A study was conducted to identify types of mental operations of 4- and 5-year-olds and to relate them to the child's age and the educational level of the mother. The sample consisted of 423 white English-speaking children of American parentage, evenly divided by sex and as evenly distributed as possible over the 12-month-age range of 4 to 5 years.…

Problem solving flexibility (PSF), an ability commonly assessed in creativity batteries, was studied in a sample of middle class children (grades 1 through 3, average IQ 114), tested on questions resembling Guilford's consequences procedure. An hypothesis linking PSF with alertness to and interest in the environment was generally supported, more…

Suggested is a methodology for teaching and assessing group problem-solving with secondary school pupils. The results of a study conducted on this method are presented. The problem-solving approach used and operational definitions for assessment are listed. Scenarios for problem-solving activities are included. (CW)

Maintains that educational reform is related directly to issues of creativity and critical thinking. Contends that the creative dimension of thinking is fostered best by joining it with the critical dimension. Includes a figure and eight basic conditions implicit in creative, critical acts of the mind. (CFR)

Agreement about importance of learning and how learning can be achieved is possible. Confluence of interests exists among four aspects of human behavior: business and workplace; politics and citizenship; schooling and education; critical and creative thinking. Thirty years of research and scholarship supports the view that critical and creative…

This eight-part book contains 69 articles which address topics related to helping students become effective thinkers. The articles are organized under these categories: (1) the need to teach students to think; (2) creating school conditions for thinking; (3) what is thinking? deciding on definitions; (4) a curriculum for thinking; (5) thinking…

This book contains 29 articles which address topics related to teaching thinking. The articles include: (1) "Balancing Process and Content" (Marilyn Jager Adams); (2) "Structure of Intellect (SOI)" (Mary N. Meeker); (3) "Instrumental Enrichment" (Francis R. Link); (4) "Thinking to Write: Assessing Higher-Order Cognitive Skills and Abilities"…

While there has been much debate about defining and teaching critical thinking, little discussion has occurred regarding the connection between critical thinking and creative thinking, especially in relationship to teaching speech communication. While it was once thought that creativity is something that some are born with and some are not, recent…

A pre/post experimental-control design was used to evaluate a social studies curriculum based upon inquiry methods. Subjects were 308 eighth-grade students. The results indicated that there were no significant changes in creative thinking, attitudes toward power, understanding of power concepts, and problem-solving skills as a result of experience…

Although teachers may sequence instructions carefully, they are unable to respond to the complex unique experience of each individual learner. Divergent production should be an instructional choice that enables individuals to learn through their own recall and idea construction. Learning is problem solving; when individuals do not know how to deal…

In this study, an analysis of the various theories of creativity was made to formulate guiding principles for teaching "creative rhetoric" in the secondary schools. The following basic assumptions were made: (1) Rhetoric is concerned with man's problems. (2) Rhetoric is a synthesis of the imaginative and rational processes. (3) Acts of rhetoric…

The project objective has been to determine what creative thought processes can best take advantage of new technology in computer hardware and software. The plan has been to acquire or develop on-line computer systems of significant mathematical power, and to explore their use in vivo in teaching and research situations. The main product of…

The major purpose of this book is to rejuvenate the focus on thinking throughout the curriculum. This collection of 85 essays is intended to help educational leaders--teachers, administrators, curriculum workers, staff developers, and teacher educators--infuse curriculum, instruction, and school organization with practices that more fully develop…

Learning how to think is essential for children to grow into responsible citizens and contribute to society. Schools need curricula that support a variety of thinking strategies as students read, write, and study content-area subjects, and learn to evaluate and manage what they do. This book for teachers provides a framework for creating a…

Reviews a monograph which addresses children's higher-order thinking skills. Suggests the following for teaching problem solving: identify and develop content-independent and content-dependent problem-solving skills, connect developed skills through workshop-style activities to subject discipline, and help students identify and reconstruct their…