Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

Creative Problem Solving 307
To begin a unit on nutrition, a teacher leads the class in making an Idea Tree about everything that
comes to mind when they think of the word, “food.”
To begin a unit on fractions, the teacher has the class make an Idea Tree about all the activities and
objects in their lives that involve fractions.
Through such activities, the teacher can learn what is already salient to students with regards to
the topic. Students share their knowledge and ideas with each other. The class has an opportunity
to create shared meaning for some of the important concepts pertaining to the topic. What the
teacher learns about the students’ related interests and experience can be a source of ideas for
activities within the unit. The teacher can show students where the unit of study will fit in with the
bigger picture of the Idea or Attributes Tree they have created. If Attributes Trees are produced,
students can then use these as meaningful organizers for individual research within the unit. And
best of all, students find it very motivating to brainstorm their ideas in such activities.
“What if ...” assignments can also be used to advantage at the beginning of a unit. When
students produce something imaginative, their assumptions and preconceptions slip out sideways.
Thus the assignment can invite the use of imagination, get students thinking about the new topic
of study, and also reveal students’ misconceptions, gaps in knowledge, or related concerns. For
example:
Design a James Bond type briefcase containing special gadgets that would help the mayor with his
or her job. (This would be at the beginning of a unit on municipal government.)
Imagine that you were the President/Prime Minister. What would you try to do in the first year of
office? (This would be at the beginning of a unit on federal government.)
In Other Subject Areas. Sometimes teachers can use the knowledge students have been acquiring
in one curriculum unit as a base for a conceptually playful activity in another subject area.
Teachers might draw from current topics in science, social studies, or even math to design “What
if ...?” assignments in language arts or art. Here are two examples:
What if you had to make a picture of a flower (or an automobile) using only two randomly selected
shapes? (Students have been studying shapes in geometry in math class.)
Work in a group to design an imaginary machine (diagram or three-dimensional construction) that
would somehow help with pollution problems. Have each member of the group participate in an
oral presentation to explain the design. (The students are studying pollution problems in science.
Each group would be assigned a different imposed constraint. “Your group’s machine must be small
enough to fit in your pocket/use lots and lots of hose/have lots of blue ribbons/make a very loud or
high-pitched noise/make a ticking sound/have a smiley face as a central feature.”)
Activities such as these keep students interacting purposefully with the material from the unit
of study while also encouraging conceptual playfulness. Students are usually excited about the
ideas they have produced and are motivated to communicate these through speaking, writing, or
other forms of representation.
This section has presented a number of strategies and suggestions for using creative problem
solving in the classroom. The conceptual playfulness of the activities can enable students to
extend their capacities for generating ideas and accessing preconscious processes for creative
thought. By having creative assignments linked to curriculum content, students have an inviting
and purposeful context for revisiting and working with material in a curriculum topic or unit.
As students acquire experience with using the visual organizers and procedures from creative
problem solving, they also become more autonomous and self-directed with topics of personal
interest. In the next section of this chapter, I discuss a number of additional benefits of using
creative assignments and creative problem solving strategies in the classroom.