This is What We
Did in Our Class
Creativity and Flow
Jackclyn Ngo
Jackclyn Ngo presents research on
flow and discusses class projects and creativity.
Transcript
[00:00]
Mihály Csíkszentmihályi (MEE-hye CHEEK-sent-mə-HYE-ee) is a psychology
professor specializing in creativity research.
[Video plays Csíkszentmihályi giving flow talk.]
He first proposed the concept of "flow," which is a state of removed
inspiration that a person experiences in the process of pursuing
something that engages just the right blend of challenge, ability, and
interest.
[00:21]
Csíkszentmihályi: "In our studies we represent the every day life of
people in this simple scheme, and two things we measure is the amount
of challenge people experience at that moment and the amount of skills
they feel they have at that moment. You have a set point there, which
would be in the middle. If we know what that set point it, we can
predict fairly accurately when you will be in flow and it will be when
your challenges are higher than average and skills are higher than
average."
[00:54]
In the Fall of 2010 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
English professor Dan Anderson lead a class formally titled
"Introductory Seminar to Literary Studies" and informally renamed it to
"Performing Literature," because of the unique requirement for students
to create and perform works related to the literature explored in
class, such as a video mash-up of popular media or a screencast visual
essay on a novel.
[01:22]
The work students did in Performing Literature generated many
ingredients of creativity.
[01:32]
[Video zooms in to screenshot of a page of Csíkszentmihályi's research:
"For artists the goal of the activity is not so easily found. In fact,
the more creative the problem, the less clear it is what needs to be
done."]
[01:34]
Michela linked the unfamiliar nature of the tasks with a sense of
creativity. Many of the activities brought to light the key elements of
flow.
[01:40]
[Speech bubble on class website of Michela's writing, "The mash-up
proved to be a particular challenge for me... in learning the technical
aspects of its construction."]
[01:45]
Csíkszentmihályi: "And regardless of the culture and regardless of
education or whatever, there are these seven conditions that seem to be
there when a person is in flow.
There's this focus that once it becomes intense, leaves a sense of
ecstasy, a sense of clarity. You know exactly what you want to do from
one moment to the other; you get immediate feedback, you know what you
need to do is possible to do even though difficult. A sense of time
disappears, you forget yourself, you feel part of something larger.
And once those conditions are present, what you're doing becomes worth
doing for its own sake."
[02:30]
Michela remarked in her portfolio: "I got into 'the zone' much as I do
when working on my paintings or other art for my Studio Art classes,
and I didn't even notice I'd been sitting there for hours making it! I
think this medium is much more comparable to creating an art piece or
composing music in that there are few limitations or restrictions and
it capitalizes on creativity and an artistic eye."
She had existing skills in visual composition, acquired new skills for
the specific software programs and varied assignments, and brought them
together in creating a new and successful performance.
[03:04]
An elusive equality was inherent in many of the course's assignments.
Some students found enjoyment with the challenge, others could not
reach a creative flow because obstacles, from challenges in
collaboration. . . .
[03:14]
[Quote prints on the screen: "Unfortunately, the difficulty of working
in a group and thus relying on others to play an equal part . . . has
been the biggest drawback of this assignment." -- Jackclyn N. (PIT
Essay)]
. . . to overly distracting technological hurdles.
[03:25]
[Quote prints on the screen: "Honestly, I had a very difficult time
with this assignment. I felt out of my league, and slightly
uncomfortable. . . . I chose not to redo my assignment." -- Linda D.
(Mashup)]
. . . kept them from finding the delicate balance of skill and
challenge to needed to reach a fully creative state.
[03:36]
Csikszentmihaly wrote "The link between flow and happiness depends on
whether the flow-producing activity is complex, whether it leads to new
challenges and hence to personal as well as cultural growth."
Reflections on growth in the course proved very positive.
[03:50]
[Quotes on the screen:
"Now I realize that a community of motivated peers reviewing your work
can help you to tweak more than your premise. Criticism can help define
your style, direction, and content . . . recasting thoughts with new
words." -- Reva P.
"I'm definitely not the most creative person, so this project has
forced me out of that comfort zone for sure. Collaboration was key to
this project. . . . It was constantly challenging to determine how
others would see my mashup." -- Emily E.
"When the medium becomes the challenge . . . more and more ideas come
to you. . . . While both screencasts were difficult, I learned a lot
from them. They reinforced lessons of composing that can only be
learned when using a method for the first time." -- Carolyn F.]
[04:29]
Finding the right balance between engagement and complacency is itself
a challenge, but one that we all took on in our class and, in many
cases, successfully reached a state of flow while discovering new
learning mediums along the way.