Strategies for developing creativity and critical thinking.

1. +
STRATEGIES FOR DEVELOPING
CREATIVITY AND CRITICAL THINKING
ALEXIS GREER
MED 560
UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX

2. +
Five Strategies to Develop
Creativity

3. +
ALLOW FOR MOVEMENT
WITHIN THE
CLASSROOM
Creativity 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.

4. +
TAKE THE RISK, LEARN
FROM THE MISTAKES
Students 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.

5. +
DIFFERENTIATE
ASSIGNMENT
SUBMITTAL
This 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.

6. +
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.

7. +
ENCOURAGE DIVERSITY
Different 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.

8. +
Five Strategies to Develop
Critical Thinking

9. +
ASK OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS
Simple 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.

10. +
READ, RE-READ, &
PROVE
This 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.

11. +
GROUP QUIZ
PARTICIPATION
Group 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.

12. +
IN-CLASS DEBATES
Class 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.

13. +
LOWER-LEVEL
QUESTIONS
This 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.

14. +
References
 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.