Brainstorming

Individual Activity

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a flexible, student-centred strategy that promotes the generation of ideas, exploration of concepts, and collaborative problem-solving. It emphasizes quantity over quality in the initial stages and encourages non-judgmental participation. 

Alternative/linked methods: Brain Dump, Silent Brainstorming, Nominal Group Technique, PMI (Pluses, Minuses, Interesting), Mind Mapping, Round Robin, Carousel Brainstorming, Attribute Webs, Fishbone Diagrams 

Why?

  • Promotes higher-order thinking 
  • Stimulates creativity 
  • Builds collaborative skills 
  • Supports inclusive participation 

How?

  • Pose a prompt or problem that invites multiple responses 
  • Encourage idea generation without judgment 
  • Record ideas visibly (e.g., whiteboard, shared doc, digital board) 
  • Organise and evaluate ideas collaboratively 
  • Refine and apply selected ideas to tasks or assessments 

When?

  • At the beginning of a topic 
  • During lessons In project-based learning 
  • Before assessments 
  • In reflective practice 

Get Started

  • List 50 possible solutions to this challenge 
  • What are all the ways we could approach this topic? 
  • Brainstorm everything you know or wonder about this issue 
  • What would happen if…? or How might we…? 

Digital Enhancement

  • Padlet, Miro, Microsoft Whiteboard, Mindview – for collaborative brainstorming 
  • Mentimeter, MS Forms, Kahoot! – for anonymous idea submission and polling 
  • Teams – use breakout rooms and shared docs
  • Microsoft Word document for shared brainstorming documents 
  • Moodle Forums – for threaded idea development 

Resources

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