Teach Art Students to Code: Will the computational thinking boost the creativity?

Teaching computational thinking is one of the most important strategies in STEM education. Students perform better in problems solving, systems building and solutions projecting within the benefits and limitations of computing tools. While it is generally regarded that creativity, especially in art and design field, is about "thinking outside the box". The paper proposed a different opinion by viewing computational thinking and creative thinking as the same. Four students from different majors (all art and design related) and educational backgrounds (US and China) are selected as case studies. The goal is to promote a bridge between STEM education and art-based education.