Increasing Creativity and Critical Thinking in Your Class

1) Lead by example and teach creatively. Ways to teach creatively include using modern information technology like power point, blogs, social media, smart boards. If we exemplify creative teaching then hopefully we will foster creative learning.

CREATIVITY

2) OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS: Get away from right or wrong. Ask students to justify their questions. This increases the expression of ideas and you can guide the students as they learn in a positive manner (instead of telling them their wrong).

CREATIVITY

3) Promote a supportive environment. Encourage constructive questioning and encourage students to follow class room etiquette. If students feel comfortable they will be more likely to express ideas.

CREATIVITY

4) Incorporate art, music, and culture to stimulate creativity. One great way to incorporate current culture in the class room would be to use social media for assignments. This can be done with a discussion board on face book or even assigning homework over twitter.

CREATIVITY

CREATIVITY

5) Teach students that creativity is a skill that can be practiced. To often students think that you are either born creative or not. While some people are creative thinkers naturally, others just need to work on it. Teaching creative skills like imagination, self-motivation, and collaboration will allow students to become more creative.

1) Use Discussion Method or Socratic Method to encourage critical thinking. In our video, the entire class is performed in discussion method. This forces students to defend their answers and actually think about why they believe it is right or wrong. This also allows you to positively guide students to the correct answer.

CRITICAL THINKING

2) Present a case with out a conclusion and add your own question to the discussion that will guide students to the correct conclusion. This occurred often in the video.

CRITICAL THINKING

Critical Thinking 3) Use Classroom assessment Techniques often. For example, after a lecture ask students to write the main points in one minute for a participation grade. Then have a class discussion about the assessment answers

4) Use Peer Questioning. Have students ask each other questions about the course material. For example, an assignment can be to have students come up with five question for their partner based on the previous nights assigned reading. This forces students to think critically about important questions as they read. This can also be done for lecture and discussion.

CRITICAL THINKING

5) Assign questions for reading materials, videos, and lectures. These questions should guide the students in their material to the main points you want to cover. This is great to do individually and then have the students discuss their answer in small groups and then as a class.

CRITICAL THINKING

Works Cited

https://www.google.com/#q=30+ways+to+increase+critical+thinking+in+class+room

http://academic.udayton.edu/legaled/ctskills/ctskills01.htm