Chunfang Zhou

Chunfang Zhou, Ph.D., Associate Professor in Department of Planning, Aalborg University (AAU), Denmark. Chunfang has an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural educational background; she finished bachelor degree (Industry Automation and Information Engineering) and master degree (Philosophy of Science and Technology) in China; since 2008, Chunfang has worked in Denmark started by a Ph.D. project on Engineering Creativity in Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) at UNESCO Center of PBL at AAU. Chunfang locates her research in area of Science, Technology and Society (STS), with a particular focus on creativity and its relations to innovation process, with interests in diverse domains including digitalization, human-centered design, sustainability, group collaboration, knowledge management, Problem-Based Learning (PBL) and STEM education. Recently, she has done cross-cultural contributions to creativity research , especially by her Individual Independent Research Project Fostering Creativity in Higher Education: A Comparative Study on Pedagogical Strategies of Learning by Projects between Denmark and China, funded by Danish Research Council (2013-2016). Currently she is coordinating Designing, Participation and Facilitation of Problem and Project-Based Learning (PBL) between Northeastern University (NEU), China and AAU, Denmark; she is leading Creativity in Technology Design: Developing a Sino-Danish Research Network for Future Digital Societies, funded by Danish Research Council (2019-2020). Chunfang has authored or co-authored over 80 peer-review publications. Chunfang is member of research group Techno-Anthropology and Participation, member of Danish Center for Health Informatics, member of Chinese Creativity Research Network, and board member of Danish Development Research Network (DDRN).

Publications

Introducing Problem-Based Learning (PBL) for Creativity and Innovation in Chinese Universities: Emerging Research and Opportunities

Chinese universities are striving to integrate new educational elements such as student-centered learning, group learning, active learning, and learning by doing into current...

Problem-Oriented Technology Innovation and Participatory Technology Assessment in China

China is developing an ‘innovation-oriented nation' and meanwhile meeting challenges in both innovation practice and research. This chapter contributes to the book that...

Smart Creative Tourism: Public Participation through Technologies in Chinese Museums

This article will focus on how smart museums provide conditions for creative and playful learning experience that facilitates creative tourism development, overcomes cultural...

Developing Creativity and Learning Design by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Developing Contexts

This chapter has two aims: 1) to bridge the link between creativity, learning, information ecology, and community of practice that underpins the theoretical necessity of...

Meeting Gender Gaps in Information and Communication Technology (ICT): How Can Creativity Make a Difference?

This chapter will bridge theories such as ICT, creativity, learning, and gender in one framework, and particularly focuses on how to meet gender gaps in learning contexts by...

Global Perspectives on Fostering Problem-Based Learning in Chinese Universities

Future generations are being faced with the potential challenge of having to solve professional problems in a hybrid world in which there is no clear boundary between autonomous...

Fostering Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in Chinese Universities for a Creative Society

Recently, building a creative society has been a new vision of China that brings much discussion on how to foster creative talents and how to improve pedagogic models in Chinese...

Fostering Practical Developers in Computer Science Classrooms: A PBL Approach

Real-life software development requires practical developers. This chapter discusses the challenges put by real-life software development on computer science education of modern...

Rethinking Environmental Education: Reflections on AAU UNESCO Center Certificate Course of Problem-Based Learning

This chapter brings a participatory learning experience on PBL at Aalborg University in Denmark. Based on the inherent wholeness of the human-nature ecosystem, interdisciplinary...

PBL Implementation in Material Science and Engineering Education at Chinese Universities

Traditional university education with ordinary lectures is changing to more practical and actively student-centered learning systems. Materials science and engineering is...

The Change Towards PBL: Designing and Applying PBL at a Program Level

This chapter proposes the design of course groups PBL at program level for students from the BSc. programs of Robot Engineering (RE) at Northeastern University (NEU), China. The...

An Elective Course-Based Model for the Change of Traditional Engineering Curriculum Towards PBL in a Chinese University

The chapter presents two PBL models for the change of traditional engineering curriculum based on traditional courses across colleges at the Northeastern University in China. A...

Experience and Reflection on PBL and Implementation of Interdisciplinary-Level PBL Plan

This chapter introduces the author's own teaching practices, teaching philosophy, and teaching challenges by traditional ways in Northeastern University of China at first....

Facilitating Cross-Cultural Communication: A Global Dimension to Fostering International Talents and Innovation in University Foreign Affairs Management

The purpose of this chapter is twofold: 1) to make a brief interpretation of global dimension mainly focusing on the criterion for “international talents” and the requirements...

Developing Engineering Creativity in STEM Programs in Chinese Universities

This chapter aims to formulate a proposal of developing engineering creativity by problem- and project-based pedagogies in STEM programs in university education in China. It will...

Developing Creativity and Learning Design by Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Developing Contexts

This chapter has two aims: 1) to bridge the link between creativity, learning, information ecology and community of practice that underpins the theoretical necessity of...

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) as a Co-Creative Culture of Sustainability: A Lesson From a Danish Renewable Energy Project

This chapter aims to address corporative social responsibility (CSR) as a key element of co-creative culture in developing sustainability in practice of regional innovation. This...

Supporting Creative Learning by Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Project Teams

The recent studies have focused on the significance of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in developing creativity. This chapter regards creativity as a way of shaping...

Handbook of Research on Creative Problem-Solving Skill Development in Higher Education

Developing students’ creative problem-solving skills is paramount to today’s teachers, due to the exponentially growing demand for cognitive plasticity and critical thinking in...

Fostering Creative Problem Solvers in Higher Education: A Response to Complexity of Societies

Recent studies have emphasized issues of social emergence based on thinking of societies as complex systems. The complexity of professional practice has been recognized as the...

Going Towards Adaption, Integration, and Co-Creation: A Conclusion to Developing Creative Problem Solving Skills in Higher Education

As a response to the growing challenges brought about by complexity in professional practice, the collection of chapters in this volume guides an intellectual journey through the...

How Does the Hierarchical Management System Influence the Climate of Creativity in Chinese University Laboratories?

This chapter aims to investigate how the Chinese hierarchical management system influences the climate of creativity in university laboratories. A questionnaire (Creative Climate...

Integrating Ethics into Engineering Education

In this chapter, the authors aim to explore the necessity of teaching ethics as part of engineering education based on the gaps between learning “hard” knowledge and “soft”...