Describes an instructional strategy to develop creative thinking. Students learn what information scientists had prior to formulation of an idea and attempt to devise their own solutions to the problem. However, no experimentally verified solution to the problem is known. Advantages to this approach are discussed. (Author/JN)

Encourages adult educators to use a creative approach to solving problems and making decisions, defining creative thinking as a complex process of discovery. States that adult educators should find ways to change how they look at problems and offers some suggestions. (MF)

This study concerns the role of structural properties of scientific prose: description of relations and explanation of mechanisms. The latter is isolated as a characteristics related to creative problem solving. (Author/GK)

Creativity and the characteristics of the creative personality are explored in an attempt to show both that creativity exists in handicapped children and is a valuable attribute to be developed in these students. Attributes of the creative personality are pointed out, and a model for the identification of creativity is presented. (Author)

Presents a brief description of Adams County District 12's program to promote higher-level thinking skills in its elementary and secondary level gifted students. (SJL)

Describes the types of mathematical games or puzzles that can be used in foreign language courses and dicusses the purposes they serve. Emphasizes their effectiveness as motivational learning stimuli and points out that they can be used either as instructional or reinforcement devices which force the student to "think" in the foreign language.…

College students (N=135) were presented with novel, ill-defined problems and asked to select concepts they thought would help solve the problems. The use of concepts organized around long-term goals was positively related to indices of solution quality and originality. (DB)

This article outlines both specific barriers to teaching and learning creative thinking as well as some possible directions for solutions. Sixteen common barriers such as confusion, powerlessness, and negativity are described along with strategies to dissolve them using such conceptual tools as awareness plans and proactive metathinking.…

Changing one's mind and keeping the mind open will be essential decision-making skills in the future. Positive uncertainty helps clients deal with ambiguity, accept inconsistency, and use the intuitive side of choosing. (TE)

This article, third in a series, discusses the last three phases of the creative problem solving process: idea-finding, solution-finding, and acceptance-finding. These phases focus on brainstorming to generate possibilities and alternatives to the problem, evaluating each idea's strengths and limitations, prioritizing the solutions, and developing…

Sociodrama is presented as a structured, yet flexible, method of encouraging the use of creative thinking to examine a difficult problem. An example illustrates the steps involved in putting sociodrama into action. Production techniques useful in sociodrama include the soliloquy, double, role reversal, magic shop, unity of opposites, and audience…

Describes a program that has been conducted for two years by a group of educators at the University of Hamburg, West Germany, in which participants investigated the pedagogical use of the story. Illustrates the way in which story telling can be used to teach concepts at a high level of synthesis. (KO)

This review of the literature examines three aspects of creative thinking and production: (1) metacognitive processing; (2) the knowledge base; and (3) personality variables. It is concluded that all three are essential elements, they operate interactively, and the results of creative thinking and problem solving are best assessed through…