Utilizing novel and challenging activities helps instructors inspire students to think creatively about a problem. It can be as simple as team-building exercises to more significant, open-ended tasks that may require a semester to complete.
The concept of creative problem-solving is important to learn. It needs to be a part of the curriculum from an early age in an educational environment. Such a syllabus will allow students to find and develop innovative approaches to a single problem. Here are a few ideas to get kids involved in debates, problem-solving, logical analysis, and other activities.
Busting Assumptions
One can benefit significantly from assumption breaking when stuck in a thinking paradigm and out of ideas. Each of us makes assumptions about the world, which might make it challenging to find creative solutions in a creative setting. Seeking out and challenging previously unquestioned beliefs encourages innovative thinking.
Brainstorming
As a tool for developing creative solutions to problems, brainstorming is a way to stimulate students to think laterally and generate new ideas and thoughts. Participants can modify and refine their ideas to produce original and valuable solutions. Brainstorming helps define issues, diagnose problems, and identify potential solutions and opposition to the proposed solutions.
Mapping of Concepts
An in-depth description of conceptual knowledge is represented graphically by concept maps. These consist of nodes representing concepts and links showing relationships between ideas. The use of concept maps helps teachers synthesize old and new information by presenting the synthesis of new and old data in a visual format. It helps assess the understanding of students.
Role-Playing
In role-playing exercises, students assume the role of a community member who has been affected by a problem and researches an issue or event from their perspective.
Post-Up
This technique involves collecting ideas from large groups of participants ranging from dozens to hundreds. Participants are given paper slips and invited to write down ideas that will be discussed or rated later. Instructors can collect many views rapidly and encourage a sense of ownership and participation.
Storyboarding
Students write their ideas on storyboards as they undertake projects or address problems. Storyboards can allow students to plan, brainstorm, communicate, and organize their thoughts. Once the ideas start flowing, students become engrossed in the topic and collaborate on others’ opinions. They detect the connections between ideas, how one thought relates to another, and how pieces fit together.
Negative Brainstorming
After assessing a shortlist of existing ideas, a negative brainstorming exercise is the next step instead of massing the ideas into large chunks. When a concept is new or complex, or when there is a small margin for error, it is imperative to examine possible problems. The negative brainstorming process asks, “What could go wrong with this project?” If it is difficult to find immediate solutions to an issue, reverse brainstorming might prove helpful.
Bottom Line
Regardless of whether you are already involved in extracurricular activities, you might want to consider ways of broadening your interests while you are still in school. You will learn valuable skills and creative problem-solving by participating in meaningful extracurricular activities that apply to many situations. This includes finding a job, using international institutions, or simply living your life.
The exhaustion that students feel after school is pretty standard. Read Margie Wadsworth’s Unforgettable Senior Year by Lucy Smalls, and it will guide you on how to develop creative problem-solving skills.