What is the SCAMPER technique?
Creative thinking and problem-solving are essential parts of the learning process to turn ideas into innovation to open creativity. A successful method used in creative thinking is the SCAMPER technique.
The name SCAMPER is the acronym for:
(S) Substitute, (C) Combine, (A) Adapt, (M) Modify, (P) Put to another use, (E) Eliminate and (R) Reverse. These keywords represent the necessary questions addressed during the creative thinking meeting.
How to use the SCAMPER technique?
The SCAMPER technique aims to provide seven different thinking approaches to find innovative ideas and solutions.
Substitute
During this part of the discussion, the meeting attendees focus on making decisions to substitute part of the process with another. The substitute technique tends to provide alternative solutions for decision-makers to choose different solutions in order to reach the final action.
Combine
The combined technique tends to analyze the possibility of merging two or more ideas, stages of the process or product in one single more efficient output.
Adapt
Adapt refers to a brainstorming discussion that aims to adjust or tweak ideas for a better output.
Modify, minify or magnify
The modified technique refers to changing the process in a way that unleashes more innovative capabilities or solves problems.
Put to another use
This technique concerns how to put the current things or processes to another purpose or how to use the existing material to solve problems.
Eliminate or elaborate
As the name implies, this technique aims to identify the parts of the process that can be eliminated to improve the process.
Reverse
Finally, the reverse or rearrange technique aims to explore innovative potential when changing the order of the process.
Conclusion
Nowadays, creative thinking and problem-solving are widely considered abilities that can be learned, taught, and implemented in any classroom. They highly contribute to developing innovative strategies, which can be applied in order to enhance the teaching-learning process and bring the students’ classroom experience to another level.
Have a look at our teacher training course if you wish to know more about how to introduce creative methods and innovative solutions into your classroom.
If you would like to discover more about SCAMPER Techniques we suggest you this video realized by Amanda Graham