Evaluating the Impact of Creativity Interventions in Children with Dr. Patrícia Alves-Oliveira

In Part 1 of this Double Espresso episode, Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. Matthew Worwood welcome Dr. Patrícia Alves-Oliveira, a Postdoctoral Researcher who focuses on designing human-robot interaction. Patrícia is especially interested in leveraging the qualities of social robots to empower human health and education, foster creativity in children, and improve mental health among adolescents.

Listen in to this episode to learn the impact of creativity interventions for children, how teachers can assess children to see if those interventions are working, and why it’s not always important to measure the outcomes, but to critique them.

“There is so much around the process that can impact other ways of education. For example, even during the teaching of history or math or biology, could there be a space in the formal curriculum where teachers open a creativity thought process?” – Patrícia Alves-Oliveira

Patrícia shares her best advice for improving your interventions to promote creativity in young children, the power of not having expectations of your students, and how to introduce more fun, playful activities in your classroom.

“We tend to forget this, but the physical world wasn’t born. We created it. So, change it. Change it to whatever you need to make the activity you want to bring in reflected in the environment, too.” – Patrícia Alves-Oliveira

Stay tuned for Part 2 for a discussion on using robots to foster creativity in kids + Patrícia’s Tips for Teachers and Parents!

“I don’t believe that children always need to be doing something to be creative. Sometimes, it happens in the closet of their minds and then it comes out unexpectedly.”

– Patrícia Alves-Oliveira

Recommended Resources:

Read Patrícia’s research papers

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Eager to bring more creativity into your home or classroom?

Access various creativity resources and tools & listen to more episodes of The Fueling Creativity in Education Podcast by visiting www.CreativityandEducation.com.

What to learn more about Design Thinking in Education?

Do you want to build a sustained culture of innovation and creativity at your school? Visit WorwoodClassroom.com to learn how Design Thinking can promote teacher creativity and support professional growth in the classroom.

Have a question? Email Dr. Burnett and Dr. Worwood at questions@fuelingcreativitypodcast.com!

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About Patrícia Alves-Oliveira:

Patrícia Alves-Oliveira is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Washington in Seattle. Patrícia received her Ph.D. in Human-Robot Interaction studies in 2020 from the University Institute of Lisbon and spent time at Cornell University as a Visiting Graduate Scholar. Her research focuses on designing human-robot interaction. She is especially interested in leveraging the qualities of social robots to empower human health and education. During her PhD, she studied the application of robots in fostering creativity in children. Now, during her postdoc, she is investigating how robots can demystify and improve mental health among adolescents. Patricia’s interdisciplinary work unifies the fields of robotics, design, and psychology.

Evaluating the Impact of Creativity Interventions in Children with Dr. Patrícia Alves-Oliveira

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