On Teaching and Learning: How creative teaching transforms education and prepares students for the future

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving world, the ability to brainstorm effectively is a crucial skill in various industries. Whether developing groundbreaking technologies, solving complex healthcare problems, or driving business innovations, brainstorming allows teams to generate and refine ideas collaboratively. However, the practice of brainstorming should not be reserved solely for adults in professional settings. To truly harness the power of this skill, it is essential to introduce students to brainstorming techniques and the concept of overcoming obstacles from an early age.

Creative teaching plays a pivotal role in embedding these skills in young minds. By fostering an environment where students are encouraged to think outside the box, collaborate with peers, and tackle challenges head-on, teachers can cultivate critical thinking, creativity, and resilience. This early exposure not only prepares students for future professional demands but also instills a mindset geared towards continuous innovation and problem-solving.

Therefore, integrating creative teaching methods into the classroom is not just beneficial but necessary. It equips students with the tools they need to navigate the complexities of the modern world, ensuring they can contribute meaningfully to any field they choose to enter.

The Importance of Brainstorming

A classroom is possibly the first setting where students of all ages are introduced to a “brainstorming” session. When I run these sessions, I usually use IDEO U’s 7 Simple Rules of Brainstorming to initiate the activity. In some sessions, I provide a prompt for students to work on. In other settings, students first need to define the problem they are trying to solve.

Several effective methods help in defining the problem, such as the 5-Why technique, Ishikawa (Fishbone) Diagram, and the ‘5W + 1H’ technique, which encompasses questions like what, why, when, where, who, and how.

It is crucial to avoid two main mistakes when defining a problem: 1) focusing on the wrong problem, and 2) including a direction for the solution when defining the problem.

Why is a Brainstorming Activity Important?

The importance of brainstorming extends beyond idea generation. It helps students practice collaboration, active listening, empathy, respect, inclusion, and authenticity. These sessions develop essential skills like critical thinking, creativity, innovation, teamwork, and value addition. Moreover, it prepares students for their future careers, where these skills are indispensable.

We can’t stress enough the importance of developing skills like critical thinking, creativity, and decision-making at an early age. Let’s take the “Accelerators in Health Care Card Game” for brainstorming as an example, why is it effective? Because it brings unconventional inspiration and real challenges into the brainstorming session. Participants must figure out how to innovate while overcoming obstacles that are thrown at them randomly, a common scenario in real-world problem-solving.

**To learn more about the “ Accelerators in Health Care Card Game” see” Wharton Nano Tools for Leaders: For New Ideas, Think Inside (This) Box

Accelerators in Health Care Card Game

Adapting and Overcoming Obstacles

The question now becomes, how will a team collectively respond to those new challenges, and how will each individual respond? Research shows that teams that can adapt and overcome obstacles tend to thrive at work, with members showing persistence in innovation and problem-solving (Li et al., 2022). However, when individuals encounter obstacles that impede their ability to solve problems effectively, it can result in decreased motivation, self-efficacy, and confidence in their problem-solving skills (Nusantar & Daniel, 2020). Being trained to face obstacles is crucial as it equips individuals with the necessary skills and strategies to navigate challenges effectively. Fostering a growth mindset is powerful as it drives motivation and achievement.

“A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence is not fixed and can be developed” Claro, Paunesku, and Dweck (2016)

Empowering Students through Creative Teaching

How do we empower students to welcome challenges and maneuver through obstacles? Creative teaching is the answer. “When teachers model creative thinking, it promotes creative thinking among learners” (Lawrence, 2016). Creative teaching refers to “teaching that results from the teacher’s creativity, not to teaching that is intended to develop the learner’s creativity” (Institute of Education Sciences). Ambrose (2005) argues that “creative teaching demands exceptional breadth of skills and the presence of certain behaviors and dispositions.”

Creative Teaching in the era of Gen AI

The hype about Gen AI is all around, along with controversial conversations about academic integrity and student learning. While we debate these issues, Gen AI remains a tool that can be used effectively if we know how. Here are a few recommendations adapted from Ambrose (2005) empowered by using Gen AI as a tool:

Employing coherent and flexible instructional planning

• Use lesson plans as general outlines, leaving room for adaptation based on students’ responses and needs.

