WHAT IT IS:

How do we boost the creativity of our students? One study (Rosen et al., 2017) found that giving students direct instructions to be creative actually boosted their creativity.

HOW IT WORKS:

In the study, which focused on musicians, students were asked to be more creative than their past attempts. Also, creativity was boosted more in novices than experienced musicians. So, it may be helpful to our students to give them a mental reference point, i.e. “Students, remember your last writing assignment? I’d like you to write more creatively than that this time.” Also, we may want to focus our efforts on our least creative students, who may receive the biggest boost from this strategy.