FINAL COURSE REFLECTION!

Unfortunately … this is going to be the last blogpost related to the Creative Thinking &a Problem Solving Course at The American University in Cairo … As the title implies, it’s going to be a reflection on the course as a whole and not just a project or an assignment in particular.
What helped my learning in this course was that the classes were not boring lectures.. but were always full of discussions and activities. I am not the type of person that is good at learning things by looking at/reading (such as in boring PowerPoint presentations). I learn best when I actually apply the concepts while learning them, which is what always happened in this course. For example, instead of learning a concept and applying it later in a project, we first apply it in a mini activity in class so that we get the hang of it, so that we actually know what we’re doing when we work on the project.

To be honest though, I would have learned better in this course if we had more help in big and complicated projects. This course is designed so that you work on improving the Creative side of your brain. However, it would have been better if we got some simple guidelines like, for example, the ones we get when writing a big paper. We were told what we were supposed to end up with, but the “how” was left for us to decide. This was a problem sometimes, as the dr’s did not like what we did. Someone could say that by saying this I am lazy and don’t want to do the work. However, it has never been wrong to learn from people who are more experienced(in this case our doctors). Although I would have liked some more guidance throughout the assignments and projects, I actually believe that if this would have happened, I would not have learned as much as I did (I never thought that I’d be saying that one day)…

The activity that I learned from the most was the one where we were supposed to create a podcast. This is because it involves studio work.. Besides singing, I am also passionate about music production and so I spend the majority of my free time in my home studio. However, I’m used to using recording equipment in an acoustically treated room. This time, I used the microphone that comes with the earphones in an outdoor area to record. Although editing the audio tracks was much harder than the usual, it greatly improved my editing skills. It also gave me a better understanding of sound acoustics.

The biggest obstacle in the course was the timing. Our schedules are already full because of all of the courses. However, the assignments in this course had to be submitted in very short times. Therefore, we did not have much time to work on them, as everything was on a very short notice. Another obstacle was that this course relies a little to much on technology. Things such as brightspace are still not ready to be used on such a demanding course, for example.

The most imporant thing that I learned In this course is that creativity is not something that people are born with, but is something that can be learned overtime. However, like in everything, some people are naturally more creative than others. This does not mean that people naturally-creative people have to always be better than the ones who learn to be creative, as this does not have to be the case whatsoever.

Because of this course, I now feel that I can handle group projects better, as I had to work in inefficient groups multiple times in this course. After what I experienced in this course, I am now better in dealing with the different problems that I am prone to facing when working with groups .

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this course and although it was not the easiest, it was definitely infoamative and fun. Five years from now, I will be thinking about this course and how it helped me in facing problems, and also how I would have faced the same problems if u hadn’t taken this course …..

GAME REFLECTION…

This blogpost is going to be where I reflect on the project in which I was assigned to create a game along with my group members. It was part of the Creative Thinking And Problem Solving at The American Univerity in Cairo(I know … everytime)

To be honest .. this was one of the hardest projects that I had to work one . This wasn’t because of the difficulty of the assignment .. but because of the timing and how busy the group members were. All of us were very busy and all of us had other commitments. This is why it was extremely hard to find a time where we can all meet and work on the project.
We were supposed to meet as early as we can, plan the game, create the prototype, and present it. As soon as we created the group, we found that we cannot think of an original idea for the game . Whenever we thought of something, our dr, Dr. Maha Bali, told us that it was a game that people can get bored of and can get memorized.

After days of trying out new ideas and failing to find a time in which we were all free, w finally came up with an idea … 
It was a simple Q&A game, but with a twist. The final game was a news game that involves media literacy.
Easy player/group was given news, and they had to determine whether it was true or fake based on the information/details that they were give. The are free to do whatever they want: google, ask friends, or even guess. 

Overall, I think that we could have done much much better in this project if we had more time, and if our schedules were more free. However, I believe that we did the best we could, given the bad circumstances we were faced with, and I hope that the game was liked and enjoyed by Dr. Bali and by the people who gave it a try and played it…

My Visit To CREATOPIA Event At AUC…

We were asked to join in playing several games which was known as the creatopia session. I played several games during the class but i’m not familiar with their names such as the chemical names (cards) which was basically about matching the first part of the chemical compound or name with the other. Then i played another game which was about forming links between words each containing different categories such as food, names, colors,etc. The idea behind it is to establish the largest amount of links between those words. This game was the most interesting for me because it is educational in an entertaining way..challenging our minds to create connections between different ideas/categories. The last one was about reading quotes and finding another one that shares the same theme or concept and create a ladder-like connection. I , personally, would alter some aspects in the chemistry-related game to provide a guide with the chemical forms for the people that don’t have a background on the issue and probably create some kind of motive to match the most words. Last but not least, I would like to interview the creator of the game that is based on matching ideas and words together and understand the process and the source of the game. I got to meet Farida, the creator of one of the games, however she had a meeting to attend so I wasn’t able to interview her. I plan on doing this interview someday, as her game was the one I liked the most… 😉

MODULE 1 REFLECTION

This post is going to be the one with which I end Module 1 of the Creative Thinking And Problem Solving course at The American University in Cairo…

To be honest with everyone, this course didn’t turn out to be anything like I thought it would be. At first, I thought it would be more about the arts, in all of its forms. Being a musician, I thought that I was going to focus on the music art in particular and get an easy A without doing much effort. 

