Creative Education, 2009, 18-24
Published Online September 2009 in SciRes (http://www.SciRP.org/journal/ce)
Workshops in Creative Education for Students and
Teachers in the United States and Japan
ABSTRACT
The authors Barry and Kanematsu have initiated an international program to develop students’ creative thinking skills
in science and engineering. Their program (which is beneficial to students of all ages in the U.S. and Japan) has the
main goals of turning students onto science and engineering, and to preparing them to be creative problem solvers.
This creative education program is carried out through workshops, using several innovative teaching techniques de-
veloped by the authors. A variety of workshops are being conducted in the U. S. and Japan to diverse groups such as
elementary students, middle school students, college students, and teachers. It is important to turn young students onto
science and engineering, so they will pursue further studies in these fields and make career choices to be scientists and
engineers. Of equal importance is the preparation of teachers (especially at the elementary levels) to turn children onto
science, to promote creative thinking, and to encourage students to express innovative ideas. Creative education work-
shop activities and results, included in this successful program, are presented and discussed.
Keywords: Creative Thinking, Problem Solving, Science Workshops, Innovative Teaching Techniques
1. Introduction
Educators and researchers in the United States and Japan
have initiated an international program [1] to develop
students’ creative thinking skills in science and engi-
neering. This unique project, led by Barry and Kane-
matsu, includes the preparation and use of innovative
teaching techniques and tools. It is sponsored by the
Northern New York section of the American Chemical
Society and Suzuka National College of Technology in
Japan. The program’s main goals are to turn students
onto science/engineering and to prepare them to be crea-
tive problem solvers.
This successful program is carried out through work-
shops, using three creative teaching techniques developed
by the authors. One method, the Multisensory Teaching
Approach, takes advantage of students’ senses and is
designed to meet individual student needs. Another tech-
nique, which involves Science Fair Projects, allows stu-
dents to creatively solve and share the results of their
exciting investigations. The third approach provides stu-
dents with an opportunity to develop critical thinking and
problem-solving skills by reading stories and solving
mysteries. A variety of creative workshops are being
conducted in the United States and Japan to diverse
groups such as elementary students, middle school stu-
dents, college students, and teachers. Some workshop
activities and results are presented and discussed. Also a
brief description of creativity/creative thinking is pro-
vided.
2. Creativity/Creative Thinking
The terms creativity and creative thinking are briefly de-
fined (by the authors) to provide a better understanding of
the program. Creativity is the ability to produce original
work and ideas. It also includes the combining of existing
work and objects to create new items. A good example is
the motor bike, which is composed of a motor and a bike.
The creative process starts with a creative person (ex.
scientist) and results in a creative product (ex. new medi-
cine). It includes the thinking and acts that take place to
produce an original item. Creative thinking is part of our
total thinking process, which is explained in a simple way
by Ebert’s Cognitive Spiral Model [2]. The creative
thinker explores, looks for relationships, and develops
many original and diverse ideas.
The teachers’ important role in creative education is to
promote creative thinking and to encourage students to
express innovative ideas. They should be open-minded,
value originality, and seek imaginative solutions to prob-
lems. Educators must prepare the younger generation

Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan 19
(our future leaders, scientists and engineers) to think for
themselves so that they can creatively solve the new and
challenging problems in our ever changing world.
3. Workshop Activities and Results
3.1. Multisensory Teaching Approach
This method, known as the Chemical Sensation Project
[3], takes advantage of students’ senses. It is designed to
meet individual student needs and requires teachers to
incorporate visual, writing, listening, and laboratory ac-
tivities into their science lessons.
3.1.1. Student Workshops
The authors’ creative Chemical Sensation Project rceived
a National Award of Excellence (ChemLuminary Award)
from the American Chemical Society in 2004. The pro-
gram was carried out at colleges and high schools in the
United States and Japan. Materials used in this project
were prepared by Barry and translated into Japanese by
Kanematsu. They include a music CD of science songs
[4], overhead transparencies, pictures to serve as visual
aids, hands-on science experiments, science questions,
and evaluation forms. Students begin each multisensory
lesson by viewing the activity picture and words to the
selected science song, while listening to the song. Next
they perform an exciting hands-on activity that comple-
ments the song. Finally they answer activity questions
and complete the evaluation forms.
One multisensory lesson is about the Periodic Table
[5]. A class first views a Periodic Table, while listening
to the song titled “Periodic Table.” Next they carryout an
activity in which they design a new Periodic Table for a
given set of items such as coins, food, and toys. The stu-
dents closely examine the various items, design a Peri-
odic Table for them, and then write a brief description
about their table’s layout and organization. At the end of
the workshop, they answer science questions about the
activity and complete the evaluation forms.
Project participants include Clarkson University, Ed-
wards-Knox High School, and Canton High School in the
United States and Suzuka National College of Technol-
ogy, Takada High School, and Kanbe High School in
Japan. They found the workshops to be useful, challeng-
ing, and fun. Also more than 96% of the U.S. student
participants answered the science activity questions cor-
rectly.
The chart (on the article’s last page) shows student re-
actions to the science activities and songs. The results
show that 94% of all the student participants had a neu-
ral – very positive reaction to the activities and 84% of
them had a neutral – very positive reaction to the songs.
t
3.1.2. Teacher Workshop
The preparation of teachers (especially at the elementary
levels) to turn children onto science, to promote creative
thinking, and to encourage students to express innovative
ideas, is of great importance.
An intensive all day multisensory workshop was car-
ried out in New York State on December 8, 2006 for
teachers of grades 5-12. They performed several mul-
tisensory lessons (which addressed required areas of the
National Science Standards) and prepared one for use in
their classroom. The workshop was successful and very
well received. Additional workshops have already been
scheduled for the spring, summer, and fall of 2007.
One multisensory lesson was about Chemicals. It be-
gan with the teachers viewing a picture of some chemi-
cals, while listening to the song titled “Chemicals.” Then
they carried out an activity to analyze and determine the
physical properties (including density and volume) of
apples, oranges, and potatoes. They used items such as
tape measures, graduated cylinders, magnifiers, and digi-
tal balances, and the water displacement technique. The
teachers recorded, organized, and shared data. They also
described their own multisensory lessons to the group. At
the end of the workshop, the participants completed sur-
vey forms.
Teacher comments about this workshop are written
below.
1. “We gained lots of creative and fun ideas that we
can take back and use in our classrooms. I appreciate all
the materials and handouts.”
2. “Today was a super way to regroup many things that
I already do. Plus I also got some new good ideas.”
3. “I did pick up some really good ideas.”
4. “Great day and great ideas!”
5. “Today is a reminder that science is activity. Do
science, with simple activities as often as possible, in
conjunction with readings.”
Teacher survey questions and results are provided.
1. Did you enjoy today’s workshop?
1). Very much (9)
2). Moderately (0)
3). Neutral feeling (0)
4). Not so much (0)
5). Not at all (0)
2. Do you feel that the workshop was successful?
1). Very much (7)
2). Moderately (2)

