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STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING CREATIVITY AND CRITICAL THINKING

ALEXIS GREERMED 560UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX

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Five Strategies to Develop Creativity

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ALLOW FOR MOVEMENT WITHIN THE CLASSROOMCreativity increases when students are able to move about the classroom during the class period. For example, beginning a lesson in the desk and then allowing the students to move to collaborative workspaces to have discussions about the assignments.

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TAKE THE RISK, LEARN FROM THE MISTAKESStudents should know that is okay to try because it is okay to fail. In the video, the students discussed that even though you might not prove your hypothesis, you may learn something else from the experiment.

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DIFFERENTIATE ASSIGNMENT SUBMITTALThis is an approach that I currently use in my classroom and it has been very successful. Students are allowed to be as ornate or concise with the delivery of their assignments. I will give them all of the parameters for the assignment except the format for submittal. Then they can take it upon themselves to decide how they want to demonstrate their knowledge.

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SLOW WALK THE LEARNING (SCAFFOLDING)As much as we want to help our students, we do them a disservice when we give them the answers. With patience on our part, we can teach our students to work independently or in small groups to come up with possible solutions to problems. Otherwise, we are only serving to stifle creativity.

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ENCOURAGE DIVERSITYDifferent students bring different things to the group that is why it is so important for students to work in diverse atmospheres. That may not only include race, religion, and ethnicity. This can also be achieved by breaking up groups of people that always work together. It is good for them to see views and ideas of other students.

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Five Strategies to Develop Critical Thinking

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ASK OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONSSimple yes or no answer questions can limit critical thinking. Thoughtful, open-ended questions can go a long way towards teaching students to think outside of the box.

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READ, RE-READ, & PROVEThis strategy is imperative as it encourages thorough reading and comprehension. Too often students want to jump straight to answering the questions without taking the time actually read the prompt or provided information. A way to help curb this unhealthy practice is to require that the students prove their responses in the reading material provided.

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GROUP QUIZ PARTICIPATIONGroup quizzes are an excellent way to stimulate critical thinking. Because one answer is given for the whole group, students must discuss and prove their responses to one another. It also serves an as avenue to allow students to challenge one another’s opinions in smaller settings.

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IN-CLASS DEBATESClass debates are an exciting way for students to hear one another’s thoughts and opinions about a particular topic and it encourages students to prove their opinions.

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LOWER-LEVEL QUESTIONSThis is definitely a confidence builder. My starting with lower level questions, students can increase their own confidence in their content knowledge. It also makes for a painless transition to higher-order thinking questions, as students are less likely to realize that they questions have gotten increasing more difficult and thought-provoking.

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Kennedy, R. (2007). In-class debates: Fertile ground for active learning and the cultivation of critical thinking and oral communication skills. International Journal of Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, 19(2), 183-190.

Pearson Learning Solutions. (2013). Encouraging high school students to think. Retrieved on April 25, 2016 from http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcpc/pls

Seaton, I., & Boyd, M. (2008). The effective use of simulations in business courses. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 12(1), 107-118.