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)

To restructure schooling and emphasize creative definition and redefinition of problems, teachers need to allow students more responsibility for choosing and solving problems. Problems requiring insightful solution are almost always ill structured, whereas school-posed problems lead to prescribed answers. Creative persons learn to tolerate…

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)

Preliminary analysis of data collected from trained expert facilitators of ad hoc creative teams (n=43) found that complex analytical techniques such as costed function modeling and decision criteria matrix may have far more impact upon a team's creative effectiveness than frequently researched measures such as idea quantity. (Contains…

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)

This study with 432 college students examined how variables influence the relative performance of groups and individuals on creative problem-solving tasks. Having more ideas available (through a priming manipulation) led to better individual performance. Group performance, however, was enhanced by training appropriate to problem content that…

Studied differences in cognitive processes related to creativity and intelligence using EEG coherence and power measures in the lower and upper alpha bands. Results of 2 experiments involving 49 and 48 right-handed student teachers suggest that creativity and intelligence are different abilities that also differ in the neurological activity…

The strategies that expose learners to the large volume of knowledge, enables them for creative thinking, self-management and deep reading. The different ways of creating knowledge with the help of creativity, communication, organization, problem solving and decision-making are discussed.

In 1994, the National Arts Education Association created a research agenda to address major research issues in the field of visual arts education for the purpose of examining, negotiating, and modifying commonly held beliefs in the field of art education. Research by arts educators has done much to inform visual arts education theory and practice,…

This 21st Century Skills Map is the result of hundreds of hours of research, development and feedback from educators and business leaders across the nation. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has issued this map for the core subject of Science.

This study investigated the effect of two problem-solving techniques: (a) free-association with a direct reference to the problem, called shortly direct, and (b) free-association with a remote and postponed reference to the problem, called remote, on fluency and originality of ideas in solving ill-structured problems. The research design…

Author presented a selection of examples of the role of connective analogies in invention/discovery. (Author/RK)

The paper describes Project ICE (Institute for Creative Education), an approach to developing students' divergent thinking skills through a creative problem-solving process. Project ICE is designed to help students of all backgrounds and ability levels benefit by growth in fluent, flexible, original, and elaborate responses to problems or tasks.…

The effectiveness of the Productive Thinking Program in developing creative thinking and problem solving abilities among 370 pupils in grades four through seven was examined. An exploratory investigation of the program's instructional content was also undertaken. At all four grade levels studied, instructed pupils' scores on Covington's Childhood…