Chicago Conference May 16-17, 2011
Presentations and Reports
Over the next few weeks we will be sharing keynote presentations and reports from the working groups of the Chicago conference. Please stay tuned for updates over the next few weeks.
1. Keynote: Walter Massey: Processes of Inquiry: Art, Science and a Culture of Innovation
Walter Massey, President of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), discusses some examples of the cross-disciplinary work of faculty at SAIC, illustrating how the core of the parallels between the arts and the sciences is in different, but parallel, processes of inquiry. He cautioned that the goal of this project should always be kept in mind: to provide the kind of education that leads to a society that knows how to innovate.
2. Keynote: Harvey White: STEM to STEAM: The Future of American Innovation
As co-founder of Qualcomm and founder of LEAP Technologies, Harvey White has created hundreds of thousands of jobs and has a clear understanding of the role that creativity plays in the workforce and that the arts play in innovation. He explains how he has become convinced not only that the Arts need to be a key partner in STEM education but also how schools need to be reconceived in order to deliver a 21st-Century education.
3. Mary Wright and Randy Cohen: Creativity in the Workplace
Randy Cohen and Mary Wright have clocked many hours working together from their different perspectives on creativity in the workforce. They’ve learned that perhaps the key question to ask is “What are the skill sets that are needed in the workforce?” This is followed closely by "What is creativity?" (and what it means to different people) and "How is creativity measured?"
View Presentation. Read Report
4. Trung Le: Creative Ecology of STEM and the Design of Science Learning
Artist and designer Trung Le spoke about the critical importance of implementing reconceived and reinvented physical spaces for arts and science education to move forward. Education is a design project - at the intersection of art, science and technology - but education, Trung Le insists, is always place-based and place is a key component of rethinking and redesigning education.
5. Todd Siler's Metaphorming Workshop
Dr. Siler further further refined his metaphorming workshop for the participants of the Chicago conference, who made 20 models in response to his challenge to "create a symbolic model that shows how you think the arts can be integrated into science education to spark a creative and innovative STEM workforce." For more on Dr. Siler's methods see his article, "Metaphorming and the Art of Science Learning."
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"It was great to do something that was hands-on and project-based, using 21st-Century skills" |  |
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"Helped us think about what we should focus on when Arts-STEM integration breaks down" |  |
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"This helped forge working relationships with participants and started some excellent dialog." |  |
"The workshop showed the power of play to transform intellectual hesitation." |  |
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"This helped us think creatively about how to use our resources in incorporating art and science." |  |
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