Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/US61BSXwDno Playing the Minecraft video game, indeed playing it without any instructions, appears to drive a higher level of creativity.  A just published study from the psychologists at the Iowa State University compared the effects of playing this popular game with playing a race car game or merely watching TV. The 352 college undergrads each spent 40 minutes playing or watching TV.  They then completed the creative task of drawing an alien creature, and their work was then graded for creativity by judges unaware of what they played or watched before picking up the pencils. The most creative work was done by those who played Minecraft without any instructions or limitations so that their intellectual energies could run free.   Many video games drive creativity by tasking the player to create characters and and unique strategies.  Given their popularity and proven effectiveness as creativity catalysts, educators are now looking for ways to incorporate these games into formal educat