**GEN AI Prompt: “Create a lesson plan for teaching the basics of Newton’s Laws of Motion to 9th-grade students. Include opportunities for hands-on activities and suggestions for adapting the lesson based on student engagement and questions.”

Claude: Lesson Plan for Teaching Newton’s Laws of Motion ( 2024)

• Incorporate opportunities for creative problem finding and solving within the planned lessons.

**Gen AI

Prompt: Design an interactive simulation for a high school physics class that allows students to explore Newton’s laws of motion. Include scenarios where students can predict outcomes and test their hypotheses.”

Claude: Interactive Simulation ( 2024)

Additional insight:

• Implement problem-based learning to pose interesting questions and discrepant events for student investigation.

**Gen AI: use customized GPTs like “The Project Pal” to help students with problem-based learning

• Blend rote learning with creative discovery learning when necessary to manage time constraints and curriculum demands.
• Create a classroom environment that values student-centered inquiry and fosters creative thinking.

Actively exploring, adapting, and applying a wide variety of instructional models and strategies

• Utilize various instructional models such as the integrative model, concept discovery, and dialectical synthesis to engage students in higher-order thinking.
• Experiment with creative strategies and programs that promote creative problem solving, association, and divergent thinking.
• Treat instructional models and strategies as tools in a pedagogical toolbox, continuously experimenting and refining their use.

**Gen AI:

Important note: share anonymous data, summary of grades or questions with low scores. Do not share students’ names, personal information or individual grades. Make sure to follow your institution’s policies and regulations for data privacy.

Prompt: “ almost 40% of the class answered this questions [ insert question]wrong , recommend instructional strategies for teaching the concept of [ insert concept assessed by the question]. Include hands-on experiments and collaborative group work in the recommendations.”

Striving for intrinsic motivation

• Design lessons that naturally engage students through discovery learning and diverse instructional strategies.
• Empower students by fostering a democratic classroom environment and recognizing individual differences.
• Be vigilant in enhancing intrinsic motivation despite the traditional, industrial model of schooling, and minimize the use of extrinsic motivation.

**Gen AI:

Prompt: “Develop a personalized learning module for my 11th-grade chemistry class. Focus on topics such as organic chemistry and environmental chemistry, tailored to students’ specific interests and career aspirations [ include interests, career aspirations, or ask Gen AI to list some of the trending interests].”

Conclusion

The essence of effective teaching and learning lies in the ability to foster creativity and innovation in the classroom. The use of innovative tools, such as the “Accelerators in Health Care Card Game,” exemplifies how constraints and analogies can lead to groundbreaking ideas and solutions. By integrating these tools into brainstorming sessions, educators can cultivate essential skills in students, such as critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability.

Creative teaching goes beyond traditional methods, encouraging students to embrace challenges and view obstacles as opportunities for growth. Research underscores the importance of a growth mindset, where intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort and perseverance. As we navigate the evolving landscape of education, including the integration of Gen AI, it is imperative that we equip students with the skills and mindset necessary to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Additional Resources:

IDEO U: 12 Brainstorming & Ideation Methods

Harvard Business Review: What Having a “Grwoth Mindset” Actually Means

Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck

References

Wharton Nano Tools for Leaders: For New Ideas, Think Inside (This) Box

Accelerators in Health Care Card Game

Li, M., Peng, S., & Liu, L. (2022). How do team cooperative goals influence thriving at work: the mediating role of team time consensus. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(9), 5431.

Nusantara, T., & Daniel, T. (2020, March). Preliminary Study of Cognitive Obstacle on the Topic of Finite Integral Among Prospective Teacher. In 2nd International Conference on Education and Social Science Research (ICESRE 2019) (pp. 43–46). Atlantis Press.

Claro, S., Paunesku, D., & Dweck, C. S. (2016). Growth mindset tempers the effects of poverty on academic achievement. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(31), 8664–8668.

Lawrence, J. (2016). Creative teacher, creative teaching: Identifying indicators and inspiration for professional innovation in the teaching environment. Association for Educational Communications and Technology, 64–69.

Institute of Education Sciences. Creative Teaching. Available online at: http://eric.ed.gov/?qt=creative+teachingandti=Creati~ve+Teaching

Ambrose, D. (2005). Creativity in teaching: Essential knowledge, skills, and dispositions. In Creativity across domains (pp. 299–316). Psychology Press.