Guidance for Faculty: Applying for Creative & Innovative Thinking (CRE) Designation
What is the CRE Designation?
The Creative & Innovative Thinking (CRE) designation is a university-wide identifier that recognizes courses fostering creative thinking across all disciplines. Similar to the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) designation, CRE courses will be identified in the catalog and class schedule, helping students find opportunities to develop their creative capacities.
Why Apply for CRE Designation?
- Visibility: Attract students interested in innovative, engaging coursework
- Recognition: Highlight the creative dimensions of your teaching
- Student Development: Contribute to students' creative thinking competencies
- Institutional Mission: Support UToledo's commitment to enhancing and supporting innovative programs and faculty creative activity and research
What Qualifies a Course for CRE Designation?
Your course should provide substantial opportunities for students to develop creative thinking through at least three of these four dimensions:
1. Connecting Ideas in Novel Ways
Students synthesize knowledge, concepts, or methods from multiple sources or disciplines to form new relationships and original approaches.
Specific Examples:
Chemistry: Students design cooking experiments demonstrating chemical reactions, explain the chemistry in lab reports, and compete in an end-of-semester "cook-off" judged on both scientific analysis and taste.
History: Students create a "historical evidence trial" prosecuting or defending a controversial figure using primary sources, integrating economic data, cultural context, and political theory, then write a judicial opinion synthesizing all perspectives.
Mechanical Engineering: Students analyze a biological system (bird wing) and design a mechanical device applying biomimetic principles to solve an engineering challenge.
English Literature: Students embody a novel's character in a modern scenario (Elizabeth Bennet on reality TV, Hamlet in corporate ethics crisis), performing a 10-minute piece with a companion essay analyzing how the adaptation reveals new textual insights.
2. Taking Intellectual Risks
Students explore uncertain outcomes, choose their own approaches, and learn through experimentation, failure and iteration.
Specific Examples:
Business Management: Students pitch three strategic plans (conservative, moderate, high-risk) for a struggling company, then defend their most unconventional idea with 50% of the grade based on innovation and risk analysis rather than profit projections.
Biology: Students design and conduct original experiments testing unexplored variables in plant growth, with grades emphasizing scientific thinking and adaptation through failure over successful outcomes.
Music Composition: Students compose pieces that deliberately violate at least two traditional composition rules, then defend their artistic choices and the new possibilities created.
Nursing: Students design innovative patient education tools (video game, graphic novel, app, puppet show) for complex health concepts, pilot-test with classmates, revise based on feedback, with grading emphasizing creative problem-solving over first-attempt perfection.
3. Embracing Multiple Perspectives
Students engage with diverse viewpoints and contradictory ideas to generate comprehensive solutions.
Specific Examples:
Environmental Science: Students interview five stakeholders in a local environmental controversy, then transform fieldwork into a public installation (interactive maze, pop-up café, multimedia exhibit with water samples, audio, data visualizations, poetry) that communicates complexity while proposing solutions honoring all voices.
Philosophy: Students create "Ask a Philosopher" pop-up booths in campus courtyards, engaging passersby in Socratic dialogue about ethical dilemmas while surfacing utilitarian, deontological, virtue ethics, and care ethics perspectives, then reflect on how public dialogue challenged their thinking.
Civil Engineering: Students redesign a public space by gathering requirements from multiple user groups (pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, people with disabilities, elderly, children), demonstrating how conflicting needs were balanced.
Sociology: Students examine a social phenomenon through three theoretical frameworks, conduct mini-ethnographic observations testing which theory best explains findings, then synthesize all perspectives.
4. Transforming Learning into Innovative Solutions
Students apply knowledge to complex, authentic problems through original approaches and potential solutions and products.
Specific Examples:
Mathematics: Students create origami-based lessons demonstrating geometric principles (surface area, volume, symmetry, angles) for elementary students, including folding instructions, mathematical explanations, and hands-on challenges. They field-test lessons in local schools and refine based on student comprehension and engagement.
Psychology: Students design and launch a campus-wide "digital wellness" awareness campaign addressing smartphone addiction and problematic social media use. Using behavioral psychology principles, they create multi-platform interventions (TikTok videos using humor and peer testimonials, Instagram challenges promoting "phone-free hours," interactive dorm events, campus installations). They collect pre/post survey data on student awareness and behavior change, then present effectiveness analysis with recommendations for student health services.
Computer Science: Students collaborate with a local animal shelter or arts nonprofit to build a custom web application or mobile app addressing an organizational challenge (adoption matching system, volunteer scheduling, donation tracking, virtual gallery). They conduct stakeholder interviews, pitch multiple design concepts, develop a working prototype through agile sprints, and present the final product to organizational leadership with documentation for future maintenance.
Art History: Students curate a virtual exhibition exploring a theme like "the evolution of landscape painting" or "portraiture across centuries" using the museum's collection. They write scholarly wall text and catalog essays, design interactive educational activities (scavenger hunts, family guides, audio tours), and create digital content (Instagram reels explaining artistic techniques, behind-the-scenes conservation stories) to engage diverse audiences with historical artworks.
How to Apply
Submit via CIM
- Current course syllabus
- Brief narrative (1-2 pages) explaining how your course meets at least three CRE criteria, please be sure to provide specific examples of assignments and assessment criteria that foster creative thinking
The Faculty Senate CRE Subcommittee will review submissions using the established rubric. Courses must demonstrate substantial evidence in at least three of the four criteria.
