Module course: ‘A practical exploration of Creative Thinking Systems’: A Creativity Fellowship Research Project: University of Brighton

The purpose of this study was to design and implement a Module programme of Creative Thinking Systems (CTS) for second year students within the College of Arts & Humanities. In addition to convergent and divergent thinking techniques the students were also taught numerous dharana meditation practices, as an attentional mechanism to support creativity. A principle aim was to identify the most effective ‘Creative Thinking Systems – both discipline specific and cross disciplinary within the School of Art in order to enhance and evolve current BA teaching and learning practices. This study was conducted from 2009 to 2015. Six cohort groups, (n = 93) students completed the programme. Findings were collated from Likert scale questionnaires, module evaluation, assessment tasks and studio applications. Results suggest that the programme was beneficial in supporting creative idea generation across a broad spectrum of 12 disciplines. Dharana Meditation practices proved highly effective at alleviating stress and anxiety. These practices also heightened sensitivity and improved students attentional capacity. Keywords: creativity; creative thinking; thinking skills, meditation; creativity-meditation connection, creative arts, higher education, curriculum development, student empowerment.