Creativity and Critical Thinking

A form of transfer involving applying

previously learned knowledge or skills to a
new situation
Low correlation with intelligence
Two components:
New and original behavior (i.e., not copying)
A productive result (appropriate for and valuable to
ones culture)
E.g., A teacher coming to class stark naked to keep
his students attention.
Creativity vs. imagination
 Problem solving: Convergent thinking
Creativity: Divergent thinking
1. Why are houses more often built with bricks than with
stones?
2. What are some possible uses of a brick? Try to think of
as many different and unusual uses you can.
3. Draw implications to the wagon so it will be more fun to
play with
 Show students that creativity valued
Focus students attention on internal rather
than external rewards
Students are more creative in activities that they
enjoy
Promote mastery of a subject area
Ask thought-provoking questions
Give students the freedom and security they
need to take risks
Provide the time that creativity requires
 Is creativity learned or inherited?
How well are schools in Hong Kong doing in
developing students creativity?

Learning platforms

How schooling affects creativity?

 Evaluative atmosphere may result in the right
answer fixation (Treffinger, 1984).
Schools usually encourages conformity.
The percentage of original responses in a
creative assessment test drops from about
50% among four-year-olds to 25% during
elementary school, then returns to 50%
among college students(Moran et al., 1983).
Children should be given the opportunity to
express divergent thought and to find more
than one route to the solution.
 Use problems as the focus for developing
skills
Characteristics:
Lessons begin with a problem, and solving it
provides focus for the lesson.
Students are responsible for designing strategies
and finding solutions to the problem.
Learning through small groups (all students are
involved actively).
The teacher guides students efforts with
questioning and other forms of scaffolding.
 Content learned in problem-based lessons is
retained longer and transfers better than
content learned through direct instruction
approaches.
Learners tend to be more motivated in
problem-based lessons.
But: lack of guidance from teachers in
problem-based lessons can be ineffective.
So you have a role to play!!!
Answer: From the book Logic, Logic and Logic by George Boolos
Puzzle #1
Stephen was looking at a photo. Someone asked him, "Whose
picture are you looking at?" He replied: "I don't have any brother
or sister, but this man's father is my father's son." So, whose
picture was Stephen looking at?
Puzzle #2
There was a robbery in which a lot of goods were stolen. The
robber(s) left in a truck. It is known that : (1) Nobody else could
have been involved other than A, B and C. (2) C never commits a
crime without A's participation. (3) B does not know how to drive.
So, is A innocent or guilty?
Puzzle #3
Suppose there is a little town with a finite number of people: (1)
No two inhabitants have exactly the same number of hairs. (2)
No inhabitant has exactly 409 hairs. (3) There are more
inhabitants than there are hairs on the head of any inhabitant. So,
what is the largest possible number of inhabitants in that little
town?

Adopted from http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/logic/puzzles.php

 Evaluate the accuracy, credibility and worth of
information and lines of reasoning
Reflective, logical and evidence-based
 Verbal reasoning
Argument analysis
Probabilistic reasoning
Hypothesis testing
 Understanding and evaluating persuasive
techniques found in oral and written
language.
 Discriminating between reasons that do and
dont support a conclusion
E.g., debates, considering the pros and cons
of pursuing a master degree in education
 Determining the likelihood and uncertainties
associated with various events.
E.g., determining the probability of winning in
the Mark Six
 Judging the value of data and research results
in terms of the methods used to obtain them
and their potential relevance to certain
conclusions.
Questions on the method used, whether there
are other possible explanations, whether the
results can be generalized to other situations
E.g., scientific researchers
 Belief preservation
The tendency to make evidence subservient to
belief
Confirmation bias
The tendency to focus only on evidence that
supports our beliefs
 Encourage intellectual skepticism
Model critical thinking
Teach specific elements of argumentative
reasoning and have students develop
persuasive arguments
Help students understand the importance of
critical thinking
 Is critical thinking taught / encouraged in
schools?
Case Analysis: A lesson on graphing
 What are your great challenges in your
teaching practice? If you havent started your
teaching yet, imagine what kind of difficulties
you will face as a new teacher one day.
Write down 4 5 key concepts covered in this
lecture (with some elaborations) and share with the
friend sitting next to you!

1.

2.

3.

4.
 Eggen, P. D. & Kauchak, D. P. (2014).
Educational psychology: Windows on
classrooms (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson/Merrill.
Ormrod, J. E. (2012). Human learning (6th ed.).
NJ: Pearson.