Creative & Innovative Thinking (CRE) Designation Rubric
Master Definition
Creative & Innovative thinking is students' abilities to connect ideas in novel ways, take intellectual risks, embrace multiple perspectives, or transform their learning into innovative solutions for complex challenges.
CRE courses emphasize creativity as a primary, assessed learning goal with tangible products, performances, or artifacts.
Sub-theme definitions/ Student Learning Outcomes
Connecting Ideas in Novel Ways: Students synthesize knowledge from multiple sources or disciplines to create new relationships and original approaches.
Taking Risks: Students explore uncertain outcomes, choose their own approaches, and learn through experimentation, failure, and iteration.
Embracing Multiple Perspectives: Students engage with diverse viewpoints and contradictory ideas to generate comprehensive solutions.
Transforming Learning into Innovative Solutions: Students apply knowledge to complex, authentic problems through original approaches and potential solutions and products.
Course evaluation rubric
Instructions: Courses must demonstrate substantial evidence in at least 3 of the 4 criteria with clear alignment to course assignments, assessments, and learning outcomes as evidenced in the syllabus.
|
Criterion |
Does Not Meet (0) |
Meets (1) |
Exemplary (2) |
|
Connecting Ideas in Novel Ways |
Syllabus shows no evidence of assignments requiring synthesis across sources, concepts, or methods. Content remains siloed within single perspectives or approaches. |
Course includes at least one substantial assignment requiring students to synthesize information from multiple sources, perspectives, or methodologies. Learning outcomes explicitly address synthesis or integration. |
Multiple assignments progressively develop synthesis skills. Clear evidence of interdisciplinary connections, cross-contextual application, or integration of diverse knowledge domains. Assessment criteria specifically evaluate originality of connections. |
|
Taking Intellectual Risks |
All assignments have single correct answers or predetermined outcomes. No opportunities for student choice in approach or topic. Safe, conventional assignments only. |
Course includes at least one assignment that allows students to explore uncertain outcomes, choose their own approach, or pursue original directions. Syllabus indicates acceptance of well-reasoned "failure" or iteration. Grading criteria reward thoughtful risk-taking. |
Multiple opportunities for intellectual risk-taking throughout the course. Explicit encouragement of experimentation, iteration, and learning from failure. Assessment values process and reasoning alongside outcomes. Clear scaffolding supports progressive risk-taking. |
|
Embracing Multiple Perspectives |
Course presents single disciplinary viewpoint. No engagement with alternative perspectives, contradictory ideas, or diverse frameworks. Assignments do not require consideration of multiple viewpoints. |
Course materials or readings present multiple perspectives. At least one assignment requires students to consider, compare, or incorporate alternative viewpoints or contradictory ideas. Learning outcomes address perspective-taking. |
Systematic integration of multiple perspectives throughout course. Assignments require students to actively synthesize or reconcile divergent viewpoints. Assessment criteria evaluate depth of engagement with diverse perspectives. Course structure promotes dialogical or dialectical thinking. |
|
Transforming Learning into Innovative Solutions |
Assignments are primarily reproductive (tests, traditional papers restating existing knowledge). No application to authentic problems or creative challenges. Focus on knowledge recall rather than application. |
Course includes at least one significant project or assignment where students must apply learning to address a complex, open-ended problem. Problem allows for multiple valid solutions or approaches. Assessment criteria reward originality of solution. |
Capstone project or multiple assignments require innovative application of course concepts to authentic, complex challenges. Problems are structured with no single solution. Assessment explicitly evaluates innovation, originality, and quality of creative problem-solving. May include real-world partnerships or authentic audiences. |
Overall CRE Designation Decision
Total Points: _____ / 8
- 0-2 points: Does Not Qualify for CRE Designation • 3-4 points: Qualifies for CRE Designation (Minimum threshold - must show substantial evidence in at least 3 criteria) • 5-8 points: Strongly Qualifies for CRE Designation
Committee Notes/Rationale:
Reviewer Name: _______________________
Date: _______________________
Course Being Evaluated: _______________________
Recommendation:
☐ Approve CRE Designation
☐ Deny CRE Designation
☐ Request Revisions
Tips for Success
- Be Specific: Point to particular assignments, learning outcomes, and assessment criteria in your syllabus
- Show Progression: Explain how creative thinking develops throughout the semester
- Connect to Assessment: Share rubrics or grading criteria that reward originality, synthesis, or innovation
- Emphasize Disciplinary Context: Explain how your approach fosters creativity within your field's standards
- Include Student Choice: Highlight where students have agency in choosing topics, approaches, or methods
Common Questions
Q: Can introductory courses receive CRE designation?
A: Yes! Creative thinking can be fostered at all course levels. Ideally, CRE can be
scaffolded through academic programs.
Q: Does my course need to meet all four criteria?
A: No. Courses must demonstrate substantial evidence in at least three of the four
criteria.
Q: What if my course is primarily lecture-based?
A: CRE designation focuses on what students do. Even lecture courses can include creative
assignments.
Q: Can I revise and resubmit?
A: Yes. The subcommittee provides feedback and welcomes revised applications.
Sample Learning Outcomes for CRE Courses
- Students will synthesize concepts from [discipline] to generate original solutions to complex problems.
- Students will create tangible products that demonstrate innovative application of course concepts.
- Students will evaluate multiple perspectives and integrate them into comprehensive approaches.
- Students will demonstrate intellectual risk-taking by developing and defending unconventional approaches.
Questions or Support?
Contact the Faculty Senate CRE Subcommittee or attend our information sessions.
We look forward to recognizing and celebrating the creative teaching happening across UToledo!