However, this course turned out to be something very different.. teaching you actual creativity and problem solving (I know what you’re thinking). I also learned that creativity, contrary to popular belief, is not something that people are only born with.. but it is something that can also be taught and practiced for improvement.

We started out with random in class activities, which all turned out to be for the purpose of making us practice/improve our creativity. 

We did projects such as redesigning the unaccompanied minors journey, solve a problem related to food waste, design empathy interview questions and create a podcast designed to make us empathize with our partners.

All of these projects were in groups, and so I got to learn new ways of thinking from the people I worked with, since we were not all the same personalities… I also learned new skills that will help me work with people in the future, such as managing time and being the leader of the group for the sake of our mutual benefit.

My favorite project in module 1 (hands down) has to be the podcast. First of all it included creating an audio track on a professional audio editing software, which is something that I do  a lot as a producer. I also enjoyed the empathy purpose of the questions that we were supposed to create. We created them to see how our partners felt( see things from their perspectives) about their AUC experiences so far. Although we enjoyed this project the most(my partner and I), or at least I believe so, we got 80% on this project. This was because I focused on the music production part more than I should have … and we neglected the quality of the empathy questions. However, I enjoyed the project and this is the important thing.
Overall… I think this course taught me some creativity skills that are essential in my future career, such as design thinking and team leadership… and that I will never forget my experience in module 1 of this course….. And I hope that Module 2 will be as memorable 🙂

Kids Travelling Alone – What Could Go Wrong??

” Unaccompanied Minors ” (2006) Movie Poster

Again, as part of the Creative Thinking And Problem Solving course at The American University in Cairo, we were assigned the following: 

1. Create a journey map of an unaccompanied minor traveling alone.
2. Identify the knowledge gaps, do some research about the actual procedures.
3. Create the final ( and real ) journey map.

At first each of us created a journey map that was, to some extent, logical. 

However, after we were assigned to identify every possible problem that could happen, we created a scenario that was full of problems, from the kid arriving late to the plane having to do an emergency landing in the wrong country.

Examples of the problems that we thought of:

• Kid suffers from a stomach ache before boarding the plane and cannot move.
• The kid goes on the wrong plane 
• An engine fails and they land in a sea/ocean
• An engine fails and they do an emergency landing in a different country 
• When they arrive, the child is given to the wrong parents

Ok you get the point …..

So anyways, we did some research, asked some people, and fortunately one of our group members travelled a lot alone as a kid, so we asked her as well.

We identified the knowledge gaps, and so a lot of the possible problems we created were taken out(because who would let a kid be responsible for their own passport, papers, and luggage). Eventually we created a possible scenario, and listed the knowledge gaps we identified .

After checking for the actual procedure that takes place with EgyptAir, as well as interviewing a child that traveled alone before, we created an even better scenario than the final one we created before, and further improved it so that it would be more realistic. We got the actual facts, procedure, and requirements from the airline itself, which is the most credible source.

Something that I was happy to find out was that as a group, we were somewhat close to the actual procedures that happen. I was glad that something that we casually came up with while brainstorming was actually happening in the real world by major airlines. It made me feel like we are a smart group.

Another thing that I learned from this project is that a kid travelling alone can be disastrous. I never thought about it before, and thought that it is a normal procedure that is taken lightly. After this project, however, I am not sure that even I would let my children travel alone in the future … Better Safe Than Sorry☺️

When You’re Right … You’re Actually Wrong!

An illustration of the concept “Error Blindness” by Kathryn Schulz

This post is a reflection to the Ted Talks Video that we were  were assigned to watch as part of the Creaive Thinking and Problem Solving course at the American University in Cairo..

The speaker in the video was Kathryn Schulz. She is a journalist and a public speaker. She also claims that she is the world’s leading wrongologist(which is something that I never knew existed).

I found this video very interesting because after I finished it, I thought about how being wrong can be looked at in more than one way. I have always thought that as long as my instinct tells me that I am right, I shouldn’t even doubt that I am wrong. The video however made me think, “what if I am wrong but I don’t know it”.

This is what the video talked about, how you could sometimes be wrong, but you don’t want to .. so you convince yourself that you are right.

Something that I really liked was how Schulz made a comparison of how we are wrong to Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner from Loony Tunes.

She said that we are like Wile E. Coyote in that we keep doing the wrong things and don’t mind it, just as he keeps running and doesn’t mind that he is going to fall off a cliff. 

An idea that I really connected with was how people usually plan things, and think they they are going to do something/something is going to happen, and a totally different thing happens. This happens a to me a lot, which is something that bothers me .

