IT for Higher Thinking Skills and Creativity

             The old or traditional methods of teaching make use of audio-visual aids or devices, chalk and black board for illustrations, magazines and books for references, which are always provided by the teacher.  The students are given specific projects to perform and assignments have definite objectives.  Sometimes the old method is called spoon-feeding with the teacher giving guidelines all throughout the lessons being taught.  

Now in the new era of modern technology, students are encouraged to develop their own ideas and ways on how to gather information needed for their subjects in school.  Their creativity is developed and intellectual independence is nurtured when they are given the leeway to produce projects and reports using the software of the computer.

The traditional information absorption model of teaching is that the teacher is the one who organizes and presents information to student-learners. He/she may use the chalkboard, videotape, newspaper or magazine and photos. Then the presentation is followed by a discussion and the giving of assignment. But a new challenge has arisen for today’s learners and this is not simply to achieve learning objectives but to encourage the development of students who can do more than receive, recite and apply the knowledge they have acquired. Today students are expected not only to be mentally excellent, but also flexible, analytical and creative.

THINKING SKILLS FRAMEWORK

Complex Thinking Skills	Sub-skills
Focusing	Defining the problem, goal/objective-setting, brainstorming
Information gathering	Selection, recording of data of information
Remembering	Associating, relating new data with old
Analyzing	Identifying idea constructs, patterns
Generating	Deducing, inducting, elaborating
Organizing	Classifying, relating
Imagining	Visualizing, predicting
Designing	Planning, formulating
Integration	Summarizing, abstracting
Evaluating	Setting criteria, testing idea, verifying outcomes, revising

The Upgraded Project Method

Given these complex thinking skills, the modern day teacher can now be guided on his goal to help student achieve higher level thinking skills and creativity beyond the ordinary benchmark of the student’s passing, even excelling achievements tests. When the ordinary classrooms are lacking with instructional kits, use the project method to bring students to higher domains.

In a project method, students work on projects with depth complexity, duration, and relevance to the real world. There is already a revised project method wherein the students would make decisions about what to put on the project, how to organize information and how to package the outcomes for presentation while the teacher guides and facilitates the learning process.

Maila Cambiado
MAEd, EdTeh

March 24, 2013