Results of a study examining how social work students view creativity, how various student characteristics correlate with creativity scores, and how social work students' scores compare with other undergraduate majors are discussed. (Author/KM)

The developer of a one-semester course in creative thinking for university undergraduates, which was later adapted for adult students, describes the course, suggests ways a teacher may unlock blocks to creativity, and offers some learning activities designed to stimulate creativity in any classroom. Selected references are given. (AJ)

Critical or creative thinking is simply thinking of a higher order by persons informed by fact and logic, insight and empathy. It is necessary for problem solving, invention, and achievement. Every child has the ability to be a thinker. Thinking is an act and, as such, improves with practice. The curriculum and the teacher can help student…

This practicum was designed to organize and implement an effective thinking skills program to enhance higher-order thinking in children. The program's goals were (1) to provide a series of in-service training sessions designed to improve participants' teaching skills and motivate participants to use various teaching strategies in order to bring…

Designed for the Bringing Out Head Start Talents (BOHST) project, three sets of lesson plans focus on the development of three types of thinking processes with preschool children: (1) "detective thinking" (using clues to find the single right answer); (2) "inventor thinking" (brainstorming many answers to a single question);…

In this discussion on how teachers can encourage and develop students' abilities to think critically and creatively it is pointed out that fostering discussion in the classroom opens new avenues of thought and stimulates divergent thinking. Recommendations for helping teachers foster discussion in the classroom are: (1) making reflective…

Imaging is creating a material picture in the mind that a person can scan as he or she would scan a real current event in the environment. The concept of imaging offers a way of explaining intrapersonal communication, the process of talking to oneself. Imaging also offers a useful way of looking at the role of language in intrapersonal…

In considering the aims or purposes of education in America today, this reflective discussion first reviews the aims of education since the founding of the United States, as well as those antecedent aims in the history of the Western education experience. An overview of changing trends in educational objectives illuminates the gradual development…

Intended for teachers of theatrical design who need to describe a design process for their students, this paper begins by giving a brief overview of recent research that has described the different functions of the right and left cerebral hemispheres. It then notes that although the left hemisphere tends to dominate the right hemisphere, it is the…

The teaching of decision-making, problem-solving, and higher-order thinking skills is necessary to ensure adaptability to our world of accelerated change. Living skills in the technology and information age will include the understanding and application of higher level thinking skills, which will be the educational "basics" of tomorrow.…

If education is concerned with imagination, it is important to know how educators perceive the term. For this purpose, an attempt was made to categorize ways in which teachers conceptualize imagination. Responses were obtained in a survey from 120 teachers who were registered in a graduate course on creative thinking. Participants ranged in age…

The basic premise of this paper is that effective teacher training programs need to assist students in reaching beyond competence in subject matter and instructional methodology to focus on developing the prospective teacher's capacity to recognize and utilize the cognitive processes underlying the respective categories of the curriculum. A…

Intended as a resource for teachers of grades four and up who are eager to improve their students' thinking skills while teaching their regular curriculum, this booklet contains activities that can be used to teach a new concept or to review a previously taught skill. Following an introduction, the topics of the chapters of the resource guide and…

The benefits of incorporating knowledge about creativity into the supervision of doctoral candidates are considered. It is suggested that supervisors of doctoral candidates should use the language of the creative process. The stages of the creative process can serve as a specific, verbalized reference point for supervision. From the beginning of…

Noting that teachers stimulate student writing in three ways--by arousing, directing, and rewarding--this guide offers suggestions for activities in each of these areas for the elementary, intermediate, and secondary levels. Following an introduction, four activities are presented: (1) stimulating student writing through arousal, (2) stimulating…