Building Students’ Creative Thinking Skills Through Worldbuilding
The Universe Within is an educational pilot created by nonprofit Mat Bevel Company’s School of Intuition that builds students’ creative thinking skills, defined as a flexible and imaginative approach to solving problems. The Universe Within is a grassroots solution to a national creative intelligence deficit that increases student capacity to innovate, problem-solve and navigate unknown situations through original thinking exercises and imaginative approaches to solving problems.
Inspired by Mat Bevel Company President Ned Schaper’s world of Beveldom–a fine-art mechanical land teeming with inspiring characters–students will participate in a four-part introduction to worldbuilding where they construct an imaginary world of their own. Students will also develop and play the part of a central character in their unique world.
The Universe Within coursework is picking up STEAM!
Science + technology + engineering + ART + math = STEAM
This super-charged team of experts will join us and add new dimensions to The Universe Within world-building coursework during the 2018-2019 school year:
DaNel Hogan, Director for Pima County Superintendent of Schools’ StemAZing program, will help create STEAM lessons for The Universe Within coursework, and provide training to classroom teachers. She was an Albert Einstein Distinguished Educator Fellow at the U.S. Department of Energy in Washington, DC.
Dr. Bruce Bayly, Professor of Math at University of Arizona, President of The Physics Factory and Board Chair of Arts Integration Solutions, will help translate the world of Beveldom into even more STEAM-friendly, fun lessons for The Universe Within coursework. He and his team of scientists and educators have travelled around Tucson and the country in his bus sharing their enthusiasm for physics with students, teachers and community members.
Dr. Mark Runco, a leading creativity scholar and E. Paul Torrance Professor of Creativity Studies at the University of Georgia, will measure creative potential and performance for students taking The Universe Within full coursework.
Beveldom’s inspiring characters help students to identify the character they want to play and articulate what is meaningful to them in their world. Students learn how to create and share their own novel characters, scenarios and plot lines.
All of Beveldom’s kinetic art objects–helmets, vehicles, musical instruments, armor and buildings–move students from the three dimensional world of height, width and depth into learning about the fourth dimension of time.
Students learn how to use their imagination to solve problems in a totally engaging and playful way, all while learning STEAM!
The five classes start with a 5-minute inspirational and instructional video. Students open their minds to fantastical concepts from the world of Beveldom. Step-by-step instructions are outlined for specific classroom activities.
After the video, teachers guide students through the following classroom activities in which students create their own world:
Class One: The Daily Doodle
Students conceptualize, organize and develop elements of their world in a sketchbook. They generate short-term and long-range designs and plans for creating visual art that represents their character and the physical structures of their world. Students formulate guiding principles and identify a creative solution for overcoming a major social issue in their world, based on personal experience and values.
Class Two: Corrugated Headgear
Students refine and make a sculptural headdress from recycled corrugated cardboard, wrapping paper and paper circuits. Students learn about technology and spatial relationships through mask making as they complete three-dimensional art of their character’s headdress.
Class Three: The Art of Kinetics
Students refine and make kinetic art from recycled materials learning to bend wire hangers into moving parts, construct cardboard wheels and gears and power them. Students learn about technology, movement and balance as they complete four-dimensional art of a kinetic structure from their world.
Class Four: Story Book
Students document and share the process of designing and making their world through a story book. They compare and explain choices they made while creating their worlds. They organize their doodles, headgear and kinetic art and plan to present meaningful elements their world in a story. They evaluate the impact of various story formats, then complete their story book.
Class Five: Exhibition & Pedestrian Carnival
Students reflect on positive aspects of their group identity as world-builders. They curate, install and exhibit their artwork in “The Universe Within” group exhibition that includes their three and four dimensional artwork, a video compilation of their group storybook and a group parade during the exhibition. Peers, family and community see students’ processes of creating their worlds from the early stages of developing ideas to fully expressed visual art that reflects individual and group values and social concerns.
Public Celebration: Fine Arts Gala
A showcase of each student’s “doodle” book, sculptural headgear and digital storybook, as well as classroom videos and photos of activities are displayed during a community Fine Arts Gala on campus.
Teachers evaluate student acquisition of grade-relevant standards. Students take home their “doodle” books, headgear and storybooks and receive a certificate for their participation in The Universe Within.
For more information contact:
Paula Schaper
, Vice President / Executive Director
Mat Bevel Company
520-604-6273
pschaper@matbevelcompany.org
www.matbevelcompany.org