However, my recent observations of recurring patterns in student work, where critical analyses and creative digital projects often tread remarkably similar paths, have highlighted a pedagogical need to cultivate a greater willingness to embrace creative risk. This article outlines a revised project structure designed to gently nudge students beyond their comfort zones and reflects on the invaluable lessons that such risk-taking can offer in preparing them for the dynamic realities of the creative landscape.
In the first year ‘Communication for Creative Industries’ course I coordinate and teach at SAE University College, our lessons have traditionally focused on learning skills for academic writing and professional communication. The goal behind this has been to equip students with necessary foundational skills to communicate their insights effectively through written essays and digital content. However, my observation after two years of grading critical essays on one favourite media text and social media videos or blog posts on another has indicated a clear need to encourage students to take more risks.
When given the choice, nearly all of the students gravitated towards well-established and familiar media texts and genres, demonstrating a reluctance to explore less mainstream media, such as experimental, niche, or obscure texts.
In this particular course, both projects are designed to respond to the same learning outcome requirements relating to media analysis, written and audiovisual communication skills, understanding of socio-cultural context, and the ability to engage with scholarly and authoritative sources for support. In the first project, they are asked to create a piece of media of their choice and reflect on the way it is inspired by existing media. This is a suitably ‘comfortable’ first project for students just beginning tertiary education, however, there is a distinct need for something less formulaic in the second half of the course to encourage genuinely disruptive innovation. According to Choi et al. (2019) in their article on creative risk-taking, ‘students will “play it safe” or even off-load responsibility onto instructors in order to avoid extending outside their comfort zone when they are performing creative exercises in class and for assessments’ (74). They attribute this tendency to anxieties about failure, social judgment, and the unknown, compounded by the challenges of transitioning to university life (74). In order to challenge students to build resilience in the face of such anxieties and fears, a revised second project has been introduced to help students counteract this tendency toward safe choices.
Project 2: The Disruptive Innovation asks them to revisit the work they created for project one and intentionally disrupt and transform it in a way that feels risky and outside their typical creative comfort zone. Applying flow theory (Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi, 2012), they are encouraged to focus on experimentation and learning from the process. The main idea of ‘flow’ centres on immersion and enjoyment in the process itself, which, when applied to the context of our course, encourages students to appreciate the intrinsic value of creative exploration.
By emphasising the process of creation, which includes problem-solving and learning from mistakes, students may feel less pressure to produce a ‘perfect’ outcome, which can also reduce the fear of failure.
From this perspective, students will be more willing to experiment with unconventional formats and embrace the learning that comes from both successes and potential failures. Accordingly, students are assessed more on the documentation and presentation of their process than the finished product.
Despite fulfilling learning outcomes, the uniformity of the first project submissions suggests a tendency towards convergent thinking and low risk-taking, as suggested by Shen et al. (2018). Their research indicates a negative correlation between risk-taking and convergent thinking, implying that students may have gravitated towards familiar media and approaches where a ‘correct’ or well-established outcome was more readily achievable (230).
Recognising the need to cultivate a broader spectrum of creative engagement beyond this convergent dominance, the ‘Disruptive Innovation’ is intentionally designed to challenge students to embrace risk.
By asking them to disrupt their initial work, we aim to encourage the exploration of new possibilities, even if it means venturing outside of established comfort zones. This shift acknowledges that while convergent thinking has its place, nurturing innovation in the creative industries also necessitates the willingness to take creative risks, even if it initially feels less ‘safe’ or ‘correct.’
This revised project structure represents a deliberate pedagogical shift. By initially providing a comfortable space for foundational skill development and then strategically introducing a project that explicitly encourages creative risk-taking, students are encouraged to move beyond predictable outcomes. Learning to navigate uncertainty mirrors the often predictable nature of the creative industries, where established norms are regularly challenged.
Drawing on insights from research on creative risk and thinking styles, this approach aims to cultivate the resilience, adaptability, and innovative spirit essential for navigating the creative industries.
While perhaps ambitious, cultivating these qualities is not only a utopian vision but also a realistic necessity for preparing students for a field that demands constant evolution and a willingness to embrace the new. Embracing the unknown though ‘innovative disruption’ builds students’ creative strength and flexibility, leading to greater originality and more powerful communication skills.
References
Choi, J., Payne, A., Hart, P., Brown, A. (2019). Creative Risk‐Taking: Developing Strategies for First Year University Students in the Creative Industries. The International Journal of Art & Design Education. https://doi.org/10.1111/jade.12169
Nakamura, J. & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2012). Flow Theory and Research, in S.J. Lopez & C. R. Snyder (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195187243.013.0018
Shen, W., Hommel, B., Yuan, Y., Chang, L., & Zhang, W. (2018). Risk-Taking and Creativity: Convergent, but Not Divergent Thinking Is Better in Low-Risk Takers. Creativity Research Journal, 30(2), 224–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.1446852
Jessica Hughes is a lecturer in film and media studies at SAE University College in Brisbane, Australia. She received her MA in Film Studies from the University of British Columbia (Canada) in 2011 and her PhD from the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2017. Her Masters research examined the ‘postmodern vampire’ film and her PhD dissertation focused on the transnational cult appeal of excess and otherness in Asian Extreme cinema. Her writing on both topics has been published as journal articles and book chapters. She was editor-in-chief for an issue of the University of British Columbia’s Cinephile journal (“Sound on Screen,” 6.1) in 2010.
Main image: Mary Constantino, Art-mos of a Prism #1, SAE University College, 2024 (detail)