Document Type : Scientific - Research
Author
Professor of Geo-Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
What is creativity? Who is considered a creative person? Can creativity be learned? What is the role of creativity in engineering profession? These are some questions that often come to mind. Different definitions have been proposed for creativity, but most of them consider creativity as development of something new and valuable. This in fact is the main goal of engineering design, which is the fruit of engineering practice. Extensive researches show that creativity does have not strong ties with one’s age, knowledge, and intelligence but on the proper environment and willingness of an individual to become creative. In Iran, engineering education emphasizes critical thinking and pays less attention to creative thinking. In this paper, after reviewing different schools of thought on personal and group creativity, a couple of guidelines for development of creative thinking in engineering students are presented.
Keywords
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