mdr short creativity-techniques

Presented By: Dr. Mridula RanadeSNDT Women’s University

Let us revise• Prepare a mind-map of concepts of Creativity

that you have studied so far, as shown in the figure. You can make it more elaborate.

Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

WHAT IS CREATIVITY?WHAT IS CREATIVITY?

Creativity is the bringing

into existence of a

product, a process or a

thought that did not

exist before.


• Creativity is a vital resource for the betterment of society.

• It should never be wasted for want of proper direction to the students.


Do you believe that teachers can enhance students’ creativity?

Do you believe that teachers can enhance students’ creativity?

Indeed they can!Indeed they can!Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

They can develop creativity in 2 ways

1. By encouraging students to take up inherently creative activities such as journalism, creative writing, poetry writing, acting, art, photography, research, etc. (Special opportunities can be provided to gifted students)

2. By providing direct instruction in creative thinking techniques


• The creative thought process can be accidental

or deliberate.

• It takes a long time to develop new ideas through

the accidental thought process.

• Deliberate use of special techniques can

lead to the development of many new ideas, and

faster too!

Why teach special techniques of developing creativity? Why teach special techniques of developing creativity?


How do the special techniques work?

How do the special techniques work?

• Creative thinking involves coming up with new ideas.

• New ideas come up when two or more previously-uncombined thoughts or ideas are merged

• Creative thinking involves coming up with new ideas.

• New ideas come up when two or more previously-uncombined thoughts or ideas are merged

Idea 1

Idea 1

Idea 2

Idea 2

New IdeaNew IdeaNew IdeaNew Idea

•Creative thinking techniques provide ways of deliberately coming up with ideas and combining them in unusual ways.

•Creative thinking techniques provide ways of deliberately coming up with ideas and combining them in unusual ways.


Can you think of ways to enhance your students’ creativity?

• Discuss with your partner and prepare a concept map like the one shown below:

Creativity techniquesCreativity techniques

In language teaching

In language teaching

In Scienceteaching

In Scienceteaching

In History teaching

In History teaching

Generaltechniques

Generaltechniques


1.Brainstorming

2.Idea checklists

3.Attribute Listing

4.Morphological Synthesis

5.Synectics

1.Brainstorming

2.Idea checklists

3.Attribute Listing

4.Morphological Synthesis

5.Synectics

Let us study 5 techniques of creative thinking.

Let us study 5 techniques of creative thinking.


BrainstormingBrainstorming

• Don’t worry. We will not ‘storm’ the students’ brains in this technique!

• Don’t worry. We will not ‘storm’ the students’ brains in this technique!


A problem which can have many solutions is ideal for

brainstorming


Some ideas for brainstormingSome ideas for brainstorming

•How to decorate the classroom based

on some theme

•How to reduce absenteeism in school

•How to improve teaching

•How to create environmental

awareness in schools

•How to reduce gender-biasCan you think of more such ideas? Brainstorm with your partner and list all ideas Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

A lateral thinking process.

Groups of people are asked to come up with ideas and thoughts that may initially seem shocking or crazy, but which are later changed or improved into useful and often highly original ideas.

BrainstormingBrainstorming


Ideal method with groups of 8-12 students.

Should be performed in a relaxed environment where students feel relaxed and can joke around.


When to use Brainstorming?When to use Brainstorming?

•To develop new opportunities

•To improve an existing service

•When existing approaches aren’t

very fruitful

•To take decisions about

controversial issues


1. Welcome all ideas from all participants,

making no criticisms or judgments while

the ideas are being generated.

Absolutely no discussion should take place

during the idea-generation activity.

Rules of BrainstormingRules of Brainstorming


2. Encourage participants to combine and build on others' ideas. 3. Write all ideas on a flipchart or board so the whole group can easily see them. 4. Set a time limit (i.e., 30 minutes) for the brainstorming.


5. Finally, examine and evaluate ideas to select the best ones.


List topics for brainstorming from various

units in any subject you would teach

(school subjects such as Science,

Geography, History, Languages…,

Subjects in Education such as Psychology,

Philosophy, Research Methodology, etc.)

