PhD fellowship. Study of creativity in co-creative interdisciplinary projects in Higher Education.

Study of creativity in the context of the doctoral thesis

The PhD project aims to evaluate the development of creativity competency in co-creative interdisciplinary projects in Higher Education.

The study of creativity focuses on the analysis of interdisciplinary co-creation contexts such as those developed in the context of the INVENT@UCA interdisciplinary projects and the Msc SmartEdTech projects. In these contexts of co-creation, creativity "emerges and exists within a system rather than just at the level of individual processes"(Henriksen, Mishra and Fisser, 2016, p. 27). The study of creativity in the context of collaborative learning will combine the Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and computer modeling of creativity through machine learning approaches. Quantitative statistical analysis skills and computer programming skills are required for this interdisciplinary doctorate. Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) can be learnt at the beginning of the doctorate in case the candidate is not familiar with this approach.

Context of the doctoral study:

The doctoral project is developed within the Laboratory of Innovation and Digital Education (LINE) of the Université Côte d'Azur (UCA) in coordination with the research unit of the Center for Active Pedagogies (CAP). The research unit of the CAP aims to contribute to the development of actions of transformation of Higher education.

The doctoral contract is developed within the Laboratory of Innovation and Digital Education (LINE) and the Doctoral School "Societies, Humanities, Arts and Letters" (SHAL) of the Université Côte d'Azur (UCA). Doctoral School SHAL enrolls doctoral students in 23 disciplines of language, psychology, education, social sciences and humanities. The doctoral registration and completion of the doctoral courses will have to be done according to the modalities described by the SHAL Doctoral School. As part of the co-direction of the thesis with Université Laval, the doctoral student must also be admitted to the doctorate program in educational technology at Université Laval, following the submission of an application for admission to the program.

Main objective :

● Assessment of the creativity competence in the context of interdisciplinary co-creation projects in Higher Education.

Specific objectives:

● Develop the theoretical framework of creativity competency in the context of project-based learning activities (Objective 1); analyze existing practices in a selection of Université Côte d’Azur courses that have integrated co-creative approaches including Invent@UCA, Msc SmartEdTech courses (Objective 2); computer modeling of creativity within a machine learning approaches (Objective 3); develop Change Lab approaches to contribute to the modeling of a tool for the assessment of creativity (Objective 4) and the dissemination of research ; scientific research papers in international journals and conferences with proceedings (Objective 5).

● As part of objective 2, the PhD student will contribute to the design and development of the creativity assessment tool with web technologies. Skills in web design and development will be appreciated. Quantitative data analysis to validate co-creativity questionnaires is also required, including the ability to develop FA (Factor Analysis) and SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) analysis.The ability to communicate and write in English is also appreciated.

Hosting teams :

The doctoral student will be hosted in the Innovation and Digital Laboratory for Education (LINE) and the Center for Active Pedagogy (CAP) of Université Côte d’Azur in Nice. Facilitation activities will be carried out for one and a half days a week at the various Invent@UCA home sites. He / she will be involved in the various activities and research seminars to enable the development of his research competencies and his integration into the scientific community in the sciences of education.

The doctorate contract has a duration of 3 years during which the student will have to realize 4 sessions allowing the realization of the defense of the doctoral examination and the PhD project at Université Laval (Quebec, Canada).

The doctoral contract is funded with a fixed term 3-year contract. The return trip to Laval University from the student is the responsibility of the student. Tuition fees at Université Côte d'Azur and Université Laval must be paid by the student.

Application:

Applications must be sent before August 25th to Margarida.Romero@unice.fr and Sylvie.Barma@fse.ulaval.ca

● The application file must include a letter of motivation in French, a summary in English on the interest of creativity in university pedagogy (600 words), a copy of the master's thesis or equivalent, a CV and 2 letters of recommendation.

● The selection process will take place in late August 2019 and integration on the project in 2019/2020