PROMOTING CREATIVE THINKING IN THE CLASSROOM--THE PROCESS OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT.

A GENERAL, PROBLEM-SOLVING PROGRAM (GPSP), CONSISTING OF 16 CREATIVE PROBLEMS FOR THE FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE LEVELS PRESENTED IN A SELF-INSTRUCTIONAL LINEAR FORMAT, WAS DEVELOPED AS A PROTOTYPE OF INSTRUCTIONAL LINEAR MATERIALS ON CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING. THROUGHOUT THE SERIES OF LESSONS, A STORY LINE IS MAINTAINED TO GIVE THE READER A SET OF IDENTIFICATION MODELS. IT GRADUALLY INTRODUCES HIM TO THE PROCESS OF BECOMING A MORE EFFECTIVE THINKER. IN SEVERAL STUDIES, 267 FIFTH AND SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS WERE GIVEN THE GPSP WHILE 214 FIFTH GRADERS SERVED AS CONTROLS. ALL STUDENTS WERE PRETESTED AND RECEIVED MODIFIED TRADITIONAL PROBLEM SOLVING TESTS. THE MINNESOTA TEST OF CREATIVE THINKING SERVED AS THE CRITERION TEST BATTERY. HIGHLY CONSISTENT RESULTS INDICATE THAT INSTRUCTED STUDENTS OBTAIN SUPERIOR SCORES ON ALL INDICES OF PROBLEM SOLVING AND CREATIVE THINKING. FOLLOW-UP STUDIES PROVED LESS CONCLUSIVE. A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IS WHETHER PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO PROMOTE CREATIVE THINKING ARE NECESSARY. FUTURE RESEARCH WILL INVOLVE EXPANSION OF THE GPSP AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW UNITS ON UNDERSTANDING AND CREATIVE INNOVATION. RESEARCH IS ALSO BEING DIRECTED TOWARD ADAPTING GPSP FOR COMPUTER PRESENTATION. THIS PAPER IS TO BE INCLUDED IN N.J. KLAUEMEIER (ED.), "CONTEMPORARY RESEARCH OF SIGNIFICANCE TO EDUCATION," UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, IN PRESS. (PR)