20 Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan
(a)
(b)

Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan 21
(c)
(d)

22 Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan
(e)
Figure 1. Teacher survey results.
3). Neutral feeling (0)
4). Not so much (0)
5). Not at all (0)
3. Do you think the workshop enhanced participants’
creative thinking?
1). Very much (6)
2). Moderately (3)
3). Neutral feeling (0)
4). Not so much (0)
5). Not at all (0)
4. Do you think the workshop motivated participants to
prepare and use science activities in the future?
1). Very much (7)
2). Moderately (2)
3). Neutral feeling (0)
4). Not so much (0)
5). Not at all (0)
5. Do you think the workshop was meaningful for sci-
ence education?
1). Very much (8)
2). Moderately (1)
3). Neutral feeling (0)
4). Not so much (0)
5). Not at all (0)
3.2. Science Fair Project Teaching Approach
This method gives students an opportunity to select an
interesting problem to solve for their science fair project.
They develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills
by performing mental exercises in collecting, analyzing,
and interpreting data to draw conclusions about the out-
come of their exciting investigations. In addition, they are
encouraged to use their imagination and talents to prepare
creative displays of their work.
This teaching technique is a relatively new concept in
Japan. Therefore Barry and Kanematsu prepared a special
book, Science Fair Fun in Japan published by Gendai
Tosho, Japan in 2005 [6], for the Japanese students. The
authors used it to lead four major science fairs at Katada
Elementary School, Kitarissei Elementary School, and
Suzuka National College of Technology in Japan. High-
lights of these very exciting and successful events ap-
peared in prominent Japanese newspapers and on the TV
news in Tsu City, Japan. The initial science fairs held at
the elementary schools were carried out as 90 minute
workshops. The students had a science fair using Japa-
nese coins. They determined which Japanese coin held

Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan 23
Table 1. Science activities and songs: US vs. Japan
Hands-On Activities
Category: Positive SongsCategory: Positive
Organization Total Number
Student s Number of Neutral-
Very Positive Reactio
n
Responses
%
(Nearest
Whole %)
Number of Neu-
tral-Very Positive
Reaction Responses
%
(Nearest
Whole %)
Clarkson University (US) 28 28 100 26 93
Edwards-Knox High School (US) 20 20 100 18 90
Canton High School (US) 21 18 86 17 81
Total for 3 US Organizations 69 66 96 61 88
Suzuka National College of
Technology, Japan 43 42 98 28 65
Takada High School, Japan 56 51 91 55 98
Kanbe High School, Japan 39 36 92 30 77
Total for 3 Japanese Organizations 138 129 93 113 82
Total for Both US and Japanese
Organizations 207 195 94 174 84
Figure 5. Creative posters displayed at Japanese Elemen-
tary School Science Fair.
the most drops of water on its surface. All participants
carried out experiments, recorded data, were interviewed
by judges, and prepared graphs and attractive posters
(which included a title, the problem, the hypothesis, the
list of materials, the procedure, the graphs, results, and
conclusions). See photo. Awards were presented to the
winners.
Results of questionnaires completed by the science fair
participants showed that more than 90% of them were
turned onto science and thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Nissan recently (2006) donated money to continue / ex-
pand the science fair activity throughout the country of
Japan.
3.3. Reading and Solving a Mystery Teaching
Approach
This innovative method (which is in its initial stage) pro-
vides students with an opportunity to develop critical
thinking and creative problem-solving skills by reading
stories and solving a mystery.
The authors recently published two creative science
books Develop Critical Thinking Skills, Solve a Mystery,
Learn Science by Tate Publishing, 2007 [7] and the
Japanese Edition by Pleiades Publishing of Japan, 2007
[8] for use in this project. These books target upper mid-
dle school/senior high school students (ages 13 years old
– 18 years old) and their teachers. They include a prob-
lem-solving model, two short stories, and a detailed sci-
ence education component. Students master the steps of a
problem-solving model by acting as detectives to analyze
each short story and solve its crime (problem). Work-
shops using the authors’ creative science books have al-
ready been scheduled for teachers and students in both
the United States and Japan.
4. Conclusions
The Creative Education Program, led by Barry and Ka-
nematsu, is an international effort to promote creