Activities to Encourage Open-Ended Thinking in Class

Most classroom decisions are fake. Here’s how to make them real—and teach students what thinking feels like. Welcome to 🧠 Day 1: Judgement aka: the ability to make considered decisions—especially when every option costs something. We say we want students to think critically. But most of what we assign avoids complexity, risk, or tradeoffs. Judgement isn't about being right. It’s about reasoning in public. And AI gives us a new way to do that—with the friction turned back *on*. Here are 3 AI-powered activities that build judgement as a lived process: › 💼 Boss Mode Tradeoffs Present a messy scenario (e.g. your nonprofit has to cut either a staff role or a community program). ⤷ Students ask AI to help them surface possible outcomes, ethical concerns, second-order effects. ⤷ As they talk it out, they ask AI to test their rationale, simulate stakeholder responses, or build a risk matrix. ⤷ Final step: revise the decision based on what surprised them. --- › 🤖 Decision Tree Remix AI generates a full decision path (e.g. Should I approve this medical procedure?). ⤷ Students interrogate the flow: What assumptions are baked in? Where are values driving choices? ⤷ They prompt AI to revise the tree using alternate values (e.g. “optimize for long-term trust” vs “optimize for cost savings”). ⤷ End with a student-AI co-designed decision model. --- › 🗳️ Values-First Sim Students ask AI to solve a dilemma using different ethical systems (utilitarian, feminist ethics, libertarian, religious). ⤷ Then they identify contradictions across responses, ask AI to cross-examine itself, and generate questions it didn’t consider. ⤷ Students co-author a new “hybrid values” approach with AI that reflects their own worldview. --- The goal isn’t to replace judgment with automation. It’s to build judgment through iteration—alongside a partner who never gets tired of your questions. Which scenario would light your students up? ⚡️

Here is another example of young children and critical thinking. One day, a teacher found this fallen apple on the ground near the apple tree and noticed these interesting marks on its flesh. Instead of just throwing it away the teacher brought it to her class and posed these two questions, "I wonder what happened to this apple? Who made these marks?" The theories and questions started coming: Somebody was trying to eat it! It was definitely an animal! A cat did this! Maybe it was a squirrel? Why didn't they eat all of it? The mystery of it all! The children were immediately engaged in thinking and wondering. The teacher set up a table with the apple, magnifying glasses, and a book about apples. That extended the inquiry as interested children came by to offer their own ideas and consider those of their peers. When they didn't agree with an idea they would challenge it and provide their own reasoning. This discussion wasn't after actual answers. What it provided was an opportunity to think and not just be told what to think. We can grow critical thinkers by starting this thinking routine in the early years. The teacher recognized the potential in what would otherwise be considered trash, and the children benefited. #CriticalThinking #ECE #preschool #ChildDevelopment #TeacherDevelopment #21stCenturyLearning #21stCenturySkills

If our students passively absorb info, we failed them. They need active, meaningful, enduring learning. We do that by increasing conceptual friction (nod to Jason Gulya). Students need challenges and complexities to increase Critical thinking, problem-solving, deeper understanding. ✅ 𝗧𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 #AI 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ➡️ Structured academic controversy Assign students different stances on an issue. Use AI to generate arguments for each side. ➡️ Predict-observe-explain (POE) activities Students predict outcomes, observe results, and explain observations. Use AI to simulate physical phenomena or historical events. Students test predictions and refine their understanding. ➡️ AI-generated prompts for critical thinking Generate complex, open-ended questions. Require students to apply knowledge in new ways. (Use Ruben Hassid Prompt Maker GPT to improve prompts.) ➡️ Interactive simulations and scenarios Create interactive simulations that mimic real-world scenarios. In a physics class, AI can simulate different frictional forces and their effects on motion, allowing students to experiment and observe outcomes in a controlled environment. ➡️ Analyzing AI responses Ask AI to write an essay or solve a problem. Students analyze and critique the AI responses. Identify errors, biases, and areas for improvement. ➡️ AI as a debate partner Use AI to simulate a debate partner. Help students practice argumentation skills. They respond to AI-generated counterarguments in real-time. ➡️ Scaffolded assignments Students use AI tools at different stages of their work. Brainstorm ideas, draft an outline, and refine final product. ➡️ Role-playing and simulations Simulate negotiations or market analysis. Provide a dynamic, interactive learning experience. Students and AI take on different roles in a simulated environment. ➡️ Feedback and revision cycles Provide instant feedback on student work. Encourage multiple revision cycles. ➡️ Ethical and societal implications Explore ethical and societal implications of decisions. Simulate the impact of different policies on society. ✅ 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 ➡️ Co-create expectations With students, define appropriate use and how AI should be cited. ➡️ Encourage reflection After using AI, students reflect on their experiences: How they'll use AI differently in the future. How AI influenced their thinking. What they learned. ➡️ Provide support and resources Tutorials, help sessions, online resources. Explain how to use AI effectively and ethically. ------------------------- Thoughtfully integrate AI into your classroom to ⬆️ conceptual friction. Challenge students. Promote critical thinking. Prepare them for an AI-infused future. ------------------------- ♻️ 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿

"AI will isolate learners!" critics warn. Yesterday, I witnessed exactly the opposite - a moment that revealed how AI can catalyze rich collaborative thinking when thoughtfully orchestrated. My students were tackling Chapter 8 of "Machines Like Me" - McEwan's most ethically complex chapter. But here's the magic: AI wasn't the endgame - it was just act one. We strategically placed strong critical AI users across different groups, and what unfolded was fascinating. The AI helped stage the initial philosophical debate, identifying potential ethical frameworks for each character. But the real intellectual fireworks happened next. In their groups, students began challenging these AI-generated frameworks, with our stronger critical thinkers guiding their peers through increasingly sophisticated questions: "But if Charlie is really a utilitarian, how do we explain his decision about X?" "What happens when Miranda's supposed virtue ethics crashes into Adam's rigid deontology?" "Are we sure the AI's reading of their ethical positions holds up against these later scenes?" What I observed wasn't just AI analysis - it was students teaching students how to think more rigorously, using AI as a springboard for deeper collaborative inquiry. The technology wasn't replacing discussion; it was enriching it by giving students a common starting point to push against and refine. Here's what's becoming clear: When we thoughtfully orchestrate AI use, positioning it as the beginning rather than the end of analysis, and strategically leverage peer dynamics, something profound happens. Students don't just accept AI insights - they collectively build beyond them. The future of classroom discussion isn't about getting AI answers. It's about using AI to stage richer debates, then letting students collaboratively discover the limits and complexities those initial AI insights missed. Educators: How are you orchestrating AI use to spark, rather than replace, peer learning? #AIinEducation #CollaborativeLearning #EdTech #Teaching #GenerativeThinking Dr. Sabba Quidwai Mike Kentz Amanda Bickerstaff Ethan Mollick Rob Nelson Jason Gulya Doan Winkel Nick Burnett Dr. Martha Umana Ryan Findley Daniel Bashir Alan Hilsabeck Chrissy Macso, M.Ed Anna Mills