differentiate critical thinking and creative thinking

1

Every problem has only one solution (or one right answer)

The goal of problem-solving is to solve the problem, and most problems can be solved in any number of ways. If you discover a solution that works, it’s a good solution. Other people may think up solutions that differ from yours, but that doesn’t make your solution wrong or unimportant. What is the solution to “putting words on paper?” Fountain pen, ballpoint, pencil, marker, typewriter, printer, printing press, word-processing… all are valid solutions!

2

The best answer, solution, or method has already been discovered

Look at the history of any solution and you’ll see that improvements, new solutions, and new right answers are always being found. What is the solution to human transportation? The ox or horse, the cart, the wagon, the train, the car, the airplane, the jet, the space shuttle? What is the best and last?

3

Creative answers are technologically complex

Only a few problems require complex technological solutions. Most problems you’ll encounter need only a thoughtful solution involving personal action and perhaps a few simple tools. Even many problems that seem to require technology can be addressed in other ways.

4

Ideas either come or they don’t. Nothing will help— certainly not structure.

There are many successful techniques for generating ideas. One important technique is to include structure. Create guidelines, limiting parameters, and concrete goals for yourself that stimulate and shape your creativity. This strategy can help you get past the intimidation of “the blank page.” For example, if you want to write a story about a person who gained insight through experience, you can stoke your creativity by limiting or narrowing your theme to “a young girl in Cambodia who escaped the Khmer Rouge to find a new life as a nurse in France.” Apply this specificity and structure to any creative endeavor.

Critical and creative thinking complement each other when it comes to problem-solving. The process of alternatively focusing and expanding your thinking can generate more creative, innovative, and effective outcomes. The following words, by Dr. Andrew Robert Baker, are excerpted from his “Thinking Critically and Creatively ” essay. Dr. Baker illuminates some of the many ways that college students will be exposed to critical and creative thinking and how it can enrich their learning experiences.

THINKING CRITICALLY AND CREATIVELY Critical thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. You use them every day, and you can continue improving them. The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking. The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze myriad issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information? It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners and researchers. While critical thinking analyzes information and roots out the true nature and facets of problems, it is creative thinking that drives progress forward when it comes to solving these problems. Exceptional creative thinkers are people that invent new solutions to existing problems that do not rely on past or current solutions. They are the ones who invent solution C when everyone else is still arguing between A and B. Creative thinking skills involve using strategies to clear the mind so that our thoughts and ideas can transcend the current limitations of a problem and allow us to see beyond barriers that prevent new solutions from being found. Brainstorming is the simplest example of intentional creative thinking that most people have tried at least once. With the quick generation of many ideas at once, we can block-out our brain’s natural tendency to limit our solution-generating abilities so we can access and combine many possible solutions/thoughts and invent new ones. It is sort of like sprinting through a race’s finish line only to find there is new track on the other side and we can keep going, if we choose. As with critical thinking, higher education both demands creative thinking from us and is the perfect place to practice and develop the skill. Everything from word problems in a math class, to opinion or persuasive speeches and papers, call upon our creative thinking skills to generate new solutions and perspectives in response to our professor’s demands. Creative thinking skills ask questions such as—What if? Why not? What else is out there? Can I combine perspectives/solutions? What is something no one else has brought-up? What is being forgotten/ignored? What about ______? It is the opening of doors and options that follows problem-identification. Consider an assignment that required you to compare two different authors on the topic of education and select and defend one as better. Now add to this scenario that your professor clearly prefers one author over the other. While critical thinking can get you as far as identifying the similarities and differences between these authors and evaluating their merits, it is creative thinking that you must use if you wish to challenge your professor’s opinion and invent new perspectives on the authors that have not previously been considered. So, what can we do to develop our critical and creative thinking skills? Although many students may dislike it, group work is an excellent way to develop our thinking skills. Many times I have heard from students their disdain for working in groups based on scheduling, varied levels of commitment to the group or project, and personality conflicts too, of course. True—it’s not always easy, but that is why it is so effective. When we work collaboratively on a project or problem we bring many brains to bear on a subject. These different brains will naturally develop varied ways of solving or explaining problems and examining information. To the observant individual we see that this places us in a constant state of back and forth critical/creative thinking modes. For example, in group work we are simultaneously analyzing information and generating solutions on our own, while challenging other’s analyses/ideas and responding to challenges to our own analyses/ideas. This is part of why students tend to avoid group work—it challenges us as thinkers and forces us to analyze others while defending ourselves, which is not something we are used to or comfortable with as most of our educational experiences involve solo work. Your professors know this—that’s why we assign it—to help you grow as students, learners, and thinkers! —Dr. Andrew Robert Baker,  Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom

Problem-Solving Action Checklist

Problem-solving can be an efficient and rewarding process, especially if you are organized and mindful of critical steps and strategies. Remember to assume the attributes of a good critical thinker: if you are curious, reflective, knowledge-seeking, open to change, probing, organized, and ethical, your challenge or problem will be less of a hurdle, and you’ll be in a good position to find intelligent solutions. The steps outlined in this checklist will help you adhere to these qualities in your approach to any problem:

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Critical thinking is logical and reflective thinking focused on deciding what to believe or do.
• Critical thinking involves questioning and evaluating information.
• Evaluating information is a complex, but essential, process. You can use the CRAAP test to help determine if sources and information are reliable.
• Creative thinking is both a natural aspect of childhood and a re-learnable skill as an adult.
• Creative thinking is as essential a skill as critical thinking and integrating them can contribute to  innovative and rewarding experiences in life.
• Critical and creative thinking both contribute to our ability to solve problems in a variety of contexts.
• You can take specific actions to develop and strengthen your critical and creative thinking skills.

ACTIVITY 1: REFLECT ON CRITICAL THINKING

• Apply critical thinking strategies to your life

Directions:

• Think about someone you consider to be a critical thinker (friend, professor, historical figure, etc). What qualities does he/she have?
• Review some of the critical thinking strategies discussed on this page. Pick one strategy that makes sense to you. How can you apply this critical thinking technique to your academic work?
• Habits of mind are attitudes and beliefs that influence how you approach the world (i.e., inquiring attitude, open mind, respect for truth, etc). What is one habit of mind you would like to actively develop over the next year? How will you develop a daily practice to cultivate this habit?
• Write your responses in journal form, and submit according to your instructor’s guidelines.

ACTIVITY 2: ASSESS YOUR CREATIVE PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

• Access  Psychology Today ’s  Creative Problem-Solving Test  at the  Psychology Today  Web site.
• Read the introductory text, which explains how creativity is linked to fundamental qualities of thinking, such as flexibility and tolerance of ambiguity.
• Then advance to the questions by clicking on the “Take The Test” button. The test has 20 questions and will take roughly 10 minutes.
• After finishing the test, you will receive a Snapshot Report with an introduction, a graph, and a personalized interpretation for one of your test scores.

Complete any further steps by following your instructor’s directions.

LICENSES AND ATTRIBUTIONS

CC LICENSED CONTENT, ORIGINAL

• Critical and Creative Thinking  Authored by : Laura Lucas, Tobin Quereau, and Heather Syrett.  Provided by : Austin Community College.  License :  CC BY-NC-SA-4.0

CC LICENSED CONTENT, SPECIFIC ATTRIBUTION

• Chapter cover image.  Authored by : Hans-Peter Gauster.  Provided by : Unsplash.  Located at :  https://unsplash.com/photos/3y1zF4hIPCg .  License :  CC0: No Rights Reserved
• Creative Thinking Skills  in College Success.  Authored by : Linda Bruce.  Provided by : Lumen Learning.  Located at :  https://courses.lumenlearning.com/collegesuccess-lumen/chapter/creative-thinking-skills/ .  License :  CC BY 4.0
• Critical Thinking  in Educational Psychology.  Authored by : Kelvin Seifert and Rosemary Sutton.  Provided by : Lumen Learning.  Located at:  https://courses.lumenlearning.com/educationalpsychology/chapter/critical-thinking/ .  License :  CC BY 4.0
• Critical Thinking Skills  in College Success.   Authored by : Linda Bruce.  Provided by : Lumen Learning.  Located at :  https://courses.lumenlearning.com/collegesuccess-lumen/chapter/critical-thinking-skills/ .  License :  CC BY 4.0
• Critical Thinking 101: Spectrum of Authority. Provided by: UCB Learn.  Located at :  https://youtu.be/9G5xooMN2_c .  License :  CC BY 4.0
• Evaluate: Assessing Your Research Process and Findings  in Information Literacy.  Authored by : Bernnard, Bobish, Hecker, Holden, Hosier, Jacobsen, Loney, Bullis.  Provided by : Lumen Learning.  Located at :  https://courses.lumenlearning.com/informationliteracy/chapter/evaluate-assessing-your-research-process-and-findings/ .  License :  CC BY-NC-SA-4.0
• Image.  Authored by : Mari Helin-Tuominen.  Provided by : Unsplash.  Located at :  https://unsplash.com/photos/ilSnKT1IMxE .  License :  CC0: No Rights Reserved

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED CONTENT

Where Good Ideas Come From.  Authored by : Steven Johnson. Provided by: Riverhead Books.  Located at :  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU .  License :  All Rights Reserved .  License Terms : Standard YouTube License

How to Stimulate the Creative Process.  Provided by : Howcast.  Located at :  https://youtu.be/kPC8e-Jk5uw .  License :  All Rights Reserved .  License Terms : Standard YouTube License

Version History

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Part Two: You are the President and CEO of You

Thinking Critically and Creatively

Dr. andrew robert baker.

