Which of the following questions best assesses creative thinking?

Concept

Creative thinking is expressed through divergent thinking: generating several relevant, varied, and original ideas rather than recalling one predetermined response. An assessment of creativity therefore uses an open prompt that permits multiple approaches.

Application

1. Prompts such as “Who can answer it?”, “State the correct answer,” and “Can you tell its answer?” focus on participation, recall, or a single response.

2. Asking “What are the different ways to solve it?” invites the learner to generate and compare multiple approaches.

Contrast

• “Who can answer it?” identifies a respondent; it does not examine the learner’s ideas.

• “State the correct answer” calls for one predetermined response, which is characteristic of convergent thinking.

• “Can you tell its answer?” is a yes/no prompt about the learner’s ability or willingness to respond.

• “What are the different ways to solve it?” elicits alternative approaches, which is evidence of divergent thinking.

Cross-check

The selected prompt allows more than one defensible response and lets the evaluator observe fluency and flexibility of ideas; therefore, it is the best predictor of creative thinking among the given choices.