With creativity now being emphasized in schools, it is important for teachers to understand what it is and how it is measured. This review of the literature is an attempt to make sense of the many definitions and measures of creativity. As a result, this comprehensive review shows that most definitions agree that there are at least two criteria to…

Montessori education has a long history, but its recent growth in American public schools has led to increased interest in research efforts, particularly in exploring the potential of the Montessori experience to moderate the effects of poverty and in gathering data to evaluate public investment in Montessori schools. To assist research efforts,…

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are among the most popular techniques for measuring creativity. However, the validity evidence for DT tests, as applied in educational settings, is inconsistent partly due to different scoring methods. This study explored the reliability and validity issues of various techniques for administering and scoring two DT…

Reconceptualizing contemporary notions about creativity in visual arts education should be an important issue in art education today. Currently, creativity may not be a primary focus at National Art Education Association conferences or in its publications. There are recent indications that art education is a site where creativity can be developed…

This article reports themes emerging from a small-scale literature review on creativity in education. The purpose of the review was to identify key themes and approaches to inform future research. The research questions are; what is creativity? Which theory of creativity is most relevant and useful? Can creativity be assessed and if so, how? The…

Three randomly assigned groups of sixth grade students watched a videotaped white female model present sets of responses to a creativity test categorized as low flexibility, low originality; high flexibility, low originality; and high flexibility, high originality. A randomly assigned control group viewed the same videotaped model giving…

A psychometric index of creative potential was devised for use in comparing ratings of creativity in samples of architects, engineers, mathematicians, psychologists, research scientists, and first year medical students. Medical students had the highest scores with psychiatrists ranking first and internists second among the specialty groups. (JT)

One hundred thirty-six pupils, aged 14-15 years, were given "general creativity" tests and "mathematical creativity" tests. Correlations between the two kinds of tests were near zero suggesting that creativity within mathematics is a specific ability. (MN)

Research on divergent thinking (mental activity directed to open-end problems for which there is no one correct answer) indicates that the characteristics associated with divergency (fluency of thinking, flexibility of thinking, originality, redefinition, and elaborating) are right brain functions. To assess right brain function and verbal…

The possibility of a time sensitive relationship between scores on the Dean Miholasky precognition test and those on Activity 2 of the Torrance Test for Creative Thinking was investigated with 58 freshmen students in a school of engineering. The Torrance Test consists of three activities that present a series of figural stimuli to the subject who…

Two frequent criticisms, that they are "merely verbal," and inimical to "higher" functions, notably creativity, are argued as not intrinsic to "objective" type tests. (Editor)

Describes a study that compared advertising educator's judgments of students' creative talent with measures of each students' creative ability at two major universities and concludes that advertising educators are good judges of creative talent. (MB)

Reports on the creative productivity scores achieved by advertising students in a creative strategy course. (HOD)

Discusses latest trends in creativity research, including development of tests independent of I.Q., correlations of creativity with mental illness, physiological bases for creativity (brain wave comparisons), and follow-up research on successful physicians and scientists. The need for means to identify creatively "gifted" children is stressed. (CS)