Fostering Creativity in the Horticulture Classroom

Creativity is considered important for success in most disciplines. Research has shown career accomplishment to be more correlated with scores of creativity than with standard measures of intelligence. Creativity is positively correlated with one’s ability to adapt to new situations and succeed in today’s world. Horticulture provides a rich context for creative expression, given that it lies at the intersection of science, art, and the humanities. Yet, fostering creativity is often not emphasized in plant science curricula nor identified as a central learning objective. The goals of this paper are to help instructors identify practices that promote creative expression in their classrooms, offer examples of classroom exercises that allow students to express creativity within a plant science context, and provide direction for assessment. From the literature, we identified 10 criteria that characterize behaviors, practices, and attitudes that are considered components of creativity. Then, we shared these criteria with the horticulture faculty at Cornell University, asking for examples of classroom exercises in which these creativity criteria are reflected. Through our observations of submitted examples and comments from instructors, it is clear that class activities that promote creative thought are prevalent, but often not recognized as such by instructors. Classroom norms emphasize scientific knowledge and vocational skills, but it is not the norm to openly promote, encourage, and enhance creative skill use and development. Assessing creativity in students is challenging because there are no widely accepted criteria for evaluating it, and defining exactly what to measure can be subjective. We provide suggestions for how to think about assessing creativity in the classroom.