Because language arts processes and related skills depend on thinking processes, teachers should know, use, and guide creative problem-solving processes in their language arts class. Creative problem solving involves a balance of divergent and convergent thought, reflected in the processes of creative and critical thinking. Divergent, or creative,…

This paper addresses the issue of incorporating creative thinking and problem solving techniques into an established teacher education methods course for prospective preschool teachers. The project's goals were (1) to increase students' knowledge and understanding of the value of creative thinking skills; (2) to provide group exercises using the…

The proceedings of the 1980 Suggestive-Accelerative Learning and Teaching (SALT) conference include: "Creative Power in Action: Discovering Your 'Right' Mind" (Carole Austen and Hilary Johnson); "The Co-Creative Teacher: A Key Dimension in Accelerated Learning in the Classroom" (Susan M. Campbell); "The Application of…

A course for first-year architectural students is described. The approach concentrated on developing an understanding of the nature of design activity through exploration of the kind of thinking that may be applied in order to improve the first-year studio work. The course is based on the following premises: (1) it is possible and educationally…

The program outlined in this manual is an interdisciplinary method of teaching required curriculum (plus additional skills) to elementary students within the framework of a series of activities that relate subject matter to real-life situations. The activities of the program are divided into four slightly overlapping phases or topic areas, each…

New social studies materials are based on inquiry modes of learning and teaching; however, little is known as to what students actually learn from an inquiry model (except for cognitive knowledge). An inquiry model and test to measure the "unmeasurable" in the social studies--namely, a student's ability to use the scientific process,…

Explores the following classical problem: given any 30 points on a circle, join them in pairs by segments in all possible ways. What is the greatest number of nonoverlapping regions into which the interior of the circle can be separated? Presents strategies for solving this problem. (PK)

Notes need for outdoor education programs for gifted students. Describes a 1981 survey of such programs provided by New York's Board of Cooperative Educational Services and outdoor education centers. Renzulli's Enrichment Triad Model and Parents' Creative Problem Solving Process are suggested as models to teach gifted students through outdoor…

A study explored how untutored technology education students used three-dimensional modelling while designing and making a solution to a technological problem. A literature review focused on modelling as a design process skill and its purposes. Ten seventh-grade students (six boys and four girls) were paired into five single-sex dyads. Each dyad…

Reprinted from "Manpower and Applied Psychology , Volume II, Number 1, 1968.

Describes a study using experimental and control classes to test the effect of exercises in creative thinking. The tenth-grade students were able to increase their ability to think creatively. (Author/SA)

Even in an educational tests and measurements classroom it is possible to stimulate student creativity and divergent thinking. Examples of projects and test constructions are given to provide food for thought for the creative teacher. (JN)

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Public Schools, thousands of gifted children are tackling challenging, real-world problems correlated with curricular expectations. This gifted program fuses three philosophies: multiple-intelligences theory, problem-centered learning, and a thoughtful atmosphere to foster critical and creative…

Describes grade-appropriate weekly activities designed to appeal directly to students by giving them open-ended questions. Activities may be worked on individually, in pairs, or in small groups. This particular set of activities focuses on stories from literature involving measurement, earning money, marketing a product, and setting up a…

Discusses the importance of creative thinking in the geography classroom. Suggests that such thinking can be achieved through the integration of content and creative problem solving. Describes a seventh grade world geography class activity which illustrates this integration. Steps for applying the activity are given and student efforts are…