Creativity is often celebrated, with parents and educators encouraging activities and the like to hone and develop this skill in their children and students. It is also marked as one of the most important skills to possess in the 21st Century which demonstrates an individual’s ability to understand the complexities and connections to things, and being able to generate solutions.
From how one interacts with others, tackle problems, to the way they think and answer questions, creativity could be evident in different situations, and sometimes subtly.
Student Demonstrates Creativity in Answer To Science Question
In a recent incident involving a Primary 6 boy, his answers to a question from a Science homework clearly demonstrated creativity and impressed his teacher—as well as many netizens who have come to hear of this incident.
An image of the student’s homework was uploaded on Facebook by his teacher on the Study Room page. As of writing, it has garnered over 1,500 likes and 1,900 shares.
While marking the P6 student’s homework that tested his knowledge on the female reproductive system, the teacher received an unexpected answer.
But first, the question goes like this: Due to health reasons, a woman needs to have both her ovaries removed. Will she still be able to have children, and explain why.
According to his teacher, the correct answer would be a “no, she will not have children” because without the ovaries, no eggs will be produced and hence fertilisation does not occur, leading to no baby.
The boy however, had a different approach in tackling the question.
According to him, it was a “yes, because she still has a healthy womb”, even without the ovaries. His rationale was that the woman could still look towards having a donated fertilised egg that could develop into a baby.
Praised by His Teacher and Awarded Bonus Marks
Although the student’s answer was not the standard answer that an examiner would be looking for, the teacher praised him for demonstrating a “deeper understanding” of the subject matter.
The teacher even awarded him with bonus marks in his homework.
“His answer is totally correct and impressive because he demonstrated a deeper understanding into the functions of the various parts of the reproductive system,” the teacher wrote in the post.
Student demonstrates creativity in his answer, but when it comes to assessment through exams, there are certain expectations. | Photo: Study Room/Facebook
“Sometimes the correct answer isn’t the model answer”
Along with the teacher’s praise came with a feedback to the student, reminding him about the PSLE requirements where there are certain expectations from the questions laid out.
“I’ll give bonus marks for this, but bear in mind for PSLE, think about the concept that the examiner would be asking for. Awesome!”
As much as the teacher “will praise and encourage such answers”, in preparing for the examinations, “sometimes the correct answer isn’t the model answer”, as mentioned in the Facebook post.
Personally, the teacher “hope schools and examination markers will accept his answer (sic)” and the issue could have been mitigated with more clarity in crafting the question.
“If anything, the question should have been more unambiguous to get the expected answer,” the teacher said.
But in the grand scheme of things, the teacher’s stance is such that the purpose of learning is to gain knowledge, rather than “conform to ‘standard templates'”.
It is meant “to stimulate students’ minds, help them understand concepts and think critically”.
What Netizens are Saying
Many left comments applauding the student demonstrating creativity and understanding of the material beyond standard textbook answers.
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Some also had similar sentiments with the teacher that the structuring of the question could be less ambiguous.
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Photo: Facebook screengrab
In his comment, Facebook user Wong Teck Hee wrote that while he felt that the issue lies with the question, he also highlighted that the “content taught and assessed must be of an appropriate cognitive level”.
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Still, in lieu of the varying viewpoints, Chemistry teacher Sebastian Xu speaks out saying that it is a “good foundation education to students” for their minds have been conditioned to following “standard textbook answers”.
Photo: Facebook screengrab
Perhaps this leaves parents and educators some food for thought on the importance of creativity for students through learning and application, from within and beyond textbook materials.
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*This article is from our archives.
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