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IAEA 2026 Pre-conference Workshop: Critical Thinking and Creativity, Hiding in Plain Sight

Surfacing Complex Skills in Existing Assessments

A practical, hands-on session for assessment professionals who want to find — and strengthen — the critical thinking and creativity evidence already embedded in their existing assessments. No new tests required.

This is a pre-conference workshop designed for the International Association for Educational Assessment (IAEA) 2026 conference.

Attending IAEA? Register for the session →

The solution this workshop provides

In the age of AI, critical thinking and creativity have become essential capabilities — but most educational assessment organizations can't afford, or simply don't need, to build entirely new assessments to measure them. The opportunities are already there: embedded in existing tests, tasks, and learning interactions. They're hiding in plain sight, but rarely accounted for, evaluated, or leveraged systematically.

This workshop introduces an AI-enabled, evidence-centered framework for making critical thinking and creativity visible within your current assessment ecosystem — while preserving the construct you're actually trying to measure.

What you'll learn

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

Articulate why critical thinking and creativity are essential capabilities in AI-rich assessment and learning environments

Identify where their existing assessments and learning tasks may already elicit critical and creative thinking

Use an AI-enabled, evidence-centered process to analyze prompts and tasks for complex-thinking opportunities — and refine them without adding new tests or time burden

Outline an AI-enabled workflow for continuous improvement of assessments that balances measurement, learning, and practical constraints

Format: In-person · No prerequisite knowledge required

Who this is for

Assessment professionals and psychometricians in national, regional, or institutional agencies

Test developers and curriculum designers working on program-level or large-scale assessments

Faculty leaders, instructional designers, and edtech teams integrating AI and complex skills into assessment and learning systems

This workshop is designed for K12–PSE educational assessment contexts — not for workforce hiring, employee selection, or HR/talent acquisition applications.

Your facilitator

Kristin Lansing — Founder & Director, NeoWise. 15+ years in assessment innovation, including design of the OECD PISA 2021 Creative Thinking Assessment and ACT's Cross-Cutting Capabilities Framework. [Read full bio →]

Bring this workshop to your team

Whether you're an assessment platform, testing organization, or institution — this session can be customized and delivered directly for your team.