Evaluating Creativity of Science and Engineering Students in China: A Focus on the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Southern University of Science and Technology

In the era of Industry 4.0, innovation in the fields of science and technology drives inclusive economic growth. Correspondingly, cultivating innovative science and engineering (S&E) college students becomes one of the main objectives at science and technology universities. However, overwhelmingly dominated by speciality training, such universities often neglect the crucial impact of the humanities and social sciences (HSS) on the creativity development of S&E students. Although scholars have been calling for attention to domain-based and culture-oriented creativity, few studies have focused on the cultural elements from non-Western societies and their influence on enriching the Western-style creativity. This thesis aims to fill this gap by exploring the efforts made in HSS curriculum at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in China. Through the lens of HSS instructors, it seeks to understand how to motivate, foster, and evaluate the creativity development of S&E students.

This doctoral project is a case study of SUSTech using a mixed-methods approach. The data collection comprises document analysis of national policies and course materials, classroom observation of 20 HSS courses, semi-structured interviews with 22 HSS instructors, and questionnaires for 226 S&E students. The project combines a qualitative study of the perspectives of HSS instructors with a quantitative study of S&E students. The two parts are designed to complement each other in order to draw more comprehensive conclusions.

Based on Western creativity theories, findings are discussed to interpretate and evaluate the criteria by HSS instructors in the context of one of China’s premier S&E universities. Apart from the common features of creativity – such as originality and novelty – HSS instructors attach great importance to intangible thought processes in contrast with tangible product-oriented theories. Moreover, rooted in indigenous culture, Chinese societies praise the potential of “Big-C creativity” to satisfy the demands of a sustainable and harmonious society. These cultural values are reflected in the understanding of HSS instructors on S&E students’ creativity. Furthermore, while marginalized at such a technological university, HSS instructors devote themselves to delivering interdisciplinary knowledge, training critical and independent thinking, and enhancing humanistic literacy for S&E students. Their evaluation criteria emphasize originality and social appropriateness, writing and interdisciplinary evaluation, and other creative thinking abilities.

In addition, S&E students are the owners and actors of creativity development to become innovative and modest future scientists and engineers. Their learning, experience, and engagement in HSS courses expand their scope of specialty training. According to the modified K-DOCS model, they reveal the highest humanities/social science creativity. With sound development on different types of creativity, S&E students are more likely to acquire comprehensive creativity capability. Echoing the literature, this research finds that creativity is determined by thinking styles, knowledge, experience, and motivation. As shown by the reflections of S&E students, this study concludes that HSS courses and instructors are indispensable ingredients for fostering their new ideas and expressing their concerns for others and society. Furthermore, this study suggests to bring diverse culture elements back into the study of creativity, interpret creativity from distinctive domains, and evaluate creativity by various stakeholders.

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