Critical and creative thinking skills are perhaps the most fundamental skills involved in making judgments and solving problems. They are some of the most important skills I have ever developed. I use them everyday and continue to work to improve them both.

The ability to think critically about a matter—to analyze a question, situation, or problem down to its most basic parts—is what helps us evaluate the accuracy and truthfulness of statements, claims, and information we read and hear. It is the sharp knife that, when honed, separates fact from fiction, honesty from lies, and the accurate from the misleading. We all use this skill to one degree or another almost every day. For example, we use critical thinking every day as we consider the latest consumer products and why one particular product is the best among its peers. Is it a quality product because a celebrity endorses it? Because a lot of other people may have used it? Because it is made by one company versus another? Or perhaps because it is made in one country or another? These are questions representative of critical thinking.

The academic setting demands more of us in terms of critical thinking than everyday life. It demands that we evaluate information and analyze a myriad of issues. It is the environment where our critical thinking skills can be the difference between success and failure. In this environment we must consider information in an analytical, critical manner. We must ask questions—What is the source of this information? Is this source an expert one and what makes it so? Are there multiple perspectives to consider on an issue? Do multiple sources agree or disagree on an issue? Does quality research substantiate information or opinion? Do I have any personal biases that may affect my consideration of this information? It is only through purposeful, frequent, intentional questioning such as this that we can sharpen our critical thinking skills and improve as students, learners, and researchers. Developing my critical thinking skills over a twenty year period as a student in higher education enabled me to complete a quantitative dissertation, including analyzing research and completing statistical analysis, and earning my Ph.D. in 2014.

While critical thinking analyzes information and roots out the true nature and facets of problems, it is creative thinking that drives progress forward when it comes to solving these problems. Exceptional creative thinkers are people that invent new solutions to existing problems that do not rely on past or current solutions. They are the ones who invent solution C when everyone else is still arguing between A and B. Creative thinking skills involve using strategies to clear the mind so that our thoughts and ideas can transcend the current limitations of a problem and allow us to see beyond barriers that prevent new solutions from being found.

Brainstorming is the simplest example of intentional creative thinking that most people have tried at least once. With the quick generation of many ideas at once we can block-out our brain’s natural tendency to limit our solution-generating abilities so we can access and combine many possible solutions/thoughts and invent new ones. It is sort of like sprinting through a race’s finish line only to find there is new track on the other side and we can keep going, if we choose. As with critical thinking, higher education both demands creative thinking from us and is the perfect place to practice and develop the skill. Everything from word problems in a math class, to opinion or persuasive speeches and papers, call upon our creative thinking skills to generate new solutions and perspectives in response to our professor’s demands. Creative thinking skills ask questions such as—What if? Why not? What else is out there? Can I combine perspectives/solutions? What is something no one else has brought-up? What is being forgotten/ignored? What about ______? It is the opening of doors and options that follows problem-identification.

Consider an assignment that required you to compare two different authors on the topic of education and select and defend one as better. Now add to this scenario that your professor clearly prefers one author over the other. While critical thinking can get you as far as identifying the similarities and differences between these authors and evaluating their merits, it is creative thinking that you must use if you wish to challenge your professor’s opinion and invent new perspectives on the authors that have not previously been considered.

So, what can we do to develop our critical and creative thinking skills? Although many students may dislike it, group work is an excellent way to develop our thinking skills. Many times I have heard from students their disdain for working in groups based on scheduling, varied levels of commitment to the group or project, and personality conflicts too, of course. True—it’s not always easy, but that is why it is so effective. When we work collaboratively on a project or problem we bring many brains to bear on a subject. These different brains will naturally develop varied ways of solving or explaining problems and examining information. To the observant individual we see that this places us in a constant state of back and forth critical/creative thinking modes.

For example, in group work we are simultaneously analyzing information and generating solutions on our own, while challenging other’s analyses/ideas and responding to challenges to our own analyses/ideas. This is part of why students tend to avoid group work—it challenges us as thinkers and forces us to analyze others while defending ourselves, which is not something we are used to or comfortable with as most of our educational experiences involve solo work. Your professors know this—that’s why we assign it—to help you grow as students, learners, and thinkers!

Foundations of Academic Success: Words of Wisdom Copyright © 2015 by Thomas Priester is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Critical Thinking and Creative Thinking: What’s the Difference?

In our modern life, the most common combination of what we do is work, behavior, and social patterns. In these areas, it is important to be able to make decisions and solve problems to be successful in both personal and professional life.

Have you ever counted how many problems you encounter during the day or week? It can be just basic things like a broken plate after breakfast or more professional tasks like business planning and managing the team.

Two major thinking methods that have gained significant attention in recent years are critical thinking and creative thinking. And truly speaking, these two types are often considered to be opposites. Creative thinking and critical thinking are both needed for effective decision-making and problem-solving. So let’s see how to find the balance between them and what are the main differences between critical thinking and creative thinking!

Critical Thinking

Before we proceed to understand how to find the balance in your lifestyle and work as well, it is important to understand what critical thinking actually is. So it is the type of thinking about any subject, problem, or content.

Moreover, it can improve the quality of your thoughts. Critical thinking will let you make decisions by yourself. In this way, it will help you improve decision-making. It is about asking quick questions and giving quick answers to understand the situation.

There is a huge amount of information we meet every day which needs to be analyzed in order for us to make knowledgeable decisions on it. Critical thinking is an invaluable skill that allows people to think logically and systematically.

This thinking helps analyze information or ideas by breaking them down into smaller components with a view to determining their relevance and completeness. It allows people to question the beliefs and arguments of others, using logical reasoning to come up with good decisions. It can be named as a methodical process that involves analyzing several different sources of information, weighing up information and deductions, and making an informed opinion from them on available facts at hand.

Components of Critical Thinking

Now, it is important to understand what the critical thinking process consists of. According to experts, critical thinking should have:

• Interpretation – meaning or significance of something. This component includes reviewing data through relationships between different groups and making conclusions based on available information while identifying patterns or trends, among other things.
• Analysis – separating complex information into smaller parts to examine their relationships and distinctions. This component refers to evaluating the presented information and identifying any underlying beliefs and arguments presented along with any potential predispositions or errors.
• Evaluation – it is about assessing the strength and validity of presented arguments. Weighing up the evidence presented, evaluating the credibility of sources is a part of this component.
• Explanation. It provides good reasons for the reached conclusion. This component means presenting analytical and assessed findings in a brief format.
• Self-regulation. This component requires one to be aware of one’s discriminations and beliefs, which should be challenged by searching for more information.

Examples of Critical Thinking

As we mentioned, critical thinking helps analyze one question from different sides and then make reasonable decisions. Maybe the most simple example is distinguishing fake news from real news. A person who has critical thinking always does their own research on any problem or idea. This person isn’t satisfied with other people’s opinions, and it is good for them.

So critical thinking is useful in different spheres of life including education, medicine, law, business, and so on. Let’s check some situations, where this type of thinking is applicable.

• Imagine you visit a doctor. The doctor checks your test, analyzes patient’s symptoms, and makes a diagnosis depending on available information. It is also about critical thinking, where you need to analyze different aspects of human health and prepare a conclusion without blood analysis and so on, if possible.
• The next example is a lawyer. A lawyer uses critical thinking in assessing the validity of witness testimonies, weighing down arguments to build a case to protect their client.
• To make a lesson plan that encourages students to think critically, a teacher must use critical thinking, analysis and research, making conclusions from available information on hand and the ability to effectively write plans.
• A business manager who understands market trends and customer preferences through critical thinking can analyze market trends, assess customer preferences, and then make reasonable and effective decisions based on the available data as well.
• A student needs critical thinking when writing papers to ensure a logical structure. Otherwise, such a paper will be chaotic.

So it is important to note that people with good critical thinking skills are able to take in mind some facts before making decisions. And in this way, they can be objective in decisions and findings because they researched the problems from all sides.

Understanding Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is considered one of the key skills of the 21st century. And actually, all enlightened people talk about the importance of its development. It is a complex idea that includes many different aspects. So creative thinking is the creation of unusual and good solutions to the original problem. This definition breaks down the creative thinking process into two stages: creating unusual solutions and choosing solutions that are good enough to deal with the problem.

So creative thinking is the process of generating new ideas, possibilities, or solutions that are original and, in the same way, useful. It is about going away from traditional ways of thinking and finding alternatives. Even if your expertise in the field isn’t skyrocketing, it is possible to achieve excellent results. People tend to think of creative abilities as something that is important only to people in creative professions like musicians, photographers, designers, etc. But in the modern world, the ability to think creatively is one of the most important skills for many specialists. Moreover, employers often try to find people who can think creatively and critically.

