How to train future engineers to be more creative? An educative experience

Because of the nature of their work, engineers are often asked to be innovative. This implies that they must possess and demonstrate creative abilities However, building an effective and valid course to develop participants’ creativity is not without challenges. Not aiming at educating specialists with a degree in creativity, we nonetheless believe future engineers could benefit from a deliberate development of their creative abilities. The goals of this paper are to (1) describe an innovative cognitive/metacognitive approach to enhance creativity as well as the pedagogical strategies underlining a creativity course for engineering students, (2) present the pre-post results measured with a revised version of the CEDA (Creative Engineering Design Assessment). We evaluated the creative performance of 59 students before and after a 45-hour creativity course. The students’ scores on four variables measured by CEDA—fluidity, flexibility, originality and usefulness—were statistically higher after the course than before. Students’ written comments provided further evidence of the course's relevance and effectiveness. We concluded that students’ creativity was increased and that the course enabled a better understanding of creativity and how to foster it.