(Come up with at least 5 ideas)One group will later compile a master list.


An interesting variation of Brainstorming is called

An interesting variation of Brainstorming is called


Reverse BrainstormingReverse Brainstorming

Now why would anyone want to do that?

Involves Brainstorming ways of making the problem worse.



Consider this problem

How to teach in the worst possible way?



If you identified all the ways in which you could teach badly, you would know what to

avoid.

XDr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.


Here are some more examples:

• How to increase pollution in the city

• How to waste electricity/water

• How to make the city dirty

Can you think of more such examples?

You can brainstorm for more ideas.Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Idea checklistsIdea checklists

Second technique of enhancing Creativity:

Second technique of enhancing Creativity:


Alex Osborn’s Idea checklistAlex Osborn’s Idea checklist

• A tool for generating innovative ideas

• It is a comprehensive list of questions about ideas and problems which can be used to encourage creativity in generating new concepts.

• It can be used individually or in groups

• A tool for generating innovative ideas

• It is a comprehensive list of questions about ideas and problems which can be used to encourage creativity in generating new concepts.

• It can be used individually or in groups


The directions in the

checklist can be applied

one by one to problems,

ideas or products to come

up with innovative

changes or

improvements.

Checklist

Substitute

Magnify

Minimize

Combine

Adapt

Modify

Put to other use

Eliminate

Rearrange

Reverse


So what does SCAMMMPER stand for ?

There are 10 categories of ideas in the checklist which can be remembered as a single word:


• S: Substitute• C: Combine• A: Adapt• M: Magnify• M: Minify• M: Modify• P: Put to other uses• E: Eliminate• R: Rearrange• R: Reverse

Let us look at some examples of each of the above.


SubstituteSubstitute

• Who else instead? • What else instead? • Other ingredient?• Other material? • Other process? • Other power? • Other place? • Other approach? • Other tone of voice? • Other time?

Try to apply these ideas to the problem.


SubstituteSubstitute

E.g. The problem :Plastic disposable cups used by railways were creating environmental problems.

The solution: Substitute plastic cups with earthenware pots (Kulhad).

Generate more ideas by discussing with your partner


Combine

• How about a blend?

• An assortment?

• An ensemble?

• Combine units?

• Combine purposes?

• Combine ideas?

Examine different problems and try to find an application for each of the questions in the checklist.

An assemblage of parts or

details.



CombineE.g. Problem: 1.How to increase the usefulness of a cell-phone?

Solution: Combine the functions of a telephone, a camera, an audio recorder, a calculator, an Internet browser etc., in the cell-phone.

Problem2: How to create a more interesting drink?

Solution: Make a milkshake combining Peach and Banana.

Generate more ideas by discussing with your partner Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Adapt• What else is like this?

• What other idea does this suggest?

• Does the past offer any parallels?

• What could I copy?

• Whom could I emulate?




Adapt


Problem: To create a new type of back pack.

Solution: Adapt by making an animal-shaped back pack


MagnifyMagnify

• What to add? • More time? • Greater frequency? • Stronger? • Higher?• Larger? • Longer?


• Heavier?

• Thicker? • Extra value? • Plus ingredient? • Duplicate?• Multiply? • Exaggerate?



Magnify

• Problem: To build an interesting-shaped building

• Solution: Use the shape of a boot in highly magnified form.



MinifyMinify

• What to subtract? • Smaller? • Condensed? • Miniature? • Lower? • Shorter?


• Narrower?• Lighter? • Omit? • Streamline?• Split up? • Understate? • Less frequent?



MinifyMinify

Problem 1: To create a novel notebook

Solution: Miniaturize it.

Problem 2: Create interesting greenery in the house

Solution: Grow a bonsai tree.



ModifyModify

• New twist? Change meaning, colour, motion, odour, taste, form, shape? Other changes?


Modified Shape


ModifyModify

Problem: To make the car more attractive

Solution: Modify shape.


Modified Shape


Put to other usesPut to other uses

• New ways to use as is?

• Other uses if modified?


A pot that can also be used as a paper weight, a pen-holder, as a vase, etc.


