Reviews two publications coauthored by David N. Perkins. "Teaching Thinking: Issues and Approaches" deals with developing a framework for nurturing forms of thinking that foster learning, understanding, and critical and creative thought. "Are Cognitive Skills Context-Bound?" traces the 30-year evolution of this topic. (JRH)

Reports observations of the use of mental aerobics with 48 adults whose median age was 70. Provides examples of the group puzzles and logic, math, and word problems used to enhance cognitive functioning and creative thinking. (SK)

Managers (n=112) from a large international consumer goods manufacturer participated in a field experiment in which they learned and applied the Simplex process of creative thinking to solve real management problems. Behavioral skill in generating quantity of options was the most important variable to the creative process. (Contains references.)…

Presents the results of a study that aimed to incorporate a wide range of problem posing situations into students' problem solving in a classroom project with mathematically-able students in the first two years of secondary school. (Contains 15 references.) (ASK)

Three responses from teachers to a problem originally presented in the January-February 1996 issue are shared. The problem concerns sharing a fraction of a meal's price between six diners. Each response reflects a different approach to the problem and to using the problem with a class of students. (AIM)

Describes a project that helps students integrate biological concepts using both creativity and higher-order problem-solving skills. Involves students playing the roles of junior scientists aboard a starship in orbit around a class M planet and using a description of habitats, seasonal details, and a surface map of prominent geographic features to…

Describes creative thinking as an underutilized problem-solving skill that can be learned and applied to any situation. Explains how academic librarians can understand, develop, and use their creative thinking abilities and skills in the workplace and discusses library organizational culture, institutional culture, and empowerment. (Author/LRW)

In this quasi-experimental study, 142 fifth and sixth grade students at a suburban elementary school in Northwest Washington State participated in a week-long, 10-hour project using the "LEGO Mindstorms Robotics Invention System" (RIS). Partners constructed and programmed one robot from visually-based LEGO instructions and a second of…

Synectics is an approach to creative thinking that depends on understanding together that which is apparently different. Its main tool is analogy or metaphor. The approach, which is often used by groups, can help students develop creative responses to problem solving, to retain new information, to assist in generating writing, and to explore…

A group of children were presented with several tasks, including the invention of a sleep machine and a machine to weigh elephants. The tasks were chosen to involve the children in coping with problems of a distinct character. A study of the children's drawings and interpretations shows that children's thinking ability is not very different from…

Learning disabled students need systematic instruction in thinking skills. Both individual clinical studies and group programs have proven such training effective. Some important thinking strategies include goal clarification, previewing, organization, questioning, imagining, predicting, checking results, humor, and self-monitoring techniques. (DB)

Describes the place play has in school learning. Discusses play and problem-solving ability, play and symbolizing, and learning by experimenting, and recognizes the need for a learning theory that includes recognition of play in learning development. (CRH)

Adapts Edward de Bono's "Intermediate Impossible" strategy--for considering ideas that normally would be discarded as stepping-stones to new ideas--for use as a prewriting activity to enhance creative problem solving. (HTH)

The microcomputer can foster creative thinking by enhancing problem solving, divergent and convergent thinking, motivation, and cognitive and affective domain abilities. Features of menu selection, interaction and branching, and feedback are noted. (CL)

Author states that modern education has provided students with an adequate ability to solve given problems and implement solutions, but has overlooked the importance of problem-finding, a skill which involves defining purpose, setting personal objectives, and exploring interests. (RW)