students to confront rarely challenged habits.