SUNY Buffalo State Selects SparcIt's Automated Creativity Assessment Tool for its Upcoming MOOC on Creativity

    BERKELEY, CA, February 10, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The International Center for Creativity Studies (ICSC) at SUNY Buffalo State, the oldest degree-granting program in creativity in the world, has selected SparcIt's, an NSF-funded company, automated creativity assessment tool for measuring students' creativity quotient (CQ) on its first massive open online course (MOOC) on creativity.

The course is called "Ignite Your Everyday Creativity" and will be available on the leading online learning platform, Coursera on February 16, 2015.

The online classes are taught by two faculty members: Dr. Cyndi Burnett and Dr. John Cabra, both from Buffalo State's International Center for Studies in Creativity.

The goal of this course is to help students recognize, develop, and act upon the creativity that they already possess.

"Ignite Your Everyday Creativity" will also leverage SparcIt's new technology that allows students to measure their creativity level before, during, and after the program. This new creativity assessment technology will provide the students with a creativity benchmark and a creativity quotient (CQ) that will enable them to understand their progress throughout the course and learn about areas which they can improve.

"We are bringing some of the most exciting learning experiences on creativity to life on the Coursera platform," said Dr. Burnett, who is an assistant professor at ICSC, where she has taught deliberate creativity for the last 15 years. "The course will help the students become more effective and resourceful problem solvers. Furthermore, we are very excited to collaborate with SparcIt because its technology will enable us to measure students' progress."

"It's an honor to partner with SUNY Buffalo State and with the ICSC's faculty," said Farzad H. Eskafi, co-founder and CEO of SparcIt. "This is a huge step towards a scalable creativity assessment and development for all."

This is an introductory course and all are welcome. Students can register for free through the link https://www.coursera.org/course/creative

About SUNY - Buffalo State
Buffalo State, a State University of New York (SUNY) campus located in Buffalo, New York, offers bachelor's and master's degrees in the arts, education, natural and social sciences, and professional studies. Each year, more than 10,000 students choose Buffalo State for its broad array of high-quality and distinctive academic programs, diverse and creative environment, hands-on learning opportunities, affordable SUNY tuition, and location in the heart of Buffalo's cultural corridor.

About International Center for Creativity Studies
The ICSC is a unique academic unit within Buffalo State. Since 1967, we have trained students, groups, teams and organizations to become more effective creative thinkers and problem solvers and to instill these skills in others. For more information, please visit http://creativity.buffalostate.edu

About SparcIt
SparcIt is an NSF-funded technology and creativity company based in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA. For the first time, organizations, educators, and researchers can test and measure an individual or team's creative thinking abilities through an online platform and provide a reliable creativity quotient (CQ). For more information, please visit http://www.sparcIt.com

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