{"id":1017,"date":"2015-09-06T11:23:51","date_gmt":"2015-09-06T11:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017"},"modified":"2015-09-06T11:29:58","modified_gmt":"2015-09-06T11:29:58","slug":"creativity-and-elementary-engineering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017","title":{"rendered":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the theoretical framework of\u00a0a new book called\u00a0Engaging Young Engineers:\u00a0 Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM\u00a0(Stone-Macdonald, Wendell, Douglass, Love, & Hyson, 2015)<\/i>, the authors posit that there are\u00a05 kinds of thinking developed by teaching problem solving via STEM for early learners.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Curious thinking<\/li>\n
  2. Persistent thinking<\/li>\n
  3. Flexible thinking<\/li>\n
  4. Reflective thinking<\/li>\n
  5. Collaborative thinking<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    In the chapter on flexible thinking, they cited an interesting article on creativity in the classroom context by Sternberg (2003). \u00a0In it, Sternberg claims that: 1) intelligence consists of \u00a0three forms: \u00a0analytic, practical, and creative and 2) that schools typically overvalue analytic intelligence (which also involves memory).<\/p>\n

    Sternberg lays out 12 types of creative decisions people make.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Redefine problems<\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Analyze your ideas<\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Sell your ideas<\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Knowledge is a double edged sword<\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Surmount obstacles<\/span><\/li>\n
    6. Take sensible risks<\/span><\/li>\n
    7. Willingness to grow<\/span><\/li>\n
    8. Believe in yourself<\/span><\/li>\n
    9. Tolerance of ambiguity<\/span><\/li>\n
    10. Find what you love and do it <\/span><\/li>\n
    11. Allowing time<\/span><\/li>\n
    12. Allowing mistakes<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I thought that many, if not all of these, \u00a0are an integral part of the engineering process.<\/p>\n

      Sternberg’s overall conclusion is worth quoting at length.<\/p>\n

      “Our main conclusions are as follows. First, creative thinking is relatively distinct from analytical and practical thinking. Knowing someone\u2019s skills in analytical or practical thinking will not say much about the person\u2019s skills in creative thinking. Second, teaching for creative thinking in schools can improve children\u2019s academic performance. It helps the more creative children to capitalise on a strength at the same time that it helps the less creative children to compensate for or correct a weakness. Third, creativity is in large part an attitude toward life. Specific decisions can be made that enhance creativity. ” \u00a0(p. 335-336)<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
      Sternberg, R. J. (2003). Creative thinking in the classroom. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research<\/i>, 47<\/i>(3), 325\u2013338.<\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      <\/div>\n
      \n
      \n
      Stone-Macdonald, A. K., Wendell, K. B., Douglass, A., Love, M. L., & Hyson, M. L. (2015). Engaging Young Engineers:\u00a0 Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM<\/i>. Baltimore, MD: Brookes Publishing.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      In the theoretical framework of\u00a0a new book called\u00a0Engaging Young Engineers:\u00a0 Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM\u00a0(Stone-Macdonald, Wendell, Douglass, Love, & Hyson, 2015), the authors posit that there are\u00a05 kinds of thinking developed by teaching problem solving via STEM for early … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,11,3,5,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1017","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-childdevelop","category-research","category-robotics","category-teaching","category-technology"],"yoast_head":"\nCreativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Creativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the theoretical framework of\u00a0a new book called\u00a0Engaging Young Engineers:\u00a0 Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM\u00a0(Stone-Macdonald, Wendell, Douglass, Love, & Hyson, 2015), the authors posit that there are\u00a05 kinds of thinking developed by teaching problem solving via STEM for early … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kids Engineer!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"JohnHeffernan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"JohnHeffernan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"JohnHeffernan\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438\"},\"headline\":\"Creativity and Elementary Engineering\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\"},\"wordCount\":316,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Child Development\",\"Research\",\"Robotics\",\"Teaching\",\"Technology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\",\"name\":\"Creativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Creativity and Elementary Engineering\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/\",\"name\":\"Kids Engineer!\",\"description\":\"To understand and promote engineering education in elementary schools. John Heffernan, Ph.D.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438\",\"name\":\"JohnHeffernan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"JohnHeffernan\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!","og_description":"In the theoretical framework of\u00a0a new book called\u00a0Engaging Young Engineers:\u00a0 Teaching Problem Solving Skills Through STEM\u00a0(Stone-Macdonald, Wendell, Douglass, Love, & Hyson, 2015), the authors posit that there are\u00a05 kinds of thinking developed by teaching problem solving via STEM for early … Continue reading →","og_url":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017","og_site_name":"Kids Engineer!","article_published_time":"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00","author":"JohnHeffernan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"JohnHeffernan","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017"},"author":{"name":"JohnHeffernan","@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438"},"headline":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering","datePublished":"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017"},"wordCount":316,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438"},"articleSection":["Child Development","Research","Robotics","Teaching","Technology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017","url":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017","name":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering - Kids Engineer!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-09-06T11:23:51+00:00","dateModified":"2015-09-06T11:29:58+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?p=1017#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Creativity and Elementary Engineering"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/","name":"Kids Engineer!","description":"To understand and promote engineering education in elementary schools. John Heffernan, Ph.D.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/#\/schema\/person\/fd9d549ccd0fb2c6c495705a81039438","name":"JohnHeffernan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"JohnHeffernan"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fc85681b386321f77cdb771de4aea1d59a901a3cac996ff1c00505ec34259a86?s=96&d=mm&r=g"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1017"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1022,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1017\/revisions\/1022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kidsengineer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}