Components of Creative Thinking

• Fluency – It is about generating a lot of ideas easily and well. How can we find something that we need? The more ideas our brain generates, the more likely we can find something interesting for the situation.
• Flexibility – As you know, flexibility means finding new perspectives and opportunities. It is important to be willing to consider ideas and opinions that are new or different from your own; it is all about flexibility.
• Association – It is about the connection between new concepts and ideas that didn’t seem to be relevant in this way.
• Originality – It is like the power of independent thought or constructive imagination. You can change tools, environments, and maybe settings to improve your originality.

Examples of Creative Thinking in Real Life

As you already know, we use creative thinking in different spheres of your life. It can be science, art, design, and so on. So let’s look at some examples:

• A Java developer is coding new software, while a UI and UX designer is working on user-friendly interfaces.
• An artist drawing a new picture. They use new materials and styles to create something special and modern.
• The pastry chef came up with a new dessert – a heart-shaped cake with a watermelon flavor. It is something new, yeah? And it is all about creative thinking.

Creative thinking is a powerful tool for our professional and personal lives. It helps us understand how to unlock our possibilities and use them.

Conclusion: Why is it important to Balance Critical and Creative Thinking?

According to experts’ opinion, these two modes of thinking are important in work. Integrating both critical and creative thinking helps in problem-solving and decision-making. Also, having analytical and creative thinking boosts your possibilities. Finding non-traditional ideas is key to success. For example, by using creativity, teachers can engage more students with lesson topics. If it is interesting enough, more students will be successful in this subject or topic.

These types of thinking must be balanced to increase productivity, improve communication abilities, and develop more creative and efficient ways of dealing with problems.

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Critical Thinking vs. Creative Thinking

“The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing.”—Albert Einstein .

If you are curious about anything under the sun, it means you are learning and developing your skills. Your everyday life is filled with curiosity, more than you can imagine. Curiosity helps you make friends with concepts, challenges, and capabilities. These elements then introduce you to two broader skills- critical and creative thinking.

Whether it’s the old world or fresh perspectives, everybody nowadays discusses critical and creative thinking. Be it learners or professionals.

But what are these? Well, these are two lenses through which we see the world. Our personal experiences shape how we analyze, how we question, and what we conclude.

Some of the world’s great innovators have come up with new solutions once they start evaluating and brainstorming. These complementary skills give a thinker various possibilities and eventually become a habit of mind for them.

We will read about them individually and compare critical thinking vs. creative thinking .

How Do Thinking Skills Work?

Let us understand this with the help of an example:

Suppose you are making ice cream. How will you break down the entire process of making in terms of thinking skills?

You need an analytical, critical, and creative mode of thinking for this.

Firstly, analytical thinking will identify the ingredients, their proportions, and the overall process of making ice cream.

Secondly, critical thinking will consider the points of judgment and whether everything meets the criteria.

Lastly, creative thinking will broaden your imaginative scale, and you might develop a new idea to incorporate.

That is a basic outline of how thinking skills work.

Moving ahead, we will focus on creative and critical thinking only.

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The Overview Of Thinking Skills

The US Dept. of Education studied creative and critical thinking skills separately. The study said we must work on both skills equally to raise a confident generation. Let us read more about these skills.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is the ability to think rationally. Understand the logic and connect the dots. It is the ability to think independently. The problem-solving and logical thinking approach requires actively analyzing, conceptualizing, and synthesizing at different stages.

Creative thinking

Creative thinking is engaging in open-ended reasoning. It leads to new ideas, symbolic thinking, imagination, elaborating, and finding creative ideas. Creative thinking is transformative, flexible, combination of various elements (person, place, process, product).

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Questions You Must Ask

Whether you are a critical thinker or a creative thinker, there are some questions that you must ask yourself time and again to get clarity.

As a critical thinker

• What is happening?
• Why is this important?
• What do I see and what can’t?
• How do I know the root and authenticity of the information?
• Who is the speaker?
• What are the factors influencing the idea?
• What are similar scenarios?

As a creative thinker

• Is the idea out of the box?
• Will this process enhance creativity?
• Can I take the risk of creative destruction?
• What value does it add to the concept already executed?
• What more information do I need?
• How will people perceive it?
• If this occurs, what else would happen as a consequence?

The Components

To develop habitual thinking, you must know about its essential components.

Components of critical thinking

1. identify the concern.

Do not see things as just black and white. Find out the real concerns.

2. Challenge the assumptions

Sometimes, what you assume might not be the best way to interpret a fact. Therefore, challenge your assumptions.

3. Reflect upon

Take a step back and reflect upon the scenarios that led you to think critically.

4. Give importance to evidence

Follow each piece of evidence that supports your thinking. Also, find the best way to clear the confusions that cross your path.

Your emotional impulse, personal motives, and other disputing thoughts should not get a place during critical thinking.

6. Self-awareness

Be aware of the biases you see and the point of view that flash in front of you and weigh them appropriately.

7. Judgment

Before you jump to a conclusion, check the relevance and merit.

Components of creative thinking

1. originality and uniqueness of ideas.

For the originality of ideas, brainstorm on a large piece sheet without judging or concluding anything.

2. Do things differently

Bring a change in your routine and try different things. Sometimes the best ideas come when you do not follow a routine.

3. React, not reserve

When you look around you, you see stimuli. Be it nature, humans, music, colors, shapes, structures, etc.

4. Keep a note

Anything that strikes you as unique or a new thought; pen it down. You can also keep it as a draft in your email and return to it sometime later.

5. Make mistakes

The best creativity happens soon after a big mistake. Though not proven, we can’t deny it either. The giant bar that sometimes stops you from thinking is the fear of making a mistake. Let it happen, and that becomes a part of your creative thinking.

Examples of Critical Thinkers

1. Steve Jobs – He could see beyond the present and create the product for the future.

2. Warren Buffett – The business magnate made decisions which was not only driven by current trends but also by strategies for business growth.

Examples of Creative Thinkers

1. Steve Wozniak – Designed products that transformed our way of using a computer.

2. J.K. Rowling – Wrote a story that captivated the entire world.

1. How to work on critical thinking?

Analyze the information, decipher the meaning, interpret the problem, and find the solution. The logic which you apply enhances your critical thinking process.

2. What are the key takeaways to understanding creative and critical thinking?

The chart below gives a clear idea about the key takeaways:

3. What are the five points to keep in mind for being creative?

The primary five points to remember for becoming creative are:

• Do it from scratch, keep it rough, and go throttle about it daily
• Give yourself time to daydream without drawing any conclusions
• Confusion will help you more than having clarity
• Failure and feedback will help you to clear the blocks
• Have a beginner’s mindset

4. What aspects are not a part of critical thinking?

Following are a few things that are not a part of critical thinking- skepticism, uncovering biases, passive acceptance, examining assumptions too much, etc.

5. How to work on creative thinking skills?

For every idea to execute, step back and see the problem areas. Start thinking out loud about all the possible solutions. Scrap the ones that are not convincing enough and pick up the ones that match your vision. It is how you can work on your creative thinking skills. Therefore, divergent thinking is an important part of creative thinking.

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Critical thinking and creative thinking are inseparable. Your ability to comprehend a situation decides which of these you should choose, or should you go for both?

The next time you see a problem, experiment with combining both skills. By welding them together, you come up with a range of solutions. However, each has its context and approach too.

No matter which road you are on, fine-tuning your skills is a lifelong pursuit. Work on the key elements which will help you think through them.

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Critical And Creative Thinking | Newsletter – October 2021

Critical thinking is the ability to clearly and logically consider information that is presented to us. Creative thinking is about generating new, novel, or useful ideas. The great innovators combine critical thinking and creative thinking. 

Creative thinking (a companion to critical thinking) is an invaluable skill for college students. It’s important because it helps you look at problems and situations from a fresh perspective. You see problems as interesting opportunities, and you challenge assumptions and suspend judgment. You don’t give up easily. Some of the best examples of creative thinking skills may include lateral thinking, visual reading, out-of-the-box thinking, copywriting, artistic creativity, problem-solving, analytical mind, and divergent thinking. By practicing critical thinking, we are allowing ourselves not only to solve problems but also to come up with new and creative ideas to do so. Critical thinking allows us to analyse these ideas and adjust them accordingly

Generally speaking, creativity is associated with generating ideas, while critical thinking is associated with judging them. … It is fundamentally creative in the sense that its aim is to produce something new: an insight, an argument, a new synthesis of ideas or information, a new level of understanding.

Creative Thinking vs Critical Thinking

Creative Thinking is a way of looking at problems or situations from a fresh perspective to conceive of something new or original

Critical Thinking is the logical, sequential disciplined process of rationalizing, analysing, evaluating and interpreting information to make informed judgements and/or decisions.

They are the complementary skills that you use as different stages when trying to solve a problem or forming a judgment about something. Critical thinking  is the ability to clearly and logically consider information that is presented to us. Creative thinking  is about generating new, novel, or useful ideas. The great innovators combine critical thinking and creative thinking. Old world perspectives with new world ideas.

Creative Thinking and Critical Thinking are two expressions that show the difference between them when it comes to their inner meanings. Creative Thinking is going beyond the limitations and being original and fresh in one’s ideas. Critical Thinking, on the other hand, is more evaluative in nature and analyses a particular thing. Hence, one can conclude that while Creative thinking is generative in purpose, Critical Thinking is analytical in purpose. This is one of the main differences between creative thinking and critical thinking. 

