Penn State Learning Design Community Hub

Questions that challenge the student to organize and synthesize information

Frame synthesis questions in a way that encourages students to engage in creative and original thinking.

Use of synthesis questions

Use synthesis questions to ask the learner to incorporate integrated knowledge and combine elements into patterns not clearly visible before.

Key Crafting Words

• Create, , make, develop
• Choose
• Do, tell
• How would you test
• Propose an alternative
• Solve the following
• Plan, design
• Make up, compose
• Formulate
• How else would you
• State a rule
• and so on

Example

Work together as a team to write a fictitious short story about a natural disaster in this town.

Technology and Rationale

Synthesis requires that students consider alternative possibilities and create new solutions. Technology can provide students with an educational environment that encourages their thought processes and exposes them to their classmates' ideas.

Use Web sites, listservs, and discussion spaces to share ideas and opinions and to respond and reflect on ideas. These experiences can serve as a catalyst for student creativity.