Creative Thinking

CREATIVE THINKING VALUE RUBRIC
for more information, please contact value@aacu.org

T he VALUE rubrics were developed by teams of faculty experts representing colleges and universities across theUnited States through a process that examined many existing campus rubrics
and related documents for each learning outcome and incorporated additional feedback from faculty. The rubrics articulatefundamental criteria for each learning outcome, with performance descriptors
demonstrating progressively more sophisticated levels of attainment. The rubrics are intended for institutional-level use inevaluating and discussing student learning, not for grading. The core
expectations articulated in all 15 of the VALUE rubrics can and should be translated into the language of individual campuses,disciplines, and even courses. The utility of the VALUE rubrics is to
position learning at all undergraduate levels within a basic framework of expectations such that evidence of learning can byshared nationally through a common dialog and understanding of student
success.
Definition
Creative thinking is both the capacity to combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise inoriginal ways and the experience of thinking, reacting, and working in an imaginative way
characterized by a high degree of innovation, divergent thinking, and risk taking.
Framing Language
Creativethinking, as it is fostered within higher education, must be distinguished from less focused types of creativity such as, for example, the creativity exhibited by a small child’s drawing,
which stems notfrom an understanding of connections, but from an ignorance of boundaries. Creative thinking in higher education can only be expressed productively within a particular domain. The
student must have astrong foundation in the strategies and skills of the domain in order to make connections and synthesize. While demonstrating solid knowledge of the domain's parameters, the
creative thinker, at...