No matter what process you chose, the ultimate goal is to generate ideas that are unique, useful and worthy of further elaboration. Oftentimes, critical thinking is performed after creative thinking has generated various possibilities. Critical thinking is used to vet those ideas to determine if they are practical

Importance of Critical and Creative Thinking

Creativity goes hand in hand with innovation. … Creativity improves the process of solving problems. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about developing a new strategy or an innovative way to stay ahead of the competition. Creative problem solving gives that competitive edge that any business is striving to achieve

Both creative and critical thinking are essential in the success of a business. … Both ways of thinking require elaboration on the problem, which leads to problem-solving. Creative thinking can be used to elaborate on the initial problem in order to come up with new solutions.

By applying creative and critical thinking approaches to your subject area you will enrich and deepen your learning experiences. Furthermore, creative and critical thinking skills can benefit many other areas of your life from problem solutions to decision making.

The reason why innovation benefits from critical thinking is simple; critical thinking is used when judgment is needed to produce the desired set of valued outcomes. That is why the majority of innovation outcomes reflect incremental improvements built on a foundation of critically thought-out solutions.

How to Improve Critical Thinking Skills

• Open-mindedness: Critical thinkers must work to have unbiased thought processes and remain open to more than one point of view. This openness to challenging information is a foundation for critical thinking.
• Analysis: Analyse information to determine its reliability and to understand it well enough to draw further conclusions. This is one of the most important aspects of critical thinking.
• Interpretation: Take time to interpret your analysis, synthesizing, and deciphering the meaning of relevant information.
• Problem-solving: Once you analyse and interpret a problem, you can come up with one or more possible solutions.
• Decision-making: By making a decisive decision, you come to a conclusion based on the data you have interpreted.
• Effective communication: You must be able to convincingly explain your conclusions (and the thought process behind them) toSelf-improvement: Good critical thinkers develop positive habits of mind by reflecting on their own personal critical thinking process and looking for ways to improve it.

How to Improve Creative Thinking Skills

Create your own “Three Ifs”: Many good innovators take an existing object and ask clever questions to twist the very concept of it and make it new.

(i) What would happen if I change it (the object/ system/ social relationship, etc)?

(ii)What would I change or improve about this object if I wanted to use it in 10 years?

(iii) What would I do if I had a one-million-dollar investment to improve it?

• Practice dreaming: The greatest paradox is that creative thinking is not necessarily the product of IQ or enlightenment via the proverbial apple falling on your head. It is a matter of regularly training your imagination, practicing your powers of observation and dreaming, big or small.
• Make time for cohesive creative thinking: Every textbook on creativity affirms to the importance of setting aside clearly defined time for creative thinking and innovation. Allocate time – it might be an hour per day or per week – in which to exercise creative thinking about something specific.
• Learn to pitch your ideas: One of the most important innovation skills is the ability to present a very short and clear description of a new idea (two to three sentences – like shouting through the closing door of an elevator) and to make a short presentation (two to three minutes – what is called an “elevator pitch”).
• Bounce ideas off others: Even a great innovator needs people around her or him to discuss – or “bounce” – new creative ideas and innovations. The important asset to add to your innovation skillset, is the ability to be a valuable team player, capable of bouncing ideas to the next level. 

To conclude

Critical and creative thinkings are two inseparable sides and educational goals everywhere. Both are necessary skills in everyday life. To be applied depends on the ability and confidence of the lecturer to apply in the form lab in the laboratory. They both play an important role in every aspect of our life and as we learn to implement them for solving problems and stay focused in what we do

• Article on the Importance of Creative Thinking
• Video on Critical and Creative Thinking Tool
• Article on Importance of Critical Thinking
• Video on Differences between Creative & Critical Thinking
• Ted Talk on Creative and Critical Thinking

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” – Albert Einstein

Update on Skill Development & Training

In the new cohort, currently in the 2nd year (1438), 699 students were mapped to the Enguru English program and 739 scholars to the Hello English program. This started on August 10th.

The Campus to Corporate “Skills Training Program” supported by Capgemini,1460 scholars gave the Midline test. Based on these scores, 483 students are in the Hi-touch English program by eAge Tutors, 713 in the Coursera program, and 30 in the Skill Lync program. A batch of 100 students from Computer Science & IT streams will do the IBM Skill build program from October 10th.

This year, the 2nd year students in Law (18) and Pharma(52) cohorts are also enrolled in the English program with Enguru that started on 31st August.

FLY (Finding the Leader in You) Program in partnership with CMI and IIT-Gandhinagar

The 12-days workshop was conducted in September with a batch of  34 students. This comprises of 2nd year Engineering scholars. This workshop is conducted by CMI – Competitive Mindset Institute Inc and designed to teach noncognitive skills for the personality and character development of students.

Soft Skill Training programs and webinars for Medical FFE scholars

Qmed – Medical Literature searching course for research and study is going on for 66 Medical scholars. 

Medical Webinar – 13th Medical Webinar (25th September) – “Research in MBBS: translation versus mere research” conducted by Dr. Sakir Ahmed – 231 participants

Placement update

• From the 2019-20 batch of 1023 Engineering scholars, 93% (953) of students are placed, where 723 have secured jobs and 230 have opted for higher studies. 7% (70) of students are currently seeking employment. 
• From the 2020-21 graduating batch of 890 Engineering students, 82% (736) is placed; 519 have secured jobs and 217 have opted for higher studies while 19% students (154) are seeking employment.
• From the 2021-22 graduating batch of 1256 Engineering students (current final year), 29% (361) are placed; 239 have secured jobs and 122 have opted for higher studies. The remaining 895 students are starting campus interviews from September 2021.

FFE is thankful to its corporate partners Geberit Plumbing Technology India Private Limited, O9 Solutions, Altimetrik India Pvt. Limited, Capgemini TechnologyServices India Limited, KPMG Assurance, and Consulting Services LLP, TraneTechnologies, Ingersoll Rand for offering Placement opportunities to FFE’s batch of 2019-20, 2020-21 & 2021-22.

Below are toppers in the Coursera training program. They have been issued with gift vouchers, based on their performance. Congratulations to all of you!

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Difference Between Being a Critical Thinker & a Creative Thinker

Definition of Conceptual Reasoning

Critical and creative thinking are two different ways of processing information but they can be used together and work well when combined. Critical thinking allows you to evaluate the ideas that your creative thoughts have come up with. Critical thinking enables you to decide which is the best solution. When you think critically you glean information. When you think creatively you come up with new solutions to problems.

Critical Thinking

If you are a critical thinker you examine the situation and facts and think in a linear and rational way. The critical thinker gathers information, analyzes it and evaluates it. If you think critically you are able to separate fact from opinion. You like details and clear-cut information.

Creative Thinking

Creative thinkers tend to be imaginative and like to brainstorm. A creative thinker looks at things from various perspectives, coming up with ideas and making novel and uncharacteristic connections. The creative thinker often goes against standard views and is apt to take risks. A creative person is curious. He likes a challenge, seeks out problems to solve and is imaginative.

Characteristics

Characteristics of a critical thinker include judgment, selectivity and being analytical. The critical thinker is objective. Critical thinking means you are making a choice.

Creative thinking involves creating new ideas. A creative thinker is open, nonjudgmental and capable of productive thought. The creative thinker strives to find several answers to a problem rather than just one. He likes to explore and come up with possibilities.

Other Differences

Other differences in critical thinking versus creative thinking include thinking vertically (critical thinker) and thinking laterally (creative thinker); being focused (critical thinker) and being diffuse (creative thinker); and being verbal (critical) versus being visual (creative), according to the Virtual Salt website.

Left Brain Versus Right Brain

Critical thinking is orderly. The thinker progresses from A to B to C, doing so in a straight line. When you are thinking critically you are using the left part of the brain. The creative thinker uses the right side of the brain and does not process information in a linear fashion. Critical thinking demands purposeful and calculated effort and requires concentration. Creative thinking can happen in your sleep.

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• Virtual Salt: Introduction to Creative Thinking

Cindi Pearce is a graduate of Ohio University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in journalism. She completed both the undergraduate and graduate courses offered by the Institute of Children’s Literature. Pearce has been writing professionally for over 30 years.

Creative Thinking vs Critical Thinking

James Taylor

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What’s the difference between creative thinking vs critical thinking?

You can think of them as complementary skills which you use as different stages when trying to solve a problem or forming a judgment about something.

Critical thinking is the ability to clearly and logically consider information that is presented to us.

Creative thinking is about generating new, novel, or useful ideas.

The great innovators combine critical thinking and creative thinking. Old world perspectives with new world ideas. Let’s look at how these different ways of thinking can connect with each other.

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INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

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Critical Thinking

Socratic method.

Let’s imagine I want to create a new kind of book. We can begin by using our critical thinking skills to consider what a book actually is, it’s purpose, as well as a series of other questions. One simple yet effective critical thinking technique is the Socratic method named after the Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. It is based on asking and answering questions to stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions or truths.

