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Twelve games are described which serve to reduce students' mathematics anxiety. Children solve problems by observing, visualizing, manipulating, finding patterns, and using logical sequence. Some games do not involve numbers, but all games require original thinking and encourage intuition. (JMK)

Describes 10 thinking games that are suitable for use in both elementary and secondary school classrooms. (FL)

The learning station process approach to curriculum enrichment in gifted education is considered. Key aspects of such an approach, including facilitator availability, spontaneity, flexibility, individualized and creative problem solving, and individual programing, are described. (CL)

Subjects worked on a problem, engaged in an intervening activity, and then resumed work on the problem. Different intervening activities represented various mechanisms that produce incubation (e.g., set breaking, facilitation by analogy, review of the problem's elements). These various treatment groups were compared to a control group that worked…

Presents selected responses to the question "The Farmer's Dilemma" that represent the thinking of sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students. Indicates that by being given the freedom to use a variety of methods, most students found at least one solution or demonstrated an understanding of the restrictions set by the problem. (ASK)

A common way to teach creative thinking is through creative problem solving. Outlines the stages of problem solving: problem exploration, idea development, implementation, and selected activities for developing creative problem solving competences. Discusses the role of attitude, experience, and motivation. Concludes that creativity training is…

Describes how the authors used process drama as a tool by which students assume the persona of characters in a literary text and improvise what the characters might say and how they might react in challenging situations. Discusses how students created modern dramatic interpretations of traditional texts in order to solve problems that parallel…

From their experience with open-ended tests requiring higher-order thinking and problem-solving abilities, schoolchildren in the USSR learn to think before answering. U.S. students instead train for rapid response, learning how to take tests rather than how to solve problems. Tests should be part of the curriculum, not separate from it. (MLH)

Synectics is a creative problem-solving process carrying participants from problem analysis to the generation and development of new ideas. The system recognizes three types of thinkers: apposite, divergent, and generative. Effective thinking is often limited by maintaining inflexible criteria concerning thinking, insisting on literal meaning,…

This article describes 2 experiments conducted with a computer-aided problem-solving tool called BRAIN, involving 30 adults of varying backgrounds and 15 organizational executives. The BRAIN program encourages users to discover partially and fully formulated insights, through iterative generation of word lists and meaningful statements. Eighty…

This study compared responses of 20 Chinese and 20 U.S. students to the 9-dot problem, a problem demonstrating the common assumption of nonexistent boundaries. There were significant effects of culture (significantly more Chinese students solved the problem), age, and interaction between culture and age and between culture and sex. (DB)

Among 40 second and sixth graders in a Bureau of Indian Affairs reservation school, those who participated in 6 15-minute sessions of imagery training had significantly higher posttest scores on the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, compared to controls. Such training may increase children's problem-solving ability. Contains 24 references. (SV)

Presents two solutions of the Isis Problem, finding the dimensions of a rectangle for which the numerical values of the area and perimeter are equal, to hypothesize how the ancient Egyptians may have solved the problem without the benefits of more modern mathematics. (MDH)

A study explored the problem solving abilities of 15 children (ages 3-6). A medical problem with a known solution was presented in the form of a children's story. Results showed that after reading the story, four suggested the correct solution. Other non-practical, but creative solutions were also suggested. (Contains seven references.) (CR)