


Typically, he or she must apply a limited range of skills and knowledge to reach this answer quickly. The nature of the question does not demand creativity, but inherently encourages the student to consider the veracity of each provided answer before selecting the single correct one. The definitions of convergent and divergent thinkingĬonvergent and divergent thinking are opposites, but both have places in your daily lessons.Īmerican psychologist JP Guilford coined the terms in the 1950s, which take their names from the problem solving processes they describe.Ĭonvergent thinking involves starting with pieces of information, converging around a solution.Īs you can infer, it emphasizes finding the single, optimal solution to a given problem and usually demands thinking at the first or second Depth of Knowledge (DoK) level.ĭetermining the correct answer to a multiple choice question is an example.