So for example let’s think about a book. What is a book? This is my friend Fredrik Haren’s book. At first viewing, we might see it as something that provides me with information. We can focus on the words on the page and their meanings. But this is just one perspective. What if we look at the book like a painter would. They might look at the book with a view to painting it or painting a portrait of the writer or the ideas within it. The artist may view the book not so much as a collection of words but will instead see how the shadow falls on the spine, or how the pages curve, or the texture of the cover. Then we can view the book from the perspective of the copy editor, or the translator, or the bookbinder or the book marketer. The point is that we can view the book from different perspectives.

Now ask yourself a whose view of the book is true? Is it the writer or the painter or the book-binder? In each case, we are seeing different versions of the truth. This allows a plurality of versions of reality to co-exist without being in tension with each other. 

“To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail”. 

By constantly using our critical thinking abilities to ask questions from different perspectives (or taking part in debates with those of other viewpoints) we gradually begin to arrive at a clearer and more logical understanding of the truth. This is why there is value in a plurality of ideas or perspectives and surrounding yourself with those who see the world differently.

There is a danger to viewing a problem or a challenge or an idea from one paradigm. As the writer, Abraham Maslow was believed to have said, “To a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail” .

There is a wonderful story from Indian culture which epitomizes this miopic view. One day a group of blind men heard that a strange animal had been brought to the town, but none of them were aware of its shape and form. So, they sought it out, and when they found it they touched the animal with their hands. The first person, whose hand landed on the trunk, said, "This animal is like a thick snake". One of the other blind men reached its ear and said ‘it seemed like a kind of fan’. As for another person, whose hand was on its leg, they said, this thing is a pillar-like a tree-trunk. The blind man who placed his hand upon its side said the animal, "is a wall". Another who felt its tail described it as a rope. The last felt the front of its head, stating the animal is like a spear. All of them only knew one part of the truth. By discussing and debating with each other hopefully they would have figured out it was in fact an elephant.

Your critical thinking will only take you so far. It enables you to view the problem from different perspectives but it doesn’t come up with new solutions. That’s where creative thinking comes in.

Creative Thinking

Creative thinking is about reflecting on different perspectives or truths and then bringing new ideas to the mind. Innovation is then about bringing these new ideas to the world.

In the case of our book if we return to our original question of ‘what is the purpose of a book’ then we might decide that a book is simply one mind setting down their thoughts and insights on a subject. We can then ask a different set of questions like ‘does this one mind have to be human’. Could artificial intelligence write a better book? Could I co-write a book with an AI? Is the written word even the best method for getting across an idea today or am I better to share this story or my insights in a more experiential or visual form like a hologram storyteller?

The next time you are looking to solve a problem experiment with how you can combine your critical thinking and your creative thinking. Perhaps you have a member of your team who is supercreative while you are more critical or analytical. Great, by collaborating you are able to view problems and solutions from different perspectives. 

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The Peak Performance Center

The pursuit of performance excellence, thinking skills.

Thinking skills are the mental activities you use to process information, make connections, make decisions, and create new ideas. You use your thinking skills when you try to make sense of experiences, solve problems, make decisions, ask questions, make plans, or organize information.

Everybody has thinking skills, but not everyone uses them effectively. Effective thinking skills are developed over a period of time. Good thinkers see possibilities where others see only obstacles or roadblocks. Good thinkers are able to make connection between various factors and be able to tie them together. They are also able to develop new and unique solutions to problems.

Thinking refers to the process of creating a logical series of connective facets between items of information. Often times, thinking just happens automatically. However, there are times when you consciously think. It may be about how to solve a problem or making a decision. Thinking enables you to connect and integrate new experiences into your existing understanding and perception of how things are.

The simplest thinking skills are learning facts and recall, while higher order skills include analysis, synthesis, problem solving, and evaluation .

Core Thinking Skills

Thinking skills are cognitive operations or processes that are the building blocks of thinking. There are several core thinking skills including focusing, organizing, analyzing, evaluating and generating.

Focusing  – attending to selected pieces of information while ignoring other stimuli.

Remembering  – storing and then retrieving information.  

Gathering  – bringing to the conscious mind the relative information needed for cognitive processing.  

Organizing  – arranging information so it can be used more effectively.

Analyzing  – breaking down information by examining parts and relationships so that its organizational structure may be understood.  

Connecting – making connections between related items or pieces of information.

Integrating  – connecting and combining information to better understand the relationship between the information.

Compiling – putting parts together to form a whole or building a structure or pattern from diverse elements.

Evaluating  – assessing the reasonableness and quality of ideas or materials on order to present and defend opinions.

Generating  – producing new information, ideas, products, or ways of viewing things.

Classifications and Types of Thinking

Convergent or Analytical Thinking: Bringing facts and data together from various sourc es and then applying logic and knowledge to solve problems or to make informed decisions.

Divergent thinking: Breaking a topic apart to explore its various components and then generating new ideas and solutions.

Critical Thinking: Analysis and evaluation of information, beliefs, or knowledge.

Creative Thinking: Generation of new ideas breaking from established thoughts, theories, rules, and procedures.

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking is called Metacognition. It is a higher order thinking that enables understanding, analysis, and control of your cognitive processes. It can involve planning, monitoring, assessing, and evaluating your use of your cognitive skills.

In the simplest form, convergent thinking or deductive reasoning looks inward to find a solution, while divergent or creative thinking looks outward for a solution.

Both thinking skills are essential for school and life.  Both require critical thinking skills to be effective.  Both are used for solving problems, doing projects and achieving objectives.  However, much of the thinking in formal education focuses on the convergent analytical thinking skills such as following or making a logical argument, eliminating the incorrect paths and then figuring out the single correct answer. 

Standardized tests such as IQ tests only measure convergent thinking.  Pattern recognition, logic thought flow, and the ability to solve problems with a single answer can all be tested and graded.  Although it is an extremely valuable skill, there are no accurate tests able to measure divergent or creative thinking skills.

Types of thinking

Critical thinking

Blooms Taxonomy

Bloom’s Taxonomy Revised

Mind Mapping

Chunking Information

Brainstorming

Critical Thinking skills

Divergent and Convergent thinking skills are both “critical thinking” skills. 

Critical thinking refers to the process of actively analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating and reflecting on information gathered from observation, experience, or communication and is focused on deciding what to believe or do. Critical thinking is considered a higher order thinking skills, such as analysis, synthesis, and problem solving, inference, and evaluation. 

The concept of higher order thinking skills became well known with the publication of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives.  Bloom’s Taxonomy was primarily created for academic education; however, it is relevant to all types of learning. 

Often times when people are problem solving or decision making, he or she flips back and forth between convergent and divergent thinking.  When first looking at a problem, people often analyze the facts and circumstances to determine the root cause.  After which, they explore new and innovative options through divergent thinking, then switch back to convergent thinking to limit those down to one practical option.

Author:  James Kelly, September 2011

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• F-10 curriculum
• General capabilities
• Critical and Creative Thinking

Critical and Creative Thinking (Version 8.4)

In the Australian Curriculum, students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives and solve problems. Critical and creative thinking involves students thinking broadly and deeply using skills, behaviours and dispositions such as reason, logic, resourcefulness, imagination and innovation in all learning areas at school and in their lives beyond school.

Thinking that is productive, purposeful and intentional is at the centre of effective learning. By applying a sequence of thinking skills, students develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can use whenever they encounter problems, unfamiliar information and new ideas. In addition, the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies can increase students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning. They become more confident and autonomous problem-solvers and thinkers.

Responding to the challenges of the twenty-first century – with its complex environmental, social and economic pressures – requires young people to be creative, innovative, enterprising and adaptable, with the motivation, confidence and skills to use critical and creative thinking purposefully.

This capability combines two types of thinking: critical thinking and creative thinking. Though the two are not interchangeable, they are strongly linked, bringing complementary dimensions to thinking and learning.

Critical thinking is at the core of most intellectual activity that involves students learning to recognise or develop an argument, use evidence in support of that argument, draw reasoned conclusions, and use information to solve problems. Examples of critical thinking skills are interpreting, analysing, evaluating, explaining, sequencing, reasoning, comparing, questioning, inferring, hypothesising, appraising, testing and generalising.

Creative thinking involves students learning to generate and apply new ideas in specific contexts, seeing existing situations in a new way, identifying alternative explanations, and seeing or making new links that generate a positive outcome. This includes combining parts to form something original, sifting and refining ideas to discover possibilities, constructing theories and objects, and acting on intuition. The products of creative endeavour can involve complex representations and images, investigations and performances, digital and computer-generated output, or occur as virtual reality.

Concept formation is the mental activity that helps us compare, contrast and classify ideas, objects, and events. Concept learning can be concrete or abstract and is closely allied with metacognition. What has been learnt can be applied to future examples. It underpins the organising elements.

Dispositions such as inquisitiveness, reasonableness, intellectual flexibility, open- and fair-mindedness, a readiness to try new ways of doing things and consider alternatives, and persistence promote and are enhanced by critical and creative thinking.

The key ideas for Critical and Creative Thinking are organised into four interrelated elements in the learning continuum, as shown in the figure below.

Inquiring – identifying, exploring and organising information and ideas

Organising elements for Critical and Creative Thinking 

The elements are not a taxonomy of thinking. Rather, each makes its own contribution to learning and needs to be explicitly and simultaneously developed.

