Questions that Encourage Creative Thinking-1

A lot of educators agree that creative thinking is a crucial skill for students to learn and develop throughout their mathematical study. But how to design our questions and lessons to allow the development of creative thinking is a common struggle for most teachers.

In the video "Who Students in the US need Common Core Math" given by Professor Jo Boaler, she demonstrates two rectangle area questions.

The first question gives the dimensions of a rectangle and asks students to find the area, which is a very typical questions in our current curriculum. The answer is, of course, 48 inch square.

Second question, however, tells students the area and asks for possible dimensions as positive integers. It does not only test students' knowledge of rectangle area formula but also factors of 48. There are more than one answer to this question, which encourages student to think creatively and connect two different mathematical ideas (rectangle area and integer factorisation).

This is an excellent example that is only changed slightly from normal questions we use to test question but allows great opportunities for students to explore and practice their mathematical skills as well as creative thinking skill. As educators, we may be able to create similar questions like this for our students to practice and enjoy.