How can we solve real world problems in a critical and creative manner?
It was the challenge that Portuguese team presented to around 150 students of different universities and schools, 30 teachers and 8 labor market representatives from different professional sectors, namely health, engineering, tourism, among others. The event consisted in a kind of “ideas contest” in which participants had to use critical and creative thinking skills for real-world problem-solving. This day was expected to raise the participants’ awareness on the importance of critical and creative thinking in current society, promote the practice of critical and creative thinking in a systematic and structured way, and support the solving of real-world problems and sustained decision making.
With different practical activities, more than 30 multidisciplinary groups worked on current problems/situations – like the isolation and desertification of the Portuguese interior, the inclusion of alternative therapies in the Portuguese national health service, the invasive advertising and its effects on online privacy, migration, among others – suggested by the labor market representatives that assumed the role of facilitators and consultants during the event. For each problem/situation, the different groups presented their solutions and/or decisions to a smaller audience and the best ones were awarded with the possibility of presenting a special speech/presentation for the whole audience.
We want to thank all the cooperation and effort of the different students, teachers, and labor market representatives for their active and enthusiastic engagement in the different activities of the event. Congratulations to the winners! ????
You can see some photos of the event in our Facebook page at http://bit.ly/2YwTd3q, or a short interview to UTAD’s coordinator, Professor Caroline Dominguez, at http://bit.ly/2WInJv1 (only available in Portuguese; starts at minute 4:05).
The CRITHINKEDU Team