This element involves students developing inquiry skills.

Students pose questions and identify and clarify information and ideas, and then organise and process information. They use questioning to investigate and analyse ideas and issues, make sense of and assess information and ideas, and collect, compare and evaluate information from a range of sources. In developing and acting with critical and creative thinking, students:

• pose questions
• identify and clarify information and ideas
• organise and process information.

Generating ideas, possibilities and actions

This element involves students creating ideas and actions, and considering and expanding on known actions and ideas.

Students imagine possibilities and connect ideas through considering alternatives, seeking solutions and putting ideas into action. They explore situations and generate alternatives to guide actions and experiment with and assess options and actions when seeking solutions. In developing and acting with critical and creative thinking, students:

• imagine possibilities and connect ideas
• consider alternatives
• seek solutions and put ideas into action.

Reflecting on thinking and processes

This element involves students reflecting on, adjusting and explaining their thinking and identifying the thinking behind choices, strategies and actions taken.

Students think about thinking (metacognition), reflect on actions and processes, and transfer knowledge into new contexts to create alternatives or open up possibilities. They apply knowledge gained in one context to clarify another. In developing and acting with critical and creative thinking, students:

• think about thinking (metacognition)
• reflect on processes
• transfer knowledge into new contexts.

Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and procedures

This element involves students analysing, synthesising and evaluating the reasoning and procedures used to find solutions, evaluate and justify results or inform courses of action.

Students identify, consider and assess the logic and reasoning behind choices. They differentiate components of decisions made and actions taken and assess ideas, methods and outcomes against criteria. In developing and acting with critical and creative thinking, students:

• apply logic and reasoning
• draw conclusions and design a course of action
• evaluate procedures and outcomes.

Critical and Creative Thinking in the learning areas

The imparting of knowledge (content) and the development of thinking skills are accepted today as primary purposes of education. The explicit teaching and embedding of critical and creative thinking throughout the learning areas encourages students to engage in higher order thinking. By using logic and imagination, and by reflecting on how they best tackle issues, tasks and challenges, students are increasingly able to select from a range of thinking strategies and use them selectively and spontaneously in an increasing range of learning contexts.

Activities that foster critical and creative thinking should include both independent and collaborative tasks, and entail some sort of transition or tension between ways of thinking. They should be challenging and engaging, and contain approaches that are within the ability range of the learners, but also challenge them to think logically, reason, be open-minded, seek alternatives, tolerate ambiguity, inquire into possibilities, be innovative risk-takers and use their imagination.

Critical and creative thinking can be encouraged simultaneously through activities that integrate reason, logic, imagination and innovation; for example, focusing on a topic in a logical, analytical way for some time, sorting out conflicting claims, weighing evidence, thinking through possible solutions, and then, following reflection and perhaps a burst of creative energy, coming up with innovative and considered responses. Critical and creative thinking are communicative processes that develop flexibility and precision. Communication is integral to each of the thinking processes. By sharing thinking, visualisation and innovation, and by giving and receiving effective feedback, students learn to value the diversity of learning and communication styles.

The learning area or subject with the highest proportion of content descriptions tagged with Critical and Creative Thinking is placed first in the list.

F-6/7 Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS)

In the F–6/7 Australian Curriculum: Humanities and Social Sciences, students develop critical and creative thinking capability as they learn how to build discipline-specific knowledge about history, geography, civics and citizenship, and economics and business. Students learn and practise critical and creative thinking as they pose questions, research, analyse, evaluate and communicate information, concepts and ideas.

Students identify, explore and determine questions to clarify social issues and events, and apply reasoning, interpretation and analytical skills to data and information. Critical thinking is essential to the historical inquiry process because it requires the ability to question sources, interpret the past from incomplete documentation, assess reliability when selecting information from resources, and develop an argument using evidence. Students develop critical thinking through geographical investigations that help them think logically when evaluating and using evidence, testing explanations, analysing arguments and making decisions, and when thinking deeply about questions that do not have straightforward answers. Students learn to critically evaluate texts about people, places, events, processes and issues, including consumer and financial, for shades of meaning, feeling and opinion, by identifying subjective language, bias, fact and opinion, and how language and images can be used to manipulate meaning. They develop civic knowledge by considering multiple perspectives and alternatives, and reflecting on actions, values and attitudes, thus informing their decision-making and the strategies they choose to negotiate and resolve differences.

Students develop creative thinking through the examination of social, political, legal, civic, environmental and economic issues, past and present, that that are contested, do not have obvious or straightforward answers, and that require problem-solving and innovative solutions. Creative thinking is important in developing creative questions, speculation and interpretations during inquiry. Students are encouraged to be curious and imaginative in investigations and fieldwork, and to explore relevant imaginative texts.

Critical and creative thinking is essential for imagining probable, possible and preferred futures in relation to social, environmental, economic and civic sustainability and issues. Students think creatively about appropriate courses of action and develop plans for personal and collective action. They develop enterprising behaviours and capabilities to imagine possibilities, consider alternatives, test hypotheses, and seek and create innovative solutions, and think creatively about the impact of issues on their own lives and the lives of others.

7-10 History

In the Australian Curriculum: History, critical thinking is essential to the historical inquiry process because it requires the ability to question sources, interpret the past from incomplete documentation, develop an argument using evidence, and assess reliability when selecting information from resources. Creative thinking is important in developing new interpretations to explain aspects of the past that are contested or not well understood.

7-10 Geography

In the Australian Curriculum: Geography, students develop critical and creative thinking as they investigate geographical information, concepts and ideas through inquiry-based learning. They develop and practise critical and creative thinking by using strategies that help them think logically when evaluating and using evidence, testing explanations, analysing arguments and making decisions, and when thinking deeply about questions that do not have straightforward answers. Students learn the value and process of developing creative questions and the importance of speculation. Students are encouraged to be curious and imaginative in investigations and fieldwork. The geography curriculum also stimulates students to think creatively about the ways that the places and spaces they use might be better designed, and about possible, probable and preferable futures.

7-10 Civics and Citizenship

In the Australian Curriculum: Civics and Citizenship, students develop critical thinking skills in their investigation of Australia’s democratic system of government. They learn to apply decision-making processes and use strategies to negotiate and resolve differences. Students develop critical and creative thinking through the examination of political, legal and social issues that do not have obvious or straightforward answers and that require problem-solving and innovative solutions. Students consider multiple perspectives and alternatives, think creatively about appropriate courses of action and develop plans for action. The Australian Curriculum: Civics and Citizenship stimulates students to think creatively about the impact of civic issues on their own lives and the lives of others, and to consider how these issues might be addressed.

7-10 Economics and Business

In the Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business, students develop their critical and creative thinking as they identify, explore and determine questions to clarify economics and business issues and/or events and apply reasoning, interpretation and analytical skills to data and/or information. They develop enterprising behaviours and capabilities to imagine possibilities, consider alternatives, test hypotheses, and seek and create innovative solutions to economics and business issues and/or events.

In the Australian Curriculum: The Arts, critical and creative thinking is integral to making and responding to artworks. In creating artworks, students draw on their curiosity, imagination and thinking skills to pose questions and explore ideas, spaces, materials and technologies. They consider possibilities and make choices that assist them to take risks and express their ideas, concepts, thoughts and feelings creatively. They consider and analyse the motivations, intentions and possible influencing factors and biases that may be evident in artworks they make to which they respond. They offer and receive effective feedback about past and present artworks and performances, and communicate and share their thinking, visualisation and innovations to a variety of audiences.

Technologies 

In the Australian Curriculum: Technologies, students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they imagine, generate, develop and critically evaluate ideas. They develop reasoning and the capacity for abstraction through challenging problems that do not have straightforward solutions. Students analyse problems, refine concepts and reflect on the decision-making process by engaging in systems, design and computational thinking. They identify, explore and clarify technologies information and use that knowledge in a range of situations.

Students think critically and creatively about possible, probable and preferred futures. They consider how data, information, systems, materials, tools and equipment (past and present) impact on our lives, and how these elements might be better designed and managed. Experimenting, drawing, modelling, designing and working with digital tools, equipment and software helps students to build their visual and spatial thinking and to create solutions, products, services and environments.

Health and Physical Education 

In the Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education (HPE), students develop their ability to think logically, critically and creatively in response to a range of health and physical education issues, ideas and challenges. They learn how to critically evaluate evidence related to the learning area and the broad range of associated media and other messages to creatively generate and explore original alternatives and possibilities. In the HPE curriculum, students’ critical and creative thinking skills are developed through learning experiences that encourage them to pose questions and seek solutions to health issues by exploring and designing appropriate strategies to promote and advocate personal, social and community health and wellbeing. Students also use critical thinking to examine their own beliefs and challenge societal factors that negatively influence their own and others’ identity, health and wellbeing.

The Australian Curriculum: Health and Physical Education also provides learning opportunities that support creative thinking through dance making, games creation and technique refinement. Students develop understanding of the processes associated with creating movement and reflect on their body’s responses and their feelings about these movement experiences. Including a critical inquiry approach is one of the five propositions that have shaped the HPE curriculum.

