Can non-assessed creative play help students develop confidence and critical thinking?

A huge variety of academic disciplines are reliant on creativity. In fact, we believe that it should be equal to literacy in terms of supporting students’ preparation for study. All students should have the opportunity to try to ignite and reignite creative abilities that may have been denied or suppressed, and so address Ken Robinson’s view that we are “educating people out of their creative capacities”.

Non-assessed creative play, in which students are enlightened and challenged, can be a foundation for success at university. They learn to see the physical representation of art, objects and design differently; they experiment and explore, have fun and share their experiences. 

De Montfort University’s Drawing Centre facilitates an inclusive, transformative studio environment where students can develop their individual creativity through timetabled sessions in which activity is aligned with the curriculum, or when they are brave enough to come into the centre independently. It nurtures culture with passion, generosity, determination and inter- and cross-disciplinary approaches.

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Studio activities are designed to break down barriers to visualisation. For example, model making and Lego Serious Play encourage students to explore environment and set design, to consider practically how physical spaces can be used, and to improve understanding of perspective and composition in film-making. Students engaged in curriculum requiring portrayal of the physical human form (for example, contour fashion, animation or game art) participate in “blind” contour drawing, based on ideas developed from the work of Betty Edwards, to develop hand-eye coordination and left-right brain stimulation.

Getting students to develop creative methodologies 

Our approach encourages students to embrace an individualised creative journey, drawing inspiration and encouragement from other students and practitioners in related academic fields. Studio-based values of bravery, resilience, learning community, togetherness, positivity and mindset encourage learners to try new things. Students develop resilience, to try, adapt and rework, and try again. Students find a sense of belonging through “togetherness”, being physically in the same space and also through non-judgemental approaches to learning and development. We encourage self-reflection on the positives and identifying silence in the negatives.

Creative and playful learning experiences, such as using Lego to develop composition ideas, photography to understand perspective, scale and proportion, field trips and mark-making drawing exercises to develop confidence with materials, promote engagement through authentic learning opportunities. Playful learning facilitates freedom to engage, experiment and explore, while embracing a level of uncertainty in the process and outcome. This allows students to develop lifelong learning skills and tools supporting ideation and iteration in design that can be adapted for use in response to taught and assessed curriculum content.

While many universities have extracurricular support for academic writing, mathematics and research skill development, few have the same amount of support for visual learners. The Drawing Centre is exploring how we can support all elements of visual acuity for our learners, enabling them to achieve their best in the curriculum and beyond. This studio environment offers one-to-one, personalised support, factors recognised as key to improving confidence from the early stages of their higher education experience.

The value of non-assessed creative play in the transition to university

Many students are starting higher education with little or no confidence in visual expression (doing), visual literacy (working with and finding images) and visualisation (prospective visual thinking), according to early research from our pre-entry self-evaluations. Understanding this starting point is critical to considering how to address the development of creative learning.

Preparatory activities as part of the transition into higher education may include self-assessment exercises that invite students to reflect on their skillsets, confidence levels and perceived level of study skills. While study skill preparations often include academic writing, reading and information management, De Montfort also encourages student reflection on visual literacy to help them to develop creative literacies.

While others have written on play and creativity in assessment, key to our approach is the concept of non-assessed creative play. We recognise that a student’s journey of creative development is an individualised experience, one that benefits from the opportunity to create in response to a range of stimuli and input, with non-judgemental support to explore different media, developing into “final” (not all work is “finished”) outcomes that represent that growth.

The Drawing Centre is an experiential learning environment, culture and community, using learning approaches adapted for the individual, to help students develop creative enquiry to inform critical thinking. Its curriculum encourages confidence in visual enquiry using problem-based learning related to lifelong learning skills that are, in turn, beneficial to mental health and well-being, and contribute to broader creativity in society.

For those wishing to explore the benefits of students’ confidence and creative thinking through creative play, we would encourage introducing non-assessed creative exercises, beyond (where resources allow) or within the curriculum. When introducing this in the curriculum, we recommend formative rather than summative approaches, and non-judgemental activities that emphasise individual learning journeys.

Further supporting confidence is the concept of belonging. Exploring how communities can be developed to empower students to explore creative approaches alongside and with others, sharing reflections and feedback between peers, further enhances the skill set.

The approach aims to inspire all who visit the Drawing Centre, reducing the decline in students’ abilities to think divergently in creative education, while non-assessed creative play supports the development of confidence and criticality in higher education.

Chris Wright is a senior lecturer and Drawing Centre lead; Zoë Allman is associate dean (academic) in the Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Media, both at De Montfort University.

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