EliminateEliminate

• Completely do away with a thing, a process, a part, etc.




EliminateEliminate


Problem 1: Tying shoe-laces is time-consuming.

Solution: Eliminate shoe-laces from shoes by making them slip-on casual shoes.

Problem 2: Computer mouse-cord always gets entangled.

Solution: Eliminate the cord using wireless technology.


ReverseReverse

• Transpose positive and negative? • How about opposites? • Turn it backward, upside down,

inside out?• Reverse roles? • Change shoes? • Turn tables? • Turn other cheek?

Generate ideas by discussing with your partner



ReverseReverse

The problem: People are reluctant to climb stairs.

Solution: Moving stairs (escalator) where the person remains stationery, and the stairs move

Generate ideas by discussing with your partnerDr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

RearrangeRearrange• Interchange components? • Other pattern? • Other layout? • Other sequence? • Transpose cause and effect? • Change place? • Change schedule? • Earlier? • Later?

Generate ideas by discussing with your partner



RearrangeRearrange


Problem: A passenger carrier that can carry more people without taking up much space on the road.

Solution: A double-decker bus instead of 2 coaches


Now try to remember the 10 categories of ideas by telling

them to your partner.

SCAMMMPERR

Test your Memory


1. To innovate the design of a pencil, the

manufacturers created a pencil that is two feet

long and quite thick.

2. On a journey to a way-out place, the tires of a

car got punctured. The driver put hay into the

tires to travel to the nearest repair shop.

Test your Understanding

Click here for Answers

What idea from the checklist has been used in each case?


SynecticsSynectics

• An approach to creative thinking given

by William Gordon (1961)

The word ‘Synectics’, taken from Greek

word ‘Synecticos’ means:

“Joining together of apparently unrelated

elements”.


SynecticsSynectics

• The approach deliberately forces one to think of apparently unrelated things together and form uncommon connections.

• It helps to break existing mind sets.

• Its main tools are analogies or metaphors.

• The approach is often used in group-work.


SynecticsSynectics

• It can help students to– Identify similarities and differences– develop creative responses to

problem solving, – to retain new information, – to generate creative writing – to move from literal to non-literal

thinking,– and to explore social and disciplinary

problems. Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

SynecticsSynectics

• Gordon's four kinds of metaphor are

called

– personal analogy,

– direct analogy,

– fantasy analogy, and

– symbolic analogy. Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Synectics: 1. Personal Analogy


Here, one identifies with one

element in a problem. Students

"become" the object they choose

and then describe what it feels like

to be that object..




E.g.:

– a Biology student could identify with a

parasite, temporarily becoming the parasite to

understand its functioning.

– To solve the problem of students misuse of

library books, they could be asked to do an

exercise: “If you were a book, how would you

feel about students misusing you?”

Generate more ideas by discussing with your partnerDr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Synectics:

2. Direct AnalogySynectics:

2. Direct Analogy

One thinks of ways in which similar problems are solved in nature by animals, birds, insects, plants etc.


Understanding how a shipworm tunnels into wood can provide ideas for building tunnels.

Alexander Graham Bell designed the telephone receiver on the model of the human ear.


Synectics: 2. Direct analogy


Synectics: 2. Direct Analogy

Synectics: 2. Direct Analogy

Can you use direct analogy to solve the following problems?

1. Conservation of energy

2. Developing Marketing strategies (think of propagation of seeds)

3. Protecting oneself from an attacker


Synectics: 3. Fantasy Analogy

Synectics: 3. Fantasy Analogy

• The problem-solver imagines ideal, even far-

fetched solutions, which might lead to

creative practical ideas.

– E.g. What if rooms cleaned themselves?

– What if corrupt people developed noses like

Pinocchio's?

– What if we could grow harmless bacteria on our

skins that would eat up all pollution around us?


Synectics: 4. Symbolic Analogy

Synectics: 4. Symbolic Analogy

• It uses an imaginary analogue of the problem. – For example, a vision of a snake

swallowing its own tail gave the physicist Kekule an insight into the carbon-ring structure of benzene molecule.