Critical and creative thinking are essential to developing analytical and evaluative skills and understandings in the Australian Curriculum: English. Students use critical and creative thinking through listening to, reading, viewing, creating and presenting texts, interacting with others, and when they recreate and experiment with literature, and discuss the aesthetic or social value of texts. Through close analysis of text and through reading, viewing and listening, students critically analyse the opinions, points of view and unstated assumptions embedded in texts. In discussion, students develop critical thinking as they share personal responses and express preferences for specific texts, state and justify their points of view and respond to the views of others.

In creating their own written, visual and multimodal texts, students also explore the influence or impact of subjective language, feeling and opinion on the interpretation of text. Students also use and develop their creative thinking capability when they consider the innovations made by authors, imagine possibilities, plan, explore and create ideas for imaginative texts based on real or imagined events. Students explore the creative possibilities of the English language to represent novel ideas.

Learning in the Australian Curriculum: Languages enables students to interact with people and ideas from diverse backgrounds and perspectives, which enhances critical thinking and reflection, and encourages creative, divergent and imaginative thinking. By learning to notice, connect, compare and analyse aspects of the target language, students develop critical, analytical and problem-solving skills.

Mathematics

In the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics, students develop critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, ideas and possibilities, and use them when seeking solutions. Engaging students in reasoning and thinking about solutions to problems and the strategies needed to find these solutions are core parts of the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics.

Students are encouraged to be critical thinkers when justifying their choice of a calculation strategy or identifying relevant questions during a statistical investigation. They are encouraged to look for alternative ways to approach mathematical problems; for example, identifying when a problem is similar to a previous one, drawing diagrams or simplifying a problem to control some variables.

In the Australian Curriculum: Science, students develop capability in critical and creative thinking as they learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, ideas and possibilities, and use them when seeking new pathways or solutions. In the science learning area, critical and creative thinking are embedded in the skills of posing questions, making predictions, speculating, solving problems through investigation, making evidence-based decisions, and analysing and evaluating evidence. Students develop understandings of concepts through active inquiry that involves planning and selecting appropriate information, evaluating sources of information to formulate conclusions and to critically reflect on their own and the collective process.

Creative thinking enables the development of ideas that are new to the individual, and this is intrinsic to the development of scientific understanding. Scientific inquiry promotes critical and creative thinking by encouraging flexibility and open-mindedness as students speculate about their observations of the world and the ability to use and design new processes to achieve this. Students’ conceptual understanding becomes more sophisticated as they actively acquire an increasingly scientific view of their world and the ability to examine it from new perspectives.

Work Studies

In the Australian Curriculum: Work Studies, Years 9–10, students develop an ability to think logically, critically and creatively in relation to concepts of work and workplaces contexts. These capabilities are developed through an emphasis on critical thinking processes that encourage students to question assumptions and empower them to create their own understanding of work and personal and workplace learning.

Students’ creative thinking skills are developed and practised through learning opportunities that encourage innovative, entrepreneurial and project-based activities, supporting creative responses to workplace, professional and industrial problems. Students also learn to respond to strategic and problem-based challenges using creative thinking. For example, a student could evaluate possible job scenarios based on local labour market data and personal capabilities.

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Creative Thinking Definition

Creative thinking examples, why is creative thinking important, how to include creative thinking skills in a job application, how to build creativity, what is creative thinking definition and examples.

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Creative thinking is the ability to come up with unique, original solutions. Also known as creative problem-solving, creative thinking is a valuable and marketable soft skill in a wide variety of careers. Here’s what you need to know about creative thinking at work and how to use it to land a job. 

Creative thinking is all about developing innovative solutions to problems. Creative thinkers brainstorm not only a large number of ideas but also a variety and range of them. In the workplace, creative thinking is highly valuable because employers look to hire innovative employees who can help them solve the company’s problems.

So, what does creative thinking in the workplace look like? First, a creative person brainstorms their ideas, then they’ll experiment with them. They look at ideas from multiple perspectives and examine how their solutions fit into the scope of what they’re working on. Creative thinkers aren’t afraid to take risks and try new ideas. In fact, this ability to develop, test, and implement original solutions makes them a valuable asset to just about any workplace. 

Creative thinking in the workplace might look like:

• Holding an interactive brainstorm to gather initial thoughts on a project
• Evaluating a current process and offering suggestions on how to improve it
• Researching other ways to market a product and leading experiments on new marketing channels
• Developing an innovative way to reach out to prospective clients
• Identifying a unique opportunity to promote the company brand and developing a strategy to do so
• Discovering a new way to measure a product initiative’s success and using learnings to iterate on the next version

Finding patterns in a company’s revenue growth and using data trends to strategize a new sales plan  

Creative thinking includes the process of innovative problem-solving — from analyzing the facts to brainstorming to working with others. Creative thinking examples include analytical skills, innovation, and collaboration.

Analytical Skills

Analytical skills are problem-solving skills that help you sort through facts, data, and information to develop rational solutions. These skills aid you in the first part of the creative thinking process as you brainstorm and start to generate ideas. 

Analytical skills include:

• Data analysis
• Forecasting
• Interpreting
• Communication

Innovation is the ability to come up with something new; however, you don’t need to develop the first flying car to be an innovative thinker. “Something new” at work might mean a method you haven’t tried before or experimenting with an unfamiliar process. Innovators in the workplace aren’t afraid to step away from tradition and explore something original, even if it might fail. 

Innovation skills include:

• Risk-taking
• Brainstorming
• Critical thinking

Collaboration

Creative thinking doesn’t have to happen alone; you might have your most creative ideas when bouncing your work off others. Collaboration skills ensure you consider multiple perspectives and ways of thinking when you develop and refine ideas.

Collaboration skills include:

• Written and verbal communication
• Active listening
• Inclusivity

A soft skill like creative thinking will always be valuable to employers, whether you’re looking for a marketing job or trying to land a career in finance . Employers need employees who can develop and experiment with new ideas to help them solve complex problems. 

“Many employers seek candidates that are analytical and outside-the-box thinkers which are iterations of creative thinking skills,” says Alejandra Garcia, manager, alumni college and career success at Code2College and Forage content development partner. “Thus, creative thinking, creative problem solving, innovative thinking, and analytical skills are all valuable in the current workplace — these skills are especially important in our ever-changing workplaces with new emerging technologies.”

The data supports this idea, too. According to the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs report , creative thinking is the second most important skill for workers in 2023, preceded only by analytical skills. Other top skills include soft skills like resilience, flexibility and agility, motivation and self-awareness, and curiosity and lifelong learning .

“The ability to navigate new challenges quickly can benefit any workplace!” Laura Fontenot, resume writing expert, ACRW, and CPRW, says. “The current world of work is fast-paced, technically driven, and constantly changing. Being intuitive, creative, driven, and a problem solver are key.”

If creative thinking is one of the top soft skills employers look for, how do you show you have it in a job application? The key is to prove these skills through examples of how you’ve used them rather than just naming them.

On a Resume

While creative thinking is a skill employers might look for, you don’t necessarily need to write “creative thinking” on your resume to show you have this skill. Instead, it’s better to demonstrate how you’ve used creative thinking skills to drive results.

“Think of your best mental strengths,” says Fontenot. “Are you a great problem solver? Do you understand how to phrase things differently? Can you learn a new skill quickly? Those questions can help you find great words for the resume . Consider adding things like problem-solving, intuition, collaboration, fast learner, organized, or communication.”

Log in to view and download a customizable resume template with examples of how to include creative thinking skills:

On Your Professional Profiles

You can show these skills outside of your resume in creative ways — including on your LinkedIn profile and website (if you have one!).

“Early professionals can make creative thinking a part of their professional brand by explicitly adding creative thinking or creative problem solving to their list of skills on their resumes and LinkedIn profiles — this will help with ATS optimizations,” Garcia advises. 

Yet beyond just listing this skill, Garcia adds that you can provide real proof of your creativity online, too.

“Consider adding projects or an online portfolio website link to your resume and LinkedIn where you can showcase projects you’ve worked on that demonstrate their problem-solving skills.”

In the Interview

In the interview , make sure you can describe your workflow and process for these projects or any other situation when you’ve used creative thinking. Elaborate how you brainstormed ideas, what range of ideas you had, how you tested and experimented, and how you decided on a final solution. 

It’s best to use the STAR method to structure your answers. This will ensure you clearly explain the situation and the results you brought by using your creative thinking skills.

>>MORE: Prepare to speak about your soft skills by practicing answers to commonly asked behavioral interview questions .

1. Put Yourself in a Box

Creative thinking is about “thinking outside the box,” but putting limitations on your problem-solving can help you think more freely and innovatively. For example, if someone tells you to make dinner, you may struggle to come up with a meal you don’t always cook. Yet if they ask you to make a hot dinner with three specific ingredients and two spices, you’ll more likely come up with something original. 

Putting yourself inside a box can help expand your thinking, whether that’s by telling yourself you need to include three charts in your presentation or giving yourself a strict word count for an article.

2. Switch up Your Routine

Routine can be a great productivity booster, but it also can get in the way of your creativity. So, switch up your routine for one project, day, or even an hour. This can be something as small as where you’re physically sitting when you do your work or something as big as your process for approaching projects. Challenging yourself to do something different will help you find creative ways to adapt to your new environment.

