Proposal Assignment:
Executive Summary:
You will propose actions that might be taken to make your learning environment or experience more conducive to creative thinking and working. If you have just left high school or another educational institution, your proposal might be directed at that place or you might make a proposal regarding UB. Our readings will explore how creativity can be encouraged, discuss the need for creative thinking in the workplace, and address the challenges of fostering creativity in schools.
You will not be writing a formal proposal. Formal proposals (such as those written to win federal grants) are highly specialized genres, and we will not be focusing on the particular technical details of such proposals. Instead, you will write in a more conventional essay format that takes up the rhetorical task of making a proposal.
That is, your job in this text is to gain the support of fellow students, teachers or faculty, and administrators for the actions you suggest. You will need to explain the value of creative thinking and convince your audience that your solutions will help encourage creativity. Futhermore, you will need to convince them that the resulting benefit for them will outweigh whatever cost is involved.
The Process:
1. Reading and Discussion: as with our first assignment, as we read through the texts you will need to identify key points that you will want to include in your proposal. Consider your own experiences with being creative. Why do so few of us consider ourselves to be creative? When did we stop feeling creative? What conditions encourage creativity?
2. Experience and Observation: think about your experiences in high school and now in college. When were you given opportunities to be creative? What was the result? Pay close attention to your classrooms and other learning spaces (e.g. the library), as well as the activities that go on there. Do they encourage creativity? If so, how so? If not, how might they be altered?
3. Writing the Proposal: give yourself some time to write this. Bounce your ideas off your friends and classmates. They spend a lot of time on campus. I’m sure they have some thoughts on the matter. Their responses might also give you some ideas about how to approach your audience in a more convincing manner.
Requirements:
• Your article must be a minimum of 1000 words in length.
• You must participate in the online, peer review workshop.