Attribute listing

• Technique developed by Robert Crawford (1978)

• The problem is broken down into smaller and smaller bits.

• The attribute of each component is changed to see what new idea emerges.

• A great technique for ensuring all possible aspects of a problem have been examined.


Attribute listing

• A very useful technique for quality improvement of complicated products, procedures or services.

• A good technique to use in conjunction with techniques like brainstorming.


Attribute listingThere are 2 forms

Attribute Listing

Attribute modifying

Attribute transferring


Attribute listing:

Attribute ModifyingAttribute listing:

Attribute Modifying

• The student is asked to list the main attributes of the problem (characteristics, dimensions, parts).

• The student then tries to think of ways to improve each attribute.

• A useful strategy with problems that have identifiable attributes.


Attribute listing: Attribute Modifying

• E.g.: The problem: Innovative decoration of the classroom for a competition


• Break down the room decoration problem into its attributes, which may be listed as follows:

Attribute listing: Attribute Modifying

Attributes Modifications

Floor Grass &Trees on floor

Furry surface Water and fish painted on it

Ceiling

Walls

Windows


• Attributes from one situation are transferred to another situation.

• E.g. To decorate a classroom, a theme can be chosen from another setting, such as Harry Potter’s school, ocean scene,

zoo, forest, etc.

Attribute listing: Attribute Transferring


• Try to solve these problems creatively through attribute transferring:– Teaching – Theme for a college gathering– Organizing a career corner

Attribute listing: Attribute Transferring

Discuss with your partnerDr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Morphological SynthesisMorphological Synthesis

• A simple extension of Attribute Modifying procedure.

• Attribute modifying focuses on the attributes of an object, seeing how each attribute could be improved.

• Morphological Synthesis uses the same basic technique, but is used to create a new product by combining ideas for one attribute with ideas for another attribute.


• Here, a matrix is used.

• On one axis, list the specific ideas for one attribute or dimension

• Along the other axis, list ideas for a second attribute.

• Now combine the ideas in each cell.

• Select the best combinations.



To produce innovative ideas for facial soap manufacture, the attributes could becolour, shape, size, inclusions, perfume, etc.Of these, the following 2 attributes and their variations can be plotted in a matrix:

1.Shape

2.AdditiveDr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.

Ideas for facial soap manufacture:

Kasturi Rose petals

Almond granules

Neem

Fruit shape Fruit shape with kasturi

Fruit/ Rose

Fruit/

Almond

Fruit/

neem

Animal shape Animal shape/

Kasturi

Oval Oval/

kasturi

Hexagonal Hexagonal/

kasturi

Pyramidal Pyramid/

Kasturi

Flower bud Flower/

Kasturi

Additive

Shape


Look at the large variety of soaps in existence.Don’t you think the manufacturers must have used various creativity techniques to come up with this large variety?



• Attributes of a pencil would be shaft material, lead material, hardness of lead, width of lead, quality, color, weight, price, etc.

• A television plot would have attributes of characters, actions, locations, weather, etc.

• Select any 2 attributes from both the above examples and plot a matrix for morphological synthesis. See what new ideas you come up with.

Exercise



Prepare a matrix of teaching units and teaching methods/techniques as the 2 attributes. See what ideas you come up with for teaching a particular unit.

Exercise

See such a matrix on the next slide.Dr. M.D.Ranade. SNDT Univ.


Units

Advance organizer model

Concept attainment model

Inquiry training

Brainstorming

Problem solving

Attitudes

Creativity

Methods/techiques


1. The idea checklist was given by _______.

2. The Synectics technique was developed by ________.

3. The technique of Attribute listing was developed by __________.

Test your Memory


1. “How to increase the school electricity bill?” This is a problem that can be used with ___________ technique of developing creativity.

2. “Examine how bears keep warm in winter to solve the human problem of keeping warm.” This is a problem that can be used with ___________ technique of developing creativity.

Test your Understanding


mdr short creativity-techniques

Education

new ideas

reverse brainstorming

students creativity

least5 ideas

original ideas

creativity techniques

rules of brainstorming

brainstorming ways ofmaking