This paper describes the development and implementation of course modules intended to encourage creative thinking in an undergraduate general education mathematics course. The modules were designed to address the characteristics of creativity outlined in the literature through explorations of mathematics relevant to non-mathematics majors. A…

This paper opens by summarising the case for student-directed learning in online higher education as a means of bringing about the development and use of higher-level cognitive and interpersonal abilities such as critical and creative thinking. The writers refine their conceptualisations of student-direction, different to, but flowing from…

Montessori education has a long history, but its recent growth in American public schools has led to increased interest in research efforts, particularly in exploring the potential of the Montessori experience to moderate the effects of poverty and in gathering data to evaluate public investment in Montessori schools. To assist research efforts,…

The role of critical and creative thinking has been debated within the field of instructional design. Through an instructional design and development project we have identified how critical and creative thinking are essential to the instructional design process. This paper highlights a recent project focused on a virtual Native American village…

The democratization of South Africa has necessitated a transformation of the education system. The current transformational landscape of higher education in South Africa requires that basic curriculum concepts, and principles be rediscovered and, rethought with a view to ensuring that future educational practice is based on sound, and proven…

The Schmerenbeck Multi-Racial Educational Centre (South Africa) implemented "Integrated Arts Workshops" to develop the creative thinking of gifted/talented children. Professional artists and teachers are brought together with groups of children, and ideas are explored through sensory stimulation, creative problem-solving, and reflection.…

The Academic Mentoring Program of Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky, is an honors-level independent study program that allows students to pursue an idea beyond regular classroom opportunities. Students pursue their independent projects with the help of mentors from appropriate fields of study, and they are also taught critical and…

Describes what research has found about the use of collaborative mind mapping to facilitate the development of constructivist preservice teacher education programs. The paper discusses explicit connections between collaborative mind mapping and constructivism, varieties of mind maps, mind mapping as an invitation to thought, and how to use mind…

The article presents the Student Interest Unit (SIU) 0-100 (an instructional strategy based on student interest) approach to motivating gifted and talented children. (PHR)

This article describes the development, over 13 years, of the Minnesota Young Inventors Program and Fair, focusing on its program components, including invention instruction and exhibit judging, the inventors fair, exhibit opportunities, plans for the future, and administration. The involvement of community businesses and corporations,…

This paper describes residential week-long seminars offered at the North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching (NCCAT) in Cullowhee, North Carolina, Western Carolina University. The center was established in 1985 to reward and support outstanding full-time teachers in North Carolina and to enhance teaching as an art and as a profession.…

The Purdue Three-Stage Model was applied in a seminar program for intellectually talented middle school students, with the goals of achieving maximum competence; stimulating curiosity and interest; and developing creative and critical thinking, problem-solving ability, independence, and self-direction. The article offers information on student…

A creative arts program for talented students in Johannesburg (South Africa) is intended to foster perceptual-, aesthetic-, cultural-, social-, and self-awareness, understanding of the arts, as well as an emphasis on expanding creative potential focuses on the processes of sensory, intellectual creative, and aesthetic development. A four-phase…