A five-step model intervention called "Sensational Thinking," which incorporates readiness, reception, reflection, revelation, and re-creation activities, was evaluated with four kindergarten classes. Experimental groups showed increased creativity over control groups in solving paradoxical problems. The study is seen as supporting the premise…

When Creative Problem Solving (CPS) was introduced into social studies programs, the students' participation in the classrooms began to change. They began to assume leadership roles and take on a sense of responsibility; they asked questions and worked cooperatively to decide on social action. In this article, the authors argue that CPS has the…

This 9-week curriculum unit on trees is designed for gifted students in grades 1-5. The lessons are designed for 40-minute classes meeting two or three times a week and stress the development of creative thinking skills, creative problem solving and decision making skills, and critical and logical thinking skills. Each of the 12 lesson plans…

Courses designed to teach problem-solving and creativity, which are relatively new additions to college curricula, are discussed, along with their intellectual foundations and research on these two processes. The teaching of these processes involves the following course goals: teaching a specific subject, generally useful skills, and professional…

The purpose of this book is to help parents and teachers recognize and understand dramatic play in childhood as a process whereby the child acts out human experience in an attempt to order, clarify, and understand it. Written by a person experienced in theatre and drama, the book considers the following aspects of dramatic play: the importance of…

Discusses the characteristics of the American educational system, outlines the various and developing world crisis, and suggests that teachers need to prepare creative, innovative, independent thinkers who can embrace the problems of the world and survive. (Author/RK)

Whether a college course for teachers and teacher trainees could affect attitudes in creative problem solving was determined. Results showed that students enrolled in the creative emphasis course did have definite attitude changes in favor of creativity. There were no statistically significant changes found for the control group. (Author/AL)

Investigated whether or not creative behavior as measured by Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking could be increased in older adult women (N=40) through a creative problem-solving program. Experimental subjects did not score significantly higher on the Torrance tests than the control subjects who had not participated in the program. (Author)

Five problem-based learning activities tested by fourth-grade gifted students are suggested. Each open-ended problem is intended to be worked on by a small group for 30 minutes. Student reactions are quoted and analyzed, noting that students became more willing to take risks, test the properties and limits of their materials, and learn from their…

A study of 74 undergraduates examined whether creativity training and interpersonal problem-solving training are equivalent or complementary. Results showed the training programs were complementary. Each training program specifically affected performance only on related measures of performance. A combination of the training programs affected both…

An enrichment program developed for sixth-grade gifted students combined creative problem solving with future studies in a way that would simulate real life crisis problem solving. The program involved forecasting problems of the future requiring evacuation of Earth, assuming roles on a spaceship, and simulating crises as the spaceship traveled to…

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness of using an adapted version of Creative Problem Solving (CPS) to increase problem solving activities of kindergarten students, and to determine the practical significance of using CPS as a method for increasing problem solving skills of kindergarten students. Data were collected from…

The article describes a curriculum used in gifted programming which is based on Guilford's Structure of Intellect (SOI) theory of intelligence. Sourcebooks and individual SOI modules have been developed to train over 90 kinds of intellectual ability. Five categories of intellectual ability are defined (cognition, memory, evaluation, convergent…

A distinction can be made between the term "creativity" and creative thinking skills. Creativity typically refers to a talent for original and masterful production in the arts and sciences, and there is scant evidence that teachers have any influence on creativity of this kind. Creative thinking refers to a group of six thinking skills that if…

Research supported by the U.S. Office of Education, Project No. 8-B-002, Grant OEG-0-8-080002-0220-010