As a matter of fact, I thought that this video was going to be boring and simply a repetition of the usual things we hear: you have to admit being wrong, you have to learn from your mistakes, there’s no shame in being wrong..

However, in the first few minutes of the video, Schulz particularly said that this video was not going to be about that.

I realized that what she talked about actually happened to me again: i thought something was going to happen .. and then something else happened …

Your Gifts Keep Getting Lost And Stolen… Here’s a Creative Solution!

Left: Big Gifts … Right: Small Gifts

As part of the Creative Thinking & Problem Solving course at AUC, we were assigned to solve our partner’s gift-related problems. My partner’s problem is that she either loses the gifts before giving them, or the receiving person eventually loses them. The reason of this is unknown. However, I have concluded that the reason could most probably be that the gifts/gift wrappings are usual, and are therefore lost as a result of disinterest. 

We were told to create solutions to our partner’s problems, and build prototypes of them. However, the prototypes had to be made out of free materials, recyclable stuff, plastic bottles, etc. 

I created a small safe that is given with each gift. After I was given the list of building materials, however, I slightly changed my solution. 

As a child, I was a little interested in origami, and so I learned some basic concepts, which I used in this solution. I got some aluminum foil and created two versions of my solution, one for big gifts and one for small gifts. I created a small envelope(Right) for the small gifts, and an alumium box/wrapping(Left) for the big ones. My solution depends on grabbing your attention. The aluminum foil will constantly grab attention, as it reflects light and makes a lot of noise. Therefore, neither my partner(or anyone else facing the same problem) nor the receiver will lose the gifts.

Although I was frustrated that I could not use materials that would have helped me in creating the safe, I enjoyed this assignment. I got the chance to refresh my memory when I remembered the origami concepts, and I created something out of everyday household objects. 

Thoughts on Reading…

After being assigned a reading titled, Positive Attitudes For Creativity, I found out that I usually have the correct approaches to being creative. 

I usually consider myself a curious person. This helps me in being creative. This is one of the positive attitudes that were included in the article. I usually look at things and think about things such as their origins and how they can be used in other ways. 

Although being content with what you have is something that people usually advise, being discontent for a good cause can sometimes be needed. This is another topic that the reading discussed; Constructive discontent. I agree with the reading in that if you are discontent for the purpose of being constructive, you will achieve things that you not could not achieve before. This is because when you are discontent with something, you start trying to find alternative ways or ways to improve the thing that you are discontent with. 

The reading mentioned other attitudes as well such as suspending judgement and seeing the good in the bad. However, the above mentioned two are the ines that I agree with the most. Next time I will try to follow these tips, so I can achieve better results.

Types Of Fears…

Similar to the previous post, this post is going to be another reflection, for the Creative Thinking and Problem Solving course at the American University in Cairo.

We were assigned to read an article titled How To Reclaim Your Creative Confidendce. We were also assigned to watch a ted talks video, titled How To Build Your Creative Confidence.

Although I expected both the video and the article to be simply repeating the things we discuss in class, I actually found them very interesting.

The video talked about d-thinking and creativity. It also mentioned psychologist Albert Bandura and his innovative process, called “guided mastery”. The man in the video also mentions a few other examples to prove his points.

The article focused about the types of fears that usually stop people from being creative. 

They were:

• Fear of the messy unknown 
• Fear of being judged 
• Fear of the first step 
• Fear of losing control 

I actually benefitted greatly from the article, as I found out that some of these problems are what stop me from executing creative ideas sometimes. The article also included examples of people who faced similar problems, how they solved them, and the things they achieved as a result. I found these examples to be very useful as well, as they proved that the solutions people talk about in videos and articles can actually be applied to practical life. 

A new idea that I learned is that when trying to come up with an idea (be creative), I should think about the small details in each idea carefully instead of letting several potentially useful ideas flow through my head. This is similar to the process used by Bandura when he cured his patients from their snake phobias. 

Building a Water Container…

This post is my reflection to the first activity we did in Creative Thinking & Problem Solving class at The American University In Cairo. It is also my very first post, so I hope that I’m doing this right.

The activity started out by the instructors asking us to get into groups with people who have similar interests as ourselves. While the rest of the people easily (or so it seamed) got into groups of 3-4, I only found one other person who had the same interest as mine, which is Music. This wasn’t a very reassuring start, however things starting getting better. The group was eventually made up of 4 members with different interests, which I thought would generate more creative ideas. 

We were supposed to build a way to collect and store water. However, we were provided with materials that made it very hard to create a water container that would be able to withstand the pressure of water, and also keep it stored without spilling. 

A new idea that I learned in this activity is that when you think of a big problem in a simple way, you could come up with a very simple yet very effective solution to it. This was proved by the fact that we based our design on a very simple (and very Egyptian) object, which was a cone. Even though there were several modifications to it, our water container was essentially a cone made out of a plastic sheet.

I believe that this activity helped us as a group to come up with a creative solution, and also helped us in starting to practice d-thinking. 

I personally enjoyed this activity, and I hope that the following activities are fun and in the same time help me in becoming more creative…