{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T06:11:43Z","timestamp":1778739103558,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778716800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>Creativity is an essential skill which has been undervalued in higher education. Creativity is increasingly important to both educators and employers, yet several obstacles challenge its inclusion in college curriculum, including student and faculty misconceptions, and lack of models of how to integrate creativity into college courses. This pilot study designed and evaluated a creativity-infused version of a traditional college course, implementing numerous evidence-based best practices in fostering creativity from the psychological literature on the subject. Details on creativity activities, assignments, and assessments are described, including the \u201cMinute Meme,\u201d the \u201cInnovative Illustration\u201d assignment, the \u201cCreative Correction\u201d assignment, and the \u201cCreative Paper Project.\u201d A small pilot study showed preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of the intervention for students' self-efficacy and growth mindset about creativity. Students also provided positive reviews of the intervention activities. Guidance on how to adapt these types of activities into courses in any discipline is provided, and suggestions for specific future research studies to further evaluate the effectiveness of this approach are discussed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1768412","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T05:35:07Z","timestamp":1778736907000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Infusing creativity into a college course: a pilot study"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jean E.","family":"Pretz","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology, Elizabethtown College","place":["Elizabethtown, PA, United States"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"39","DOI":"10.1037\/aca0000256","article-title":"What should people be told when they take a divergent thinking test?","volume":"14","author":"Acar","year":"2020","journal-title":"A meta-analytic review of explicit instructions for divergent thinking. Psychol. Aesthet. Creat. Arts"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"540","DOI":"10.1002\/jee.20130","article-title":"Creativity as a factor in the persistence and success of engineering students","volume":"105","author":"Atwood","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Eng. Edu."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"447","DOI":"10.1207\/s15326934crj1804_4","article-title":"Creative self-efficacy: correlates in middle and secondary students","volume":"18","author":"Beghetto","year":"2006","journal-title":"reat. Res. J."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"266","DOI":"10.1037\/a0036618","article-title":"Creative mortification: an initial exploration","volume":"8","author":"Beghetto","year":"2014","journal-title":"Psychol. Aesthet. Creat. Arts"},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"549","DOI":"10.1017\/9781316274385.030","article-title":"\u201cCreativity in teaching,\u201d","volume-title":"The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity Across Domains","author":"Beghetto","year":"2017"},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"899","DOI":"10.3102\/00346543241258226","article-title":"Creativity-fostering teacher behaviors in higher education: a transdisciplinary systematic literature review","volume":"95","author":"Brauer","year":"2025","journal-title":"Rev. Educ. Res."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsc.2016.07.002","article-title":"College students' views of creative process instruction across disciplines","volume":"22","author":"Daly","year":"2016","journal-title":"Think. Skills Creat."},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsc.2024.101543","article-title":"Innovative teaching strategies for fostering transformational creativity","volume":"52","author":"Desmet","year":"2024","journal-title":"Think. Skills Creat."},{"key":"B9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijer.2016.12.004","article-title":"Developing creativity in higher education for 21st century learners: a protocol for a scoping review","volume":"82","author":"Egan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Int. J. Educ. Res."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"704","DOI":"10.1037\/\/0022-3514.74.3.704","article-title":"Can the promise of reward increase creativity?","volume":"74","author":"Eisenberger","year":"1998","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B11","volume-title":"How College Contributes to Workforce Success: Employer Views On What Matters Most","author":"Finley","year":"2021"},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1075","DOI":"10.1080\/14703297.2023.2222287","article-title":"Creativity: an unsolved enigma. Innov","volume":"61","author":"Fox","year":"2024","journal-title":"Educ. Teach. Int."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"269","DOI":"10.1037\/edu0000133","article-title":"Creativity and academic achievement: a meta-analysis","volume":"109","author":"Gajda","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Educ. Psychol."},{"key":"B14","first-page":"1","article-title":"\u201cThe nature and nurture of critical thinking,\u201d","volume-title":"Critical Thinking in Psychology","author":"Halpern","year":"2007"},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"342","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511763205.022","article-title":"\u201cThe creativity\u2014motivation connection,\u201d","volume-title":"The Cambridge Handbook of Creativity","author":"Hennessey","year":"2010"},{"key":"B16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"194","DOI":"10.1002\/jocb.97","article-title":"Creative behavior, motivation, environment and culture: the building of a systems model","volume":"49","author":"Hennessey","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Creat. Behav."},{"key":"B17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1080\/00220973.2025.2466161","article-title":"How creative is this child?: student demographics affect how teachers rate creativity","author":"Kagan","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Exp. Educ."},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"62","DOI":"10.1037\/a0034898","article-title":"Creative mindsets: measurement, correlates, consequences","volume":"8","author":"Karwowski","year":"2014","journal-title":"Psychol. Aesthet. Creat. Arts"},{"key":"B19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100651","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tsc.2020.100651","article-title":"Conflicted epistemic beliefs about teaching for creativity","volume":"36","author":"Katz-Buonincontro","year":"2020","journal-title":"Think. Skills Creat."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"189","DOI":"10.1037\/a0020133","article-title":"Using creativity to reduce ethnic bias in college admissions","volume":"14","author":"Kaufman","year":"2010","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1037\/a0013688","article-title":"Beyond big and little: the four c model of creativity","volume":"13","author":"Kaufman","year":"2009","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"155","DOI":"10.1080\/02783193.2013.799413","article-title":"In praise of clark kent: creative metacognition and the importance of teaching kids when (not) to be creative","volume":"35","author":"Kaufman","year":"2013","journal-title":"Roeper Rev."},{"key":"B23","first-page":"5","author":"Kile","year":"2016","journal-title":"Creativity in Engineering Negatively Correlates With First-Year Gpa. Poster Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association. ("},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03201091","article-title":"How examples may (and may not) constrain creativity","volume":"24","author":"Marsh","year":"1996","journal-title":"Mem. Cogn."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"240","DOI":"10.1002\/jocb.120","article-title":"Do traditional admissions criteria reflect applicant creativity?","volume":"51","author":"Pretz","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Creat. Behav."},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"297","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780197698181.013.0017","article-title":"Are creative students more successful in college?","volume-title":"The Oxford Handbook of Creativity AND Education","author":"Pretz","year":"2025"},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"47","DOI":"10.1002\/tl.7505","article-title":"Quality in the classroom: classroom assessment techniques as TQM","volume":"75","author":"Soetaert","year":"1998","journal-title":"New Dir. Teach. Learn."},{"key":"B28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"178","DOI":"10.1037\/aca0000017","article-title":"Defining 21st century readiness for all students: what we know and how to get there","volume":"9","author":"Soule","year":"2015","journal-title":"Psychol. Aesthet. Creat. Arts"},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"292","DOI":"10.1037\/1089-2680.3.4.292","article-title":"The theory of successful intelligence","volume":"3","author":"Sternberg","year":"1999","journal-title":"Rev. Gen. Psychol."},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4159\/9780674058590","volume-title":"College Admissions for the 21st Century","author":"Sternberg","year":"2010"},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.1177\/0098628312465870","article-title":"Teaching Generation Me","volume":"40","author":"Twenge","year":"2013","journal-title":"Teach. Psychol."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1177\/0098628318796924","article-title":"Conflicts and consistencies in creativity research and teaching","volume":"45","author":"Wieth","year":"2018","journal-title":"Teach. Psychol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1768412\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T05:35:12Z","timestamp":1778736912000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1768412\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"references-count":32,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1768412"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1768412","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]]},"article-number":"1768412"}}