Although creativity techniques are highly recommended in working environments, their effects have been scarcely investigated. Two cognitive processes are often considered to foster creative potential and are, therefore, taken as a basis for creativity techniques: knowledge activation and conceptual combination. In this study, both processes were…

This research tested the use of concept map planning to support the development of creativity in photo stories, hypothesizing that skills taught to support organization would improve creativity. Concept maps are a type of graphic organizer, used to represent an ordering of ideas with nodes and linking words that form propositional statements. They…

Thomas Locker's book about nature entitled "Water Dance" (1997) provides the basis for this interdisciplinary project on Earth's water cycles. Through thoughtful consideration of the text and art in "Water Dance," students build and express deeper understanding of the water cycle (and the elements within). In addition, they develop the disposition…

Teaching strategies that foster academic achievement for special and regular education students in the same classroom are crucial for successful student integration. One such approach is creativity training, which may aid all students in the development of concept mapping, a metacognitive strategy that allows students to integrate creative…

This ethnographic study explores the underlying structure of the design practices in the Oxford Studio, a design studio course taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Architecture. The study describes elements of the practices in the Oxford Studio and then analyzes the connections among these elements at three levels: (a)…