Creative Thinking

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Strategies for
Developing Critical and
Creative Thinking
Shonté M. Wallace

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21st Century Learning
 In order to promote creative learning in the 21st century,
we must ensure our students develop the following skills :
1. Synthetic Ability- A person who can pioneer new ideas
2. Analytic Ability- Critical thinker who analyzes and
evaluates ideas
3. Practical Ability- One who can translate theory to
practice
(Sternberg and Williams, 2003)

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So, how do you facilitate an environment
conducive of creative and critical thinking?

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Creative Thinking
1. Allow students choices on how to demonstrate mastery
of objectives.
 Did you mother ever tell you that you will only learn the
hard way? Even after she told you a million times to do
something one way, you still did what you wanted…
However, you learned from your experience!
 Students need choices, in order to try out new ideas.
 We often learn by making mistakes and making
improvements.
 You can require that students provide an outline of what
they plan to do, in order to best support their efforts.

5. + Creative Thinking, Cont’d
2. Create an accepting classroom environment.
 Educators have a strong sense of control in the classroom
dynamic, in regards to respect.
 Allowing students to brainstorm and present new ideas without
being critical of them will promote creative thinking.
3. Interdisciplinary connections matter.
 Meet with colleagues from other subjects and find out what they
are teaching or have recently taught.
 Reinforcing knowledge across subjects offers repition for the
students so they can grasp major aspects more.
 Allow students to apply their abilities from their strongest
subjects in your class.

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www.flickr.com

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Creative Thinking, Cont’d
4. Make time for creativity
 Using scaffolding techniques and ample, targeted
feedback, gives students a chance to continuously build
their knowledge while reflecting on the integration and
application of what they learned.
 The best innovations did not happen overnight!

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www.flickr.com

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Creative Thinking Cont’d
5. Encourage collaborative creativity
 Connectivism learning theory emphasizes the value of
collboration.
 Working with others is a part of life.
 Many minds working together goes beyond the limits of
one person’s thinking and abilities.

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www.flickr.com

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Critical Thinking
1. Reflection is key to critical thinking
 Use short formative assessments that allow students to reflect
on the day’s lessons and their own learning.
 The 1 Minute Assessment and Muddiest Point are great
formative assessments
2. Get controversial!
 Ask questions that do not have concrete answers that require
students to really think about their own perspectives and
others’.

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Critical Thinking, Cont’d
3. Lecture is a part of teaching, but allow students to inquire and
report to the class.
 Inquiry is an essential skill in critical thinking ability.
 Having them report it also increases their learning.
 Students learn from other students, not only teachers.
 The act of reporting the information through multiple
communication modes is a part of the critical thinking process.

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Critical Thinking, Cont’d
4. Problem-based Learning
 The teacher is a facilitator, and learning is student-centered.
 Students can collaborate and integrate all of the knowledge,
skills, and abilities that they have, in order to find solutions.
5. Bloom’s Taxonomy
 Remember, learning is a process.
 Students will need to begin with lower-order, background
knowledge building skills, before being able to evaluate,
integrate and create.
 Critical thinking can occur in the lower- order skill levels.

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www.flickr.com

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References
 Ennis, R. H. (2013). Twenty-one strategies and techniques for
teaching critical thinking. CriticalThinking.Net. Retrieved from
http://www.criticalthinking.net/howteach.html
 Sternberg, R. & Williams, W. M. (2003). Teaching for creativity: Two
dozen tips. The Center for Development and Learning. Retrieved
from http://www.cdl.org/articles/teaching-for-creativity-two-dozen-tips/
 Study Guides and Strategies. (n. d.). Problem-based learning.
Retrieved from http://www.studygs.net/pbl.htm
 Study Guides and Strategies. (n. d.). Teaching critical thinking.
Retrieved from http://www.studygs.net/teaching/crttch.htm