The transition from childhood giftedness to adult creative productiveness: Psychological characteristics and social supports

The purpose of this article is to examine the sources of differences in motivation and other psychological characteristics, specifically the role of childhood environments, in engendering or promoting adult creative productive achievement. A model is presented in which it is proposed that the environmental conditions of creative producers result in responses that include the development of several key personality characteristics or coping strategies such as a preference for time alone, an ability to cope with high levels of anxiety or tension, freedom from conventionality, and the use of intellectual activities to fulfill emotional needs. The conditions in the environment often result from some kind of stress within the family, which is in part, a function of characteristics of the family, the broader context surrounding the family, and characteristics of the child.     

Visualisation and mathematical giftedness

Recent research findings are described which uncover the fact that visualisers are seriously under-represented amongst high mathematical achievers at senior high school level. Possible reasons for this phenomenon are discussed, and kinds of imagery which overcome some of the limitations of visual processing in mathematics are described.     

应用型本科工程类创新人才培养的探讨

基于创新人才科学内涵的认识,文章阐述了应用型本科工程类创新人才应具备的5个特征,提出培养此类人才的基本途径：树立以人为本的教育观念和“大工程观”教育观念;构建应用型工程创新人才培养的课程体系;构建应用型人才工程实践创新教学体系;建设具有创新精神和强工程教育能力的师资队伍;促进产学研密切结合;开展科技创新活动与创业教育活动等。     

加强实践教学改革 培养创新型人才

实践教学是高等教育教学的重要组成部分,在培养学生创新意识、创新精神等方面有不可替代的作用.目前,高校实践教学存在对实践教学重要性认识不足、教学内容单一、不对实践教学进行考核等问题.为此,应加强实践教师队伍建设,提高教师对实践教学重要性的认识,完善实践教学评价体系,建立开放的实验室教学模式,设立独立的实验教学体系,制定合理的实践教学评价标准,推进实习基地建设.     

自主创新项目孵化与实践和创造性培养

构建高校工科大学生的创新性项目实践平台,提出应用"分合法"在工程项目实践中训练大学生的创造性思维和培养大学生的创造性能力,探索创新性工程项目的实施措施,提升大学生在创新项目孵化和实践中的工程应用能力。     

试论作文教学中创造性思维的培养

长期以来，中学作文宫存在着扼杀学生创造力的问题，且有愈演愈烈之势。要改变这种状况，应以培养学生的创造性思维为核心，对作文教学进行系统的改革，从而为祖国建设培养具有创新精神的高素质人才。     

Depth psychology and giftedness: Bringing soul to the field of talent development and giftedness

While the field of gifted education has relied on educational, cognitive, counseling, behavioral, developmental, and social psychology, the domain of depth psychology offers special insights into giftedness, especially with regard to individuation. The notion of passion, or the thorn (J. S. Piirto, 1999, 2002), the incurable mad spot (F. C. Reynolds 1997, 2001), the acorn (J. Hillman, 1996, 1999), the daimon (C. G. Jung, 1965); the importance of integration through the arts and through dreams; the existence of the collective unconscious; the presence of archetypes; and the transcendent psyche—all have resonance with the binary etymological idea of “gift” as both blessing and poison. Depth psychology offers a way of understanding that is physical, psychological, and spiritual.     

The construct of giftedness

In this article, I assert that giftedness is not a fact of nature or something that educators and psychologists have discovered. Instead, it is a socially constructed concept, something recently invented. I review the evolution of this construction and discuss some of the practical implications of the construct's application in education. Last, I speculate about some of the possible ways in which the construct may evolve in the future.     

Investigation of effective strategies for developing creative science thinking

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of the creative inquiry-based science teaching on students’ creative science thinking and science inquiry performance. A quasi-experimental design consisting one experimental group (N?=?20) and one comparison group (N?= 24) with pretest and post-test was conducted. The framework of the intervention focused on potential strategies such as promoting divergent and convergent thinking and providing an open, inquiry-based learning environment that are recommended by the literature. Results revealed that the experimental group students outperformed their counterparts in the comparison group on the performances of science inquiry and convergent thinking. Additional qualitative data analyses from classroom observations and case teacher interviews identified supportive teaching strategies (e.g. facilitating associative thinking, sharing impressive ideas, encouraging evidence-based conclusions, and reviewing and commenting on group presentations) for developing students’ creative science thinking.     

The etiology of giftedness

Many theories of giftedness either explicitly or implicitly acknowledge the role of genetic influences; yet, empirical work has not been able to establish the impact that genes have specifically on gifted behavior. In contrast, a great deal of research has been targeted at understanding the etiology of individual differences in general and specific cognitive abilities across the entire range of ability and to a lesser extent, high cognitive ability. This paper attempts to outline what we know and what we don't know about the etiology of giftedness as operationally defined as high g. We review studies selected to represent a variety of approaches that each address a different question about genetics and giftedness. These studies include quantitative genetic research which estimate heritability, shared and nonshared family environment – at the high and low ends of intelligence – as well as the heritability of group differences for general cognitive ability and specific cognitive abilities. We discuss the molecular genetic methods and mechanisms contributing to cognitive ability and suggest how epigenetic factors may operate. Quantitative and molecular genetic studies that include endophenotypes representing intelligence at a level closer to the genotype, are also included. This last group of studies represent a relatively new area of work that builds on and extends the extensive groundwork established by classic quantitative genetic studies of behavior.     

论大学英语教师创新素质的培养

社会发展需要创新型外语人才,而教师作为培养人才的人才,更应具备创新素质,本文从教师自身的角度分析了培养大学英语教师创新素质的必要性和重要性,探讨了大学英语教师创新素质的内涵,由创新知识、创新精神、创新能力、创新个性构成。这是大学英语教师提高自身素质,增强国防竞争力的必要条件。     

Cultural concepts of giftedness

Different cultures have different conceptions of what it means to be gifted. But in identifying children as gifted, we often use only our own conception, ignoring the cultural context in which the children grew up. Such identification is inadequate and fails to do justice to the richness of the world's cultures. It also misses children who are gifted and may identify as gifted children those who are not.     

坚持和发扬与时俱进的创新精神

与时俱进的创新精神是一个民族进步的灵魂,是一个国家兴旺发达的不竭动力,也是一个政党永葆生机的源泉.要实现十六大提出的全面建设小康社会的奋斗目标,必须坚持和发扬与时俱进的创新精神.     

谈语文学科发展学生创造思维的途径

语文教学中教师要着力学生学习兴趣广度的培养，丰富学生的实践活动，让学生认识自己的思维过程，加强思维综合训练，为创造思维发展提供动力。