Faculty perceptions of institutional climate as it affects creativity in curriculum development and classroom activities

This study was intended to analyze faculty perception of the institutional climate as it supports and promotes or hinders and limits creativity in curriculum development and classroom activity. This study looked at the Mesabi Range Community and Technical College - Virginia Campus faculty. A survey was developed to address the issue of environmental stimulants and obstacles to creativity. Teresa Amabile's categories from her work with KEYS: Assessing the Climate for Creativity were used as the constructs against which to measure the Mesabi Range College faculty perceptions of the institutional climate. The results of this study provide a picture of the factors that help define institutional climate and the effects these factors have on faculty creativity as it relates to curriculum development and classroom activities at Mesabi Range College.; The results of this study yielded the following: The categories of work group support, sufficient resources, and freedom were perceived by faculty to be positively associated with the institutional climate as it supports and promotes creativity in curriculum development and classroom activity at Mesabi Range College. The categories of institutional encouragement, supervisory encouragement, and challenging work were perceived by faculty to be negatively associated with the institutional climate as it supports and promotes creativity in curriculum development and classroom activity at Mesabi Range. Organizational impediments and workload pressures were perceived to be high and therefore negatively affect the institutional climate as it supports and promotes creativity in curriculum development and classroom activity at Mesabi Range.