Brain Storming

Brainstorming Activities for Students

There are several tools available to make it easier for students to participate in a brainstorming activity. These are great for encouraging students to come up with a large number of ideas fairly quickly.

Pre-printed mind maps, concept maps, online mapping tools, and software such as Video and PowerPoint provide a great structure for students.

Place the topic or concept in the middle of the mind map and branch off of ideas as primary or secondary thoughts. These brainstorming activities for students are probably the most tried and tested that you remember yourself for effective brainstorming.

Example:  In the classroom

Learners brainstorm the topic of smoking by writing all the words

they associate with it on the board. This is then followed by a

discursive essay-writing lesson on the topic.

Brainstorming can encourage learners to think more freely and

creatively than if they were doing a more controlled planning exercise.

It allows learners to remember what they know, and to teach each

other. It is a dynamic and stimulating way to lead learners

into a topic.

Reverse Brainstorming

A creative problem-solving technique in which the problem is turned

around and considered from a different point of view to spur new and

different solutions.

Stop-and-Go Brainstorming

A problem-solving technique in which a group alternately engages in

brainstorming solutions without evaluation for ten minutes then

engages in a short period of evaluation. The group continues

alternating between brainstorming and evaluation.

Phillips 66 Brainstorming

Brain-writing

A problem-solving technique in which participants individually

brainstorm ideas and document them, then share them with a

group to further push their thinking.

Effective brainstorming: how do I achieve it?

1) In a small or large group select a leader and a scribe (or this may be the teacher).

2) Define the problem or idea to be brainstormed. Make sure everyone is clear on the topic being explored.

3) Set up the rules for the session. They should include:

• letting the leader have control
• allowing everyone to contribute
• suspending evaluation of ideas until all ideas are gathered
• the validity of all contributions
• recording each answer, unless it is a repeat
• setting a time limit and stopping when that time is up.

4) Start the brainstorming. Have the leader select members of the group to share their answers. The scribe should write down all responses, if possible so that everyone can see them. Make sure not to evaluate or criticize any answers until the brainstorming is complete.

5) Once you have finished brainstorming, go through the results and begin evaluating the responses. This can be done quickly by a show of hands to rank the ideas.

6) Some initial qualities to look for when examining the responses include:

• looking for any answers that are repeated or similar
• grouping similar concepts together
• eliminating responses that definitely do not fit

7) Now that you have narrowed your list down somewhat, discuss the remaining responses as a group.

It is important for the teacher to:

• establish a warm, supportive environment
• emphasize that a quantity rather than the quality of ideas is the goal, and that it's okay for students to think outside the box
• discourage evaluative or critical comments from peers during the ideas-gathering phase
• encourage and provide opportunity for all students to participate
• initially emphasize the importance of listening to expressed ideas, and model printing and recording of the ideas, then read each contribution to the group.

Why use brainstorming?

By expressing ideas and listening to what others say, students adjust their previous knowledge or understanding, accommodate new information and increase their levels of awareness. Brainstorming's main purposes are to:

• focus students' attention on a particular topic
• generate a quantity of ideas
• teach acceptance and respect for individual differences
• encourage learners to take risks in sharing their ideas and opinions
• demonstrate to students that their knowledge and their language abilities are valued and accepted
• introduce the practice of idea collection prior to beginning tasks such as writing or solving problems
• provide an opportunity for students to share ideas and expand their existing knowledge by building on each other's contributions.