Learners are actively engaged and/or involved in critical thinking.

• involves learners

• is a high level/quality of learner participation in learning activities

• suggests more than simple on-task behavior

• can be estimated by periodic scanning (systematic observation) of the class

Involved:

• is deep immersion in a learning activity

• can be enhanced when learners

  • interact with each other

  • are asked for comments and assistance

  • roles are involved and detailed

  • access prior knowledge

  • can process and construct new knowledge in meaningful ways

Creative thinking can be encouraged in a variety of ways to enhance the development of learners' thinking abilities.

Cognitive processes that accompany the development of creative thinking abilities are:

• fluency - reflects learners’ abilities to develop understandings of ideas and phenomena from a variety of perspectives

• flexibility - refers to the ability to think adaptively in using knowledge and ideas

• originality - refers to the production of novel or new ideas

• elaboration-refers to the ability to express ideas and expand understanding in greater detail

Creative thinking can be enhanced in a variety of ways:

• asking divergent, open-ended questions

• allowing learners to design their own learning tasks

• using special teaching techniques that stimulate creative thinking

• asking for unfamiliar uses for familiar objects

• allowing learners to use their artistic/inventive abilities to carry out learning tasks

• asking learners to construct or add great detail to ideas

In a media class, learners complete a unit on consumers and advertising. Various components of effective advertising are discussed. Learners brainstorm to develop new and original products that could impact positively on consumers. Learners then predict the uses and explain the steps needed to complete a prototype.

Secondary

During a civil rights lesson, learners are actively engaged in a discussion about the philosophical differences between Dr. King and Malcolm X. Fluency in thinking is encouraged by analyzing the perspectives of Dr. King and Malcolm X, as well as other key figures from the civil rights movement. Learners are then requested to speculate verbally on how they would have felt if they had lived during the movement, and to write in essay form the philosophy they would have developed.

New

At the beginning of a first-grade ESOL language arts classroom, learners are given alphabet noodles. The teacher asks the learners, "For what activities could you use alphabet noodles?" In groups of threes, learners use noodles to build words, sentences, and create puzzles such as word searches and scrambled words.