Exaggeration

Alex Osborn’s rules for brainstorming include the use of a checklist to record ideas and transform them into new ideas through operations he called magnify and minify. These two forms of exaggeration extend thinking and transform concepts into a new level of awareness. Once students are aware of the basics of a concept, this strategy forces them into moving outside their initial comfort zone to extend their thinking into broader or more specific realms.

Exaggeration focuses thinking in specific contexts that focus on the scale of an issue. The identification of unnoticed scale and bias reveals the why and the why not of approaches to solutions and provides alternatives for actions appropriate to the situation.

Implementation

1. Model this strategy for the whole group.

2. Identify multiple problems or issues for the class to consider.

3. Provide copies of the chart to introduce the different forms of exaggeration.

1. Monitor the groups during the discussion to ensure that they are on task and that all students are involved.

Classroom Management

1. Identify the issue or idea to be considered.
2. In groups, students brainstorm information about the issue.
3. Next the group will select one piece of information they have listed.
4. Using the chart, the group identifies ways to exaggerating the information.
5. Select another piece of information from the original brainstormed list and repeat the process.
6. Finally, the group reviews and revises the exaggerations to produce a statement that identifies the best course of action to resolve the issue.