How to Use Divergent Thinking to Succeed at School

How to Use Divergent Thinking to Succeed at School As a University writing tutor, the most common thing I hear from my students is, “I’m just not good at this.” At some point in the writing process they ask me to accept their apparently fatal (academic) flaws and move on. They try to tell me, as they were once told, that they simply aren’t smart enough to complete their essay. My students’ doubts reflect a history of education that buys into the myth of innate academic ability as the sole predictor of success at school. It’s an idea that has been criticized over and over againâ€"perhaps most famously by education adviser Sir Ken Robinson in the most viewed TED Talk of all timeâ€"but that still rings true for many students. Part of the problem is that students are often told that there is only one right answer, only one right way to get to that answer, and if you’re doing it wrong then it’s game over. In tandem with exam anxiety, this pressure paralyzes students to the point where they’re afraid to suggest any answer for fear of looking stupid. One solution is to do away with the pressure of the perfect, singular answer with divergent thinking. In the words of Ken Robinson, “Divergent thinking is an essential capacity for creativity.” When using divergent thinking methods, the number of interpretations of and solutions for any given problem are endless. Instead of stressing about writing the perfect thesis  or solving the equation in one try, divergent thinking encourages students to explore and record as many options as possible without judgement. Only once every possibility has been delved into is it time to start asking questions and using reason to narrow your focus to the best choices. While this sounds like a simple concept, divergent thinking goes beyond coddling students who don’t like being wrong. Statistically, students who are encouraged to use divergent thinking methods demonstrate greater confidence, improved mood, stronger academic ability, and a penchant for entrepreneurship. According to intelligence scholar  James Flynn, the effect of divergent thinking also reads  on a standardized scale. Since 1930, average IQ scores across the globe have consistently increased. One explanation links this improvement to upgrades in human “mental artillery:” the ability to classify, to use logic on abstractions, and to take the hypothetical seriously. In other words, the ability to produce and analyze hypotheticals, to use divergent thinking, has helped  people become better thinkers. So, how do we teach divergent thinking? Encourage Questions. Instead of evaluating ideas as good or bad, distill the strongest solutions by asking questions about their effectiveness, their relevance to the problem, and their shortcomings. Reframe Failure. Treat failure as the middle of a healthy process, rather than the catastrophic end. As Robinson said, “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” Collaborate. Allow students to build off each other, combine their ideas, and foster a creative community. Think Strange. This exercise is popular amongst interviewers. Take an everyday object like a stapler or a paperclip, and ask students to think of as many unconventional uses for that object as possible. Go for quantity: nothing is too strange! Start at the End. Instead of asking students to brainstorm solutions, ask them to formulate a problem. This can be framed however you’d likeâ€"by location, demographic, subject, etc.â€"but work towards problems that are clear, concise and purposeful. Good luck! To learn more about the benefits of divergent thinking, start here: Edutopia’s “Fuel Creativity in the Classroom With Divergent Thinking” InformED’s “30 Ways to Inspire Divergent Thinking” Ken Robinson’s TED Talk, “Changing Education Paradigms” The Creative Education Foundation’s “Divergent Thinking”

NYU Student Invents Revolutionary Medical Gel Rise of the Accidental Entrepreneur

NYU Student Invents Revolutionary Medical Gel Rise of the Accidental Entrepreneur Andres Rueda/Flickr While most college students are busy discovering the  physics  of beer pong, others are making revolutionary medical breakthroughs. Joe  Landolina, a 20-year old New York University junior has created a lifesaving medical gel  derived  from plant-based polymers which mimic the human  extra-cellular  matrix, a substance produced by the body which  initiates blood clot formation. Landolina has dubbed the substance, Veti-gel. Designed with the purpose to instantly halt bleeding, Veti-gel  bonds to the surrounding flesh and forms a tight seal  upon application. Not only does the gel initiate blood clot formation, but also speeds up the healing process and is effective on major wounds of internal organs and key arteries. Your cells dont fit together cell-to-cell its called an  extra-cellular  matrix, Landolina told the  Metro New York. If you put Veti-Gel into a wound, it recognizes the  existing ECM thats already there and replicates and builds onto it. It instantaneously stops bleeding and is also  biocompatible, so your cells can grow into it and it helps wounds heal faster. Landolina  initially  tested the gel on mice and after slicing their livers and carotid arteries he was  able to  instantly  stop the bleeding. He then began testing on slabs of fresh pork loin  in which  he injected pigs blood; the results of which were so  successful  he recorded a  video  of the experiment and uploaded it on YouTube for the public. In partnership with New York University graduate Isaac Miller, Landolina founded the company  Suneris, Inc.  as a vehicle to shuttle Veti-Gel into the  veterinary  market. For humans there are similar products available, very expensive but similar, but for animals, there is nothing that coagulates blood quickly enough, Landolina explained to  MailOnline, I have spoken to hundreds of vets and heard how in situations where, for example, a spleen is bleeding, they would rather take the spleen out than risk waiting for any of the current products to work quickly enough. So Veti-Gel would be very well received in this industry. Each year more than  140,000 Americans die from trauma-related injuries; excessive blood loss resulting in shock and heart failure are the primary causes for trauma-related deaths.  While Veti-gel is at the moment intended for veterinarian practices, Landolina hopes Veti-Gel will someday be used by the armed forces to treat major trauma victims in the field  and prevent  soldiers  from bleeding out until they can be transported to a hospital. The gel  possesses  antimicrobial properties which mean it’s a safe and disinfecting way to heal a wound, which is especially important for unsanitary war zones. The idea for Veti-Gel came about from a surprising simplistic thought. When I got to NYUs engineering school, I had this idea: What if you could take something that was liquid and turn it solid using chemistry? Landolina told the  Metro New York.  I realized if you could take that and apply it to a bleeding wound; it would turn into a solid mass. I wondered: Could that stop bleeding?”  The trend of the accidental entrepreneur, so to speak, has recently  blossomed  among  college students.  Most recognizably is  Mark Zuckerberg for his founding role in the  revolutionary  social media website Facebook. Rather than  developing  a get rich quick scheme, young entrepreneurs are increasingly achieving success by developing a solution to address a problem theyve experienced personally. The mindset differs between those who build a business around a product rather than building a product around a business. That is how businesses such as  Mint,  Dropbox  and now Suneris, Inc. got their start. With Facebook and Twitter, instantly  promoting  a product to a target audience was never made  simpler, and if technology continues growing in this way, as will the trend of the accidental  entrepreneur.