Productive thinking, problem solving, and strategies for coping, learning, and living are all part of the ZING curriculum for emotionally disturbed and/or learning disabled students in grades 6, 7, and 8. (Author/SBH)

The scientific discovery process comes alive for 70 minority students each year at Uniondale High School in New York where students have won top awards for "in-house" projects. Uniondale High School is in a middle-income school district where over 95% of students are from minority groups. Founded in 2000, the Uniondale High School Research Program…

The purpose of this study was to find out how teachers use questions in classroom discourse to scaffold student thinking and help students construct scientific knowledge. The study was conducted in large-class settings where the medium of instruction was English although the students were non-native speakers of the language. Six teachers teaching…

A test of relative effectiveness of visual and verbal modes of giving instructions. (CH)

Comments are offered by numerous home economics teachers in reaction to the January issue presentation of an overview of a new Federal priority program, Education for Parenthood, and an interview with W. Stanley Kruger. (Author)

This review considers the question as to whether there are generic problem-solving skills that cut across fields or whether the skills are so embedded within specific fields that they can be identified only within the contexts of those fields. To answer this question, an attempt was made to define both "problems" and their "solutions." Then the…

This paper outlines the increasing prospects for improving the problem solving component of future mathematics programs. Of particular interest is the development of a viable growth schema for general problem solving strategies and skills. The plan presented here provides for five levels of problem solving sophistication. The main body of the…

This paper discusses Program Management (PM), a decision-making process which uses a diachronic, idea-generating communication mode. Decision making according to a PM model entails obtaining a mandate or authorization, identifying the problem, exploring for knowledge and generating solutions, reviewing proposals and developing resources,…

The third of three reports on Project SEARCH (Search for Exceptional Abilities Reachable among Children with Handicaps) contains 28 lesson plans designed to develop the creative/productive thinking processes in handicapped children. It is explained that the activities are the products of cooperation between professional artists and special…

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…

It was hypothesized that certain programmed productive thinking materials would increase both the divergent and convergent thinking abilities being measured and that there would be a direct relationship between any change in one of these abilities and any change in the other. Six classes of 6th-grade suburban students with I.Q.'s ranging from 79…

The author enters the debate on whether problem solving ability consists of sets of situation-specific behaviors or whether it is a general set of mental abilities. The study, utilizing a nonrandom sample of 60 female college sophomores, was designed to test the feasibility of teaching behavior patterns which facilitate problem-solving in diverse…

This publication was designed to help teachers learn about promising materials, methods, and techniques for teaching creative thinking and problem solving to disadvantaged elementary school children. Two kinds of reviews of published teaching materials for specific grade levels and subject areas are included: (1) reviews of commercially published…

The long-standing belief that age is negatively associated with scientific productivity and creativity is shown to be based upon incorrect analysis of data. Studies reported in this article suggest that the relationship between age and scientific performance is influenced by the operation of the reward system. (Author)

The article identifies five modes of thinking--defensive, productive, adaptive, elaborative, and developmental. Case studies of artistic, creative writing illustrate the modes. A writing program designed to identify and develop these thinking modes is described. (Author/DB)