Science Instruction for Promoting Creative Thinking Skills

Abstract

               Creative thinking skills are an important learning goal for students in the 21st century. Many workplaces need a creative and innovative workforce to enhance their economic or technical competitiveness. Science classrooms are well suited to promote creative thinking skills as it aligns well with the nature of scientists’ work. Scientists use their imagination and creativity to examine phenomena from new theoretical or experimental perspectives to discover new scientific insights. Instruction to promote creative thinking skills can be done through building the open-ended learning situation which students can think of solution in various ways. This can then encourage students to think creatively to generate their own hypotheses, plans and design experiments, and analyze the results until they reach their own answers. The example of instruction for promoting creative thinking skills is context-based learning which includes 4 stages:(1) Setting Focal Event, (2)Behavioral Environment, (3) Specific Language, and (4)Knowledge Application in New Context. Fostering students’ creativity can improve students’ attitudes to learning science and improve their understanding of scientific concepts and the nature of science.