st
21
Century
SCAMPER
Laura Magner
You CAN (and should)
be more Creative
• Teachers have a three pronged task:
Convince
adults that
they can think
more
creatively.
Carve out the
time in a
packed and
pressured
schedule.
How do you
teach
creativity?
Misconceptions
• Creative thought is something that
should be infused into every
existing subject area.
• Art and projects
Changes in a classic
Bloom’s (original) Taxonomy
Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy
Evaluating
Creating
Synthesis
Evaluating
Analysis
Analyzing
Application
Applying
Comprehension
Understanding
Knowledge
Remembering
How do we teach it?
• How do we teach it when we
can’t even really define it?
Eberle’s SCAMPER
• Begins with imagination,
spontaneity, playfulness
• My take on SCAMPER takes the
processes to a point where
outcomes are produced
More than the acronym
• FEELING PROCESSES-curiosity, risktaking, preference for complexity,
intuition
• THINKING PROCESSES-fluency,
flexibility, and elaboration
• OTHER PROCESSES-at work are
imagination, brainstorming,
complexity, incubation, and checklist
creation.
SCAMPER Techniques
Substitute
Combine
Adjust
Modify
Put to another use
Eliminate
Rearrange/reorder
• S is for Substitute• The first verb means to substitute. Put a new thing
(or person!) in the place of an existing thing (or
concept.) The substitution must do the same or
similar job. It’s different yet somehow similar.
• C is for Combine• The next verb is a fun one, combine something to
the object or idea on which you are working.
Attach/add anything you want.
• A is for Adjust• This verb requires the thinker to change something
to suit a condition or a different purpose. I
personally also use A as Adapt- change to give a
new capability.
• Students often seem to have trouble with this step
which is interesting, as it really offers the most
flexibility. Adequate time should be spent to assure
they understand the meaning of the word adapt so
that they can understand and remember what they
can do during this step.
• M is for Modify- (or magnify, or minify)
• This verb has more than one ‘m’ idea. Commonly
we see modify, but can also think of it as minify or
magnify. So an item or idea could be modified in
some way. And as further guidance, change can
be size, speed, or weight; a part of it or all of it can
be modified.
• Put to Another Use• Eberle states that this step is to have a person or
thing pretend to be or take the place of another.
This sounds a lot like the substitution step.
• Eliminate• This step says to remove or get rid of some part,
some quality, a whole aspect, or part of the idea or
object. One stipulation I tell my students is that they
cannot eliminate something that they added
previously. If it was important enough to add earlier,
it should not be eliminated later.
• Reverse or Rearrange• Elements can re-ordered, turned around, or have
an adjusted layout. Something can be moved
anywhere, and it doesn’t have to be directly
opposite of its previous location.
Teaching the techniques
• Substitute: A Day in the Life: students to explore their
knowledge of typical jobs in their community and to
use this knowledge to imagine how switching
career professionals would change those jobs. The
changes could be both positive and negative.
It’s positive
because…
It’s negative
because…
• Put to Another Use: Foiled Again: students will come
up with unusual, yet useful, ideas for how to use tin
foil. Their new ideas should involve using the foil to
help a situation, fix a problem, or create something
novel or entertaining.
Style
Flat foil
Folded/twisted
foil
Balled foil
Description
Pictorial representation
• Eliminate: Pare and Share: critically look at an
everyday item and pare it down to its most essential
parts.
Integrated Activities
Straight SCAMPER
Reverse SCAMPER
Work backwards, analyze existing things and
pull out the SCAMPER techniques.
white sneaker (such as Keds®)
fancy, modified sneaker/running shoe
basic analog watch, plain band
modified, multi-function watch
white paper plate
Zoo Pals® plate by Hefty®
plain backpack/book bag
Modified, multi-function book bag
(pictures) c1960 TV
(pictures or ads) 2010 or newer TV
(pictures interior & exterior) c1960 car
(pictures or ads) current year cars
Roll of the dice
•
Roll the dice to create your creative code. Record the numbers below left to right. Then use the
SCAMPER key to determine what steps of SCAMPER you will be using. ______ ______ ______ , ______
______ ______
SCAMPER Key:
1-Substitute
2- Combine 3-Adapt 4- Modify
7-Rearrange 8-Free Choice!
•
Record your SCAMPER Code and the subsequent changes you will make.
•
Code Word
•
___
Change
eliminate
I will eliminate the pencil groove at the top of the desk.
_____
•
•
•
5- Put to Another Use
_____________________________________________
___
adapt
______
I will modify the desk top so that it’s slightly sticky, _
_
like a Post-it, so nothing rolls off the top!______
6- Eliminate
Roundabout
• Everyone has a say in this group SCAMPER.
Sweet, sweet SCAMPER
• Use a little sweet motivation to entice the class to
think creatively.
M&Ms®
Sweet Tarts®
Red
Substitute
Yellow
Substitute
Green
Orange
Blue
Brown
Combine
Adapt
Modify
Eliminate
Pink
Orange
Purple
Blue
Combine
Adapt
Modify
Eliminate
Yellow
Rearrange
Green
Rearrange
Creativity SPREE
•
•
•
•
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Specificity
Perseverance
Record Keeping
Enrich
Expand