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Dr. Peter Organisciak Awarded $900K NSF Grant to Advance AI Co-Creativity in Education

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Morgridge College of Education

Press Release  •
Research & Scholarship  •
Dr. Peter Organisciak

DENVER, CO — October 2025 — Dr. Peter Organisciak, associate professor and chair of Research Methods and Information Science at the University of Denver’s Morgridge College of Education, has been awarded a $898,326 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his groundbreaking project, “Innovative AI Systems for Nurturing and Assessing Creativity in K–12 Learning Environments.” 

The three-year project, conducted in collaboration with Selcuk Acar at the University of North Texas and Yixiao Dong at the University of California Santa Barbara, will develop artificial intelligence tools that assess and support creative thinking in STEM education. These systems aim to make creativity assessment and mentoring more accessible, equitable, and scalable for K–12 schools nationwide. 

At the heart of the project are two interconnected innovations: 

  • Ocsai Prime: an AI-based scoring model designed to evaluate originality and appropriateness in student ideas across diverse creative tasks. 
  • Creativity Companion: an AI co-creation tool that provides real-time feedback and guidance to students as they engage in creative problem-solving. 

Both systems will be evaluated in middle school classrooms across three U.S. school districts and made freely available through an open-access online platform, empowering educators to monitor and nurture creativity in their students more effectively. 

“Creativity is essential for STEM success, but assessing and cultivating it has traditionally been time-intensive and costly,” said Organisciak. “By leveraging AI, we can provide teachers with practical tools that make creative thinking more visible, measurable, and supportable in everyday classrooms.” 

The project reflects DU’s ongoing leadership in integrating data science, artificial intelligence, and educational research to improve learning outcomes and equity. It will also contribute to preparing students for a future where human–AI collaboration plays a central role in innovation and problem-solving.