Our increasingly uniform schooling system needlessly brands many youngsters as failures. We are embracing standardized tests just when the new economy is eliminating standardized jobs. Computers, the Internet, and digital commerce have exploded the old job categories into various new niches, creating multitudinous employment opportunities. (MLH)

Too often, gifted programs offer standard, all-purpose enrichment without regard to special talents. Talents are not usually fully developed in youngsters. Teachers can help develop children's talent by becoming talent scouts, structuring appropriate learning activities, praising talented behavior, helping kids set learning goals, locating helpful…

Discusses a scholar's reactions to libraries made by Umberto Eco in "De Biblioteca." Topics addressed include functions of libraries, including collecting; accessibility of materials; the scholar's creative use of libraries, and discovering materials not looked for or known about; North American research libraries; photocopying; and…

Personal Construct Theory framed a study of three secondary design/technology teachers and six students. Teachers were insecure about their understanding of creativity and professional role. Risk-taking teachers felt prepared to challenge students. Concerns that students avoid failure resulted in less challenge and risk. (Contains 32 references.)…

Discusses the results of an online survey that was conducted to investigate the competencies needed for instructional designers to prepare Web-based instruction. Highlights include analytical skills; creative ideas; design ability; handling course management tools; and similarities between instructional design for traditional instruction and for…

Discusses the foundations of engineering design and highlights the problems confronting students who are required to make creative input into a design problem. Describes a way to implement creativity in teaching engineering design. Contains 38 references. (DDR)

States that the art of recycling has more to do with connecting people with objects, traditions, and rituals than sustaining the natural environment. Discusses some lessons learned in four categories: (1) recycling as self-sufficiency; (2) recycling as renewal; (3) recycling as a spiritual activity; and (4) recycling as aesthetic transformation.…

A study examined the relationship between structured imagination and creativity in story writing among 108 undergraduates. Subjects produced paragraphs that were meaningful/original, meaningful/non-original, or non-meaningful/non-original. Results showed that groups 1 and 2 wrote psychologically meaningful stories significantly more than group 3…

Examined effects of contextual and individual differences on mothers' autonomy support versus control on homework-like tasks with their third-grade children. Found that mothers in the high-pressure condition were more controlling on the poem task. For the map task, mothers with initial controlling styles in the high-pressure condition were more…

An experiment was conducted to investigate the innovative performance of problem solving groups (n=196) with three different blends of cognitive styles. As predicted, groups with a heterogeneous blend of styles outperformed groups with completely or partially homogeneous blends. Participant satisfaction, however, was lower for heterogeneous teams.…

A study of 94 intact autonomous work groups performing multi-part tasks revealed that group creative performance increased exponentially with the number of highly creative group members composing the group. However, this occurred only when Team Creativity-Relevant Processes within the group were relatively high. (Contains references.) (Author/CR)

This critique of J. Renzulli's models of gifted education suggests a weakness is the lack of school-based assessment procedures to guide decisions about a broader range of acceleration, enrichment, and other types of program options. Major ideas underlying Renzulli's theory are examined including broadening the talent pool, emphasis on products,…

A study involving 159 undergraduates found that flow (a psychological state characterized by concentration, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation) mediated effects of leadership style on creativity in a Group Decision Support System (GDSS) context, and that its role may be moderated by anonymity. Results also indicated that both flow and anonymity…

The development of gifted education in Hong Kong and the rationale for leadership training for gifted and talented students are briefly described. Core components of the Creative Leadership Training Program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong are highlighted. Following training, students engage in school-based peer tutoring and peer counseling.…

A study examined the relationships among creative problem solving (PS) and problem generation (PG) abilities and coping skills in 74 undergraduates. PG and PS abilities were negatively related to such coping processes as confrontation, distancing, escape-avoidance tendencies, and excessive acceptance of responsibility, and positively associated…