3. Challenge What’s Currently Working

Think about how you might expand or improve upon a current process. What would you do if you had more resources, whether that’s time, money, or another expert? What would you do if you had fewer resources? If this project was taking place at a different time of year? If the target audience was different? Imagining these different potential scenarios will force you to problem-solve and adjust for various (very possible!) circumstances. 

4. Find Inspiration

Creative thinking doesn’t happen in a bubble. It’s vital to ask for others’ opinions and ideas. Creative thinkers consider multiple perspectives and are curious about how others think. Ask your colleague about their work processes, whether it’s how they research for a client deliverable or how they approach meeting an external buyer. 

5. Ask for Feedback

The best way to improve a skill is to get feedback from others on how you’re using it — and you don’t need to set up a formal feedback session to do so. Instead, ask questions when you’re working with others about your work. Keep these questions open-ended and lead with curiosity instead of looking for a specific answer. What did they think of how you led the brainstorm? What would they have done differently? What strikes them about the final product? Keep an open mind and remember not to take the feedback personally. It’s an opportunity to grow, and growing those skills might just help you land your next job!

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Critical and Creative Thinking: An Essential Skill for Every Student

Friday 9th august 2024.

One of the most valuable skills in life is the ability to think independently, clearly, and rationally when analysing a problem and making logical connections between ideas. Creative and critical thinking are key abilities for students, helping them understand, apply and question information. Critical and creative thinking skills are among the most valuable skills a person can have.

The sooner we begin teaching young people skills to think about relationships, work, and culture, the better prepared they will be to navigate life’s challenges. In a world filled with ups, downs, and misinformation, cultivating critical and creative thinking capability empowers young individuals to make wise decisions and solve problems effectively.

What is creative thinking?

Creative thinking is the ability to generate valuable and original ideas, possibilities and actions to solve a problem. Creative thinkers use their imagination to innovate not only a large number of ideas but also a variety and range of them. They experiment, consider ideas from multiple perspectives, and test different solutions. These kinds of thinkers will step out of their comfort zone and take risks to try their original ideas.

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is often confused with intelligence, but they are different. While everyone is born with different kinds of intelligence, critical thinking is a skill that can be taught and practised. Critical thinking involves cognitive skills that help us think logically toward goals, and a mindset to use those skills effectively. Critical thinkers are open-minded, seeking evidence for their beliefs and spotting flawed arguments. They also work to overcome biases like hindsight or confirmation bias.

Creative thinking vs critical thinking

The main difference between critical and creative thinking is where they place their emphasis: critical thinking is about examining existing ideas and concepts, and creative thinking is more focused on generating new ones. While distinct processes, the two work in a complementary fashion, allowing students to identify problems or holes, and also craft innovative solutions. Being able to think both critically and creatively improves the ability to navigate complex situations and make meaningful decisions.

What are the characteristics of critical and creative thinking?

The benefits of developing critical and creative thinking skills are varied, and can play a positive role in all areas of life. To be a good critical and creative thinker, students should practise several key skills:

• Curiosity: Every great action or discovery begins with curiosity and a drive to explore, question and seek understanding of the world. Curiosity fuels learning and encourages deeper engagement with topics. Curious students also engage in lateral thinking and examining ideas from all angles.
• Brainstorming: Developing ideas and solutions with an innovative mind significantly influences how students tackle challenges presented to them. Part of this process may involve mind mapping and making connections between topics, as well as problem solving and finding effective solutions.
• Decision Making: A key skill is being able to critically consider different courses of action, understand consequences, and choose an effective solution. This may include an element of risk taking, with students needing to step out of their comfort zone or risk uncertainty, which can foster personal growth, resilience and innovation.
• Reflection: A critical thinking technique that allows students to consider their actions and behaviours, and whether they were effective or correct. This involves making inferences based on evidence, and closely evaluating the quality of decisions and solutions. It also often leads to more creative ideas in response.

How to develop critical and creative thinking skills in students

To enhance your critical thinking and creative thinking together, students must immerse themselves in subject-specific environments rich in content. Each subject requires a unique approach to critical thinking, so this immersion helps develop tailored abilities for each area of study.

During this process, it’s important to maintain objectivity in decision-making. Utilise foresight to pause and carefully consider the implications of your decisions. Taking time for students to reflect on the learning experience and creating an environment for students to feel comfortable to ask questions also helps develop these skills. Teachers will use various strategies for developing critical and creative thinking to support students in acquiring and applying these skills.

Join us at St Francis Xavier College

At St Francis Xavier College, we strive for our students to use critical and creative thinking techniques in their studies. We want to prepare them not only for the classroom but also how to be successful in their future careers and overall life. Check out our other news articles for subject ideas and study tips, and get in touch to learn more.

Acknowledgements

St Francis Xavier College acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s First People and Traditional Custodians. We are proud and fortunate to live and serve on the land of the Bunurong people. We recognise their intelligence, care and stewardship of this land for many generations. We pay respect to their elders, past, present and emerging. We commit ourselves to moving forward in a spirit of reconciliation.

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Home > Graduate Research and Creative Practice > Culminating Experience Projects > 456

Culminating Experience Projects

The importance of critical thinking skills in secondary classrooms.

Clinton T. Sterkenburg , Grand Valley State University Follow

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Education-Instruction and Curriculum: Secondary Education (M.Ed.)

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Sherie Klee

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According to research, many students lack effective critical thinking skills. The ability to think critically is crucial for individuals to be successful and responsible. Many students have difficulties understanding this important skill and especially lack the ability to initiate and apply the process. Although a difficult task, educators have the responsibility to teach critical skills to students and to discern when certain instructional methods or activities are not helping students. Each student is different, and their needs must be considered, this correlates with how they learn and process information. Research has shown that traditional teaching methods that require students to regurgitate information do not prove helpful in teaching students to apply and understand the critical thinking process. Therefore, effective teachers expand upon traditional teaching methods and differentiate instructional and activity design for imparting critical thinking skills to students. This project presents some of the possible reasons students have difficulties thinking critically and provides examples of instructional and lesson design methods that are proven to help students understand critical thinking. The goal of this project is to provide a guide for secondary teachers to address the lack of critical thinking skills in many students. The ability to think critically will greatly benefit students and help them become productive members of society.

ScholarWorks Citation

Sterkenburg, Clinton T., "The Importance of Critical Thinking Skills in Secondary Classrooms" (2024). Culminating Experience Projects . 456. https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/gradprojects/456

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Organizations frequently take a forward-thinking stance to remain competitive in today’s technology-driven business climate. However, they frequently find deciding between strategic planning and thinking skills challenging. 

These organizations often fail to remember that, despite their similarity in sound, the terms have various meanings and contribute differently to an organization’s direction. Consequently, you are in the ideal place if you want to encourage efficient decision-making in your company. 

Read this blog to understand the difference between strategic planning and strategic thinking skills. 

What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the systematic and disciplined process of identifying an organization’s goals, assessing its current situation, and creating a plan to achieve them. It entails deciding which tasks to prioritize, assigning funds, and creating action plans that direct organizational decision-making. 

Fundamentally, strategic planning converts an organization’s vision and objective into concrete actions. It offers an organized framework for coordinating the organization’s actions, competencies, and resources to produce the intended results.

What is Strategic Thinking?

The cognitive process of strategic thinking course includes the aptitude for scenario analysis, future planning, and creative strategy development. It focuses on an organization’s goals rather than only tactical decision-making and daily operations. The strategic thinking examples

entails a comprehensive business environment expansion, considering internal and external elements affecting an organization’s performance. 

Fundamentally, this idea entails critically assessing the existing state of affairs, spotting possibilities and obstacles, and producing insights that influence the organization’s course.

Difference Between Strategic Planning and Strategic Thinking

Any firm needs to distinguish between strategic planning and strategic thinking. A defined path to follow is provided by strategic planning, but being flexible and prepared to take advantage of new opportunities is what strategic thinking does. By striking a balance between the two, you can ensure the company is ready for whatever comes next and can handle any unanticipated detours.

1. Why is strategic planning important for a business?

Strategic planning is essential because it gives a company a well-defined and organized path to pursue. It supports objective setting, effective resource allocation, action prioritization, and progress tracking, guaranteeing that every effort is directed toward accomplishing the company’s long-term goals.

2. What are the critical elements of strategic planning?

Setting specific goals and objectives, creating thorough action plans, assigning the required resources, and implementing monitoring and assessment procedures are all essential components of strategic planning. These components guarantee that the company can monitor its development over time and has a clearly defined course to pursue.

3. How often should a company review its strategic plan?

A business should periodically examine its strategic plan—usually once a year but also anytime there are significant shifts in the organization or the market. Frequent evaluations ensure the strategy stays current and enable modifications in response to fresh data and evolving conditions.

4. How can a company encourage strategic thinking among its employees?

A business can promote strategic thinking by creating a transparent and cooperative work atmosphere, promoting original problem-solving techniques, offering professional growth opportunities, and praising and rewarding unique ideas. To foster a strategic mentality across the entire business, leadership should also engage staff in decision-making processes and set an example for strategic thinking habits.

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