Sathy P. Viswanathan, Ph.D

1
Sathy P. Viswanathan, Ph.D Chief Scientist
(retired) Bell Helicopter Textron,Ft. Worth,
Texas 76101, USA
Bringing out creative thinking
2
1. Involve students quickly. 2.
Importance of the subject. 3. Set
expectations. 4. Establish rapport. 5. Reveal
something about yourself. 6. Establish your own
credibility. 7. Establish the climate for the
class. 8. Provide administrative information. 9.
Introduce the subject matter.

Well begun is half done
3

Understanding biochemistry
is essential to understanding medicine.
Well begun is half done
Drs. Brown and Goldstein  won the 1985 Nobel
prize in medicine for mechanisms of cholesterol
metabolism. Their findings led to the
development of statin drugs, the
cholesterol-lowering compounds, reducing the risk
of heart disease and stroke for countless people.
4

• Good teaching is about passion.
• Motivating students to learn
• Teaching them how to learn
• (Ask what you will do
• if you are first to do it.)

Essential characteristics of good teaching
5

4. Bridging theory and practice 5. Pushing
students to excel 6. Being human, respecting
others, and being professional 7. Work the
room and every student in it
Essential characteristics of good teaching
6

8. Entertaining and informative 9.
Nurturing 10. Mentoring 11. Learning should be
exciting 12. Life-long passion for knowledge
Essential characteristics of good teaching
7

Creative teaching for creative thinking
François Voltaire (1694 - 1778)French
philosopher
8

Creative teaching for creative thinking
François Voltaire Judge a person not by
the answers he gives but by the questions he
asks.
9

There are five basic types of
questions Factual Convergent Divergent Evaluativ
e Combination
Creative teaching for creative thinking
10

Socrates Knowledge and awareness are
an intrinsic part of each learner. The
teacher must reach into the learner's hidden
levels of knowing and awareness in order to help
the learner reach new levels of thinking.
Creative questioning for creative thinking
11

1. Factual - Soliciting reasonably simple,
straight forward answers based on obvious facts
or awareness. These are usually at the lowest
level of cognitive processes and answers are
frequently either right or wrong.
Creative questioning for creative thinking
12

2. Convergent - Answers are usually within
a very finite range of acceptable accuracy.
These may be at several different levels of
cognition -- comprehension, application,
analysis, inferences or conjectures
Creative questioning for creative thinking
13

Creative questioning for creative thinking
3. Divergent - explore different
avenues, create many different variations and
alternative answers or scenarios. Correctness
may be based on logical projections, conjecture,
inference, creation, intuition, or imagination.
Requires students to analyze, synthesize
14

Creative questioning for creative thinking
4. Evaluative -require sophisticated levels
of cognitive assessment. Students may be
combining multiple logical process. Often an
answer is analyzed at multiple levels and from
different perspectives before synthesizing
information or conclusions.
15
Questions requiring deep understanding
16

• Q1 On June 20, Ambani says
• I want to see a full moon on January 1.
• Closest full moon day Jan 15. What to do?
• Try and convince him that any amount
• of money can not conquer nature.
• B. Build a special room and exotic software
• and create a gorgeous virtual full moon.
• C. Rent a spacecraft and see if that helps.
• D. Take him to North pole. E. Resign the job.

17

• A standard 1 kW window air-conditioner
• runs at the three-dimensional center of a
• cubical freezer box with no windows and
• only one closed door.
• Expected room temperature after a week?
• 25C
• B. 0C
• C. -25C
• D. Below 25C.
• E. None of the above

220 V, 5A, 50 Hz
18
GREEN YELLOW ORANGE BLACK BLUE RED.
19
A BOY PLAYED WITH A BALL THIS MORNING.
20
Are there any parallel lines here?
21
Are there any parallel lines here?
22
In the first view all lines were prominently
displayed. Hence the the parallel lines did not
draw special attention. On the contrary, in the
second view, the two parallel lines were clearly
marked and focused on by de-emphasizing the other
lines.
Help the student clearly articulate the physics
first.
23
In the first view all lines were prominently
displayed. Hence the the parallel lines did not
draw special attention. On the contrary, in the
second view, the two parallel lines were clearly
marked and focused on by de-emphasizing the other
lines.
Help the student select appropriate words for
articulation.
24

• Ask the student
• to provide an analogy to the
• previous example
• Camouflage
• Twins in a party
• Help cultivate a fertile imagination.

25

fuel used in this rocket Tilt-rotor
revolutionary technologies
Creative questioning for creative thinking
26

• Bring about a joyful atmosphere in class

• Encourage class discussion and exchange of ideas.
  No question is a stupid question.
• Let students experiment in the school labs, or
  even at home, as much as possible.
• Everyday ask a student to talk for three minutes
  about a great scientist. Pasteur,Salk.
• Joyful atmosphere in the classroom
• sustains students enthusiasm.

27
Shailaja and Viswanathan with Dr. William De Bakey
28
(No Transcript)
29
HF 24 Fighter
Satish Dhawan Sriharikota Space Center
Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough near
London
30
(No Transcript)
31
1. Boosts self-confidence. 2.
Invigorates interest enormously. 3. Creativity
grows spiraling up. 4. Ability spreads to other
areas. 5. One success leads to another success.

One excellent original work from one person A
leader is born
32
Healthy motivators 1. Way out of
individual hardship. 2. Responsibility to help
the needy. (Salk) 3. Patriotism. 4. Religious
convictions. Unhealthy motivators Revenge,
greed, lust, ego

Emotional energy for achieving an appropriate
catalyst
33
Science and Technology
Science and Technology
34
It is our responsibility to change our country
35
1. Make learning joyful and serious. 2.
Create visual presentations. 3. Present
thought-provoking questions. 4. Schedule
individual presentations. 5. Schedule
group-discussions. 6. In-depth case-study. 7.
Supplement by current affairs(Google). 8.
Encourage practical demonstration. 9. Learning is
for life.

Concluding remarks bringing out creative
thinking
36

• Questions
• and
• Answers