Making the Most of Brainstorming Presenter’s Name Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

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“Not Just for Breakfast” Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Course Objectives At the completion of this course, you will be able to: define the concept of brainstorming and its benefits in group decision-making distinguish between different brainstorming techniques and evaluate the best setting for each technique identify ways technology can be used in brainstorming develop a brainstorming activity using the 4 MAT process Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Agenda Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Brainstorming Defined “Brainstorming is a group creativity technique by which a group tries to find a solution for a specific problem by gathering a list of ideas spontaneously contributed by its members.” - The Free Dictionary Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Benefits of Brainstorming Brainstorming creates new ideas Brainstorming encourages creativity Brainstorming produces a large number of ideas Brainstorming allows for the recording of all ideas Brainstorming fosters ownership Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Brainstorming in Action Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Activity: Ground Rules for Brainstorming Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Ground Rules for Brainstorming Participation by all team members No idea is a bad idea No criticism allowed Write ideas exactly as presented Set a time limit Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Objective 1: Summary During this section you: defined brainstorming and discussed its key benefits. looked at ground rules and how the facilitator should set the stage for the session Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Reverse Brainstorming Great for backing into the solution by determining the opposite effect. Start with one of two reverse questions “How could I cause the problem?” “How could I not achieve the desired effect?” Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

The Charette Procedure Great for large brainstorming sessions Allows each group to generate ideas and “pass them to another group” for refinement Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Round Robin Brainstorming Allows team members to generate ideas without being influenced by any one person Ensures each person in the group voices their opinion with no pressure Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Activity: Brainstorming Techniques Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Objective Summary During this section we looked at different techniques for brainstorming practiced each of these techniques in action. discussed the best setting for using each technique. Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Technology & Brainstorming Allows you to collaborate across spatial boundaries when brainstorming Useful for students and colleagues who prefer electronic communication Engages students and captures ideas “in the cloud” Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Brainstorming Websites Education-Templates (free trial) Education-Templates nd.php (free) nd.php (videos on brainstorming available) nalbrain/?c=69 (free) nalbrain/?c=69 Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Objective Summary During this section we: discussed benefits of incorporating technology into brainstorming sessions Reviewed tools that allow you to integrate technology into brainstorming sessions. Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

The 4MAT System Innovative Analytic Common Sense Dynamic Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Innovative Learners Need to understand “why” Good at brainstorming Need to have reasons to connect new information with personal experiences Must find use in the learning Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Need to understand “what” Interested in deepening understanding Enjoy lectures Participate best in Round Robin brainstorming Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Dynamic Learners Need to understand “how it works” Want to try it Need hands on tasks Participate easily in all types of brainstorming Must focus on generating ideas not solutions Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Common Sense Learners Need to understand “if” Interested in self- discovery Rely on intuition Enjoy simulations, role play and games Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Objective Summary During this section we: looked at the 4MAT system and each of the learning types it incorporates talked about brainstorming techniques that can be used for each learning type. Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

Activity: Tying It All Together Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.

End of Module During today’s session you: defined the concept of brainstorming and its benefits in group decision-making distinguished between different brainstorming techniques and evaluated the best setting for each technique identified ways technology can be used in brainstorming developed a brainstorming activity using the 4 MAT process Copyright © Texas Education Agency All rights reserved.