The development of group creativity can be challenging for both young students and their teachers. This study examined the processes and learning outcomes of group creativity training from the perspectives of elementary school students and teachers while identifying critical factors that contributed to the success of the training. Data were…

In the past decade, the psychological study of creativity has accelerated greatly. To facilitate the teaching of creativity, I provide an overview of the recent literature. The overview begins by discussing recent empirical results and research trends. This discussion specifically treats creativity's cognitive, differential, developmental, and…

Students on an enterprise course running in a number of colleges in the UK in which invention and innovation formed part of the curriculum were asked to complete a questionnaire immediately upon having an inventive thought in an attempt to establish the thinking processes involved. Results from those who had ideas that subsequently proved to be…

We investigated whether 6- and 7-year-olds and 9- and 10-year-olds, as well as adults, process object dimensions independent of or in interaction with one another in a perception and action task by adapting Ganel and Goodale's method for testing adults ("Nature", 2003, Vol. 426, pp. 664-667). In addition, we aimed to confirm Ganel and Goodale's…

This article is about experimentation in both practical and mental activity and uses data from a series of studies with preschool children. The article focuses on personal experimentation, which is aimed at discovering relations, rather than the more utilitarian experimentation that is aimed at solving practical tasks. Personal experimentation…

Creativity, content, and policy have multiple relationships. Creativity and disciplinary content are inextricably linked. In dealing with creativity, the first education policy choice is whether to recognize and act on that fact. Care is needed in using the term "creativity" in advocacy contexts, lest the relationship between creativity and…

In this article, Boldt considers decisions teachers must make about the value of children's writing as a form of play in primary classrooms. She offers a brief history of the framing of this question at 1966 Dartmouth Conference on English, focusing particularly on the perspective of Jimmy Britton. She highlights the relationship between Britton's…

This article presents an initiative that is based on active learning pedagogy by engaging elementary and middle school students in the toy design and development field. The case study presented in this article is about student learning experiences during their participation in the TOYchallenge National Toy Design Competition. Students followed the…

Research is reviewed that indicates that originality and creativity may increase after mundane or noncreative responses are given. Note: For related information, see EC 120 232-238. (CL)

The 10 rational processes (which include recalling and imagining, classifying and generalizing, comparing and evaluating, analyzing and synthesizing, and deducting and inferring) are examined from a cultural and historical perspective, with particular emphasis on the suprarational aspects of creative thinking. A three stage model for facilitating…

This paper explores connections between Kirton's Adaption-Innovation Theory of cognitive style and Koestler's bisociative theory of the creative act. The three Kirton factor/traits (sufficiency of originality, efficiency, and rule/group conformity) are integrated into Koestler's conceptual framework of the creative act which stresses the creation…

This article proposes that transcendence, the mystical nature of creativity, is not only sequential but a subset of the evolutionary process. Deliberate application of the principles of Darwin's theory is seen as speeding and improving the creative process for both individuals and groups. The importance to creative thinking of randomness processed…

Purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relevance of Arthur Koestler's theory of creativity for assessing the effectiveness of nursery school programmes. (Author/CB)

Describes the Creative Studies Project, which proposes to increase the degree to which American education cultivates creative potential in our society. (Author/DR)