Improvisation as a tool to develop creativity mini-workshop divergent thinking

This workshop is meant for all lecturers and researchers of the conference, to experience the benefits of improvisation for themselves or for their students. In educating the inventors of our future, it is important to address creativity as a condition for innovation in Engineering courses of study. Part of the creative potential lies in the ability of divergent thinking. This looking for not yet existing patterns is also one of the characteristics of improvisation. Breaking the routine, staying positive, putting focus on others, staying in the present moment and daring to fail are the basic rules for improvisation, with having fun as a bonus. As Albert Einstein said, no problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. A disruption in the existing thinking and acting patterns has to be initiated. Giving participants no time to prepare or think things through, in other words giving them the opportunity and obligation to improvise is a mean to cause such a disruption. This way, participants get in the right mood, step out of their comfort zone and focus on the things that are happening in the here-and-now, in essence the right conditions for enhancing divergent thinking. The workshop in improvisation skills lasts 90 minutes and has the following structure: 00.00-00.20 hours: physical and concentration warming up 00.20-00.40 hours: exercises in pairs 00.40-01.10 hours: games 01.10-01.20 hours: cooling down 01.20-01.30 hours: evaluation In all parts of the workshop, people are challenged to solve problems with no more than their imagination. This way, they learn to take initiative, listen carefully, react spontaneously and enjoy making mistakes. The essence of improvisation touches the heart of creativity: acting in the here-and-now, accepting mistakes and learning to look for novel associations. The workshop can serve 30 participants maximum. The workshop leader is a lecturer professional skills who recently started a Ph.D.-research on innov- tive behavior in higher Engineering education. She teaches improvisation for almost six years now in an Engineering course of study in the Netherlands. She is also the co-author of a book (in press) about improvisation and entrepreneurship. After the workshop, participants will leave in a good mood, while thinking of ways how to stimulate creativity. A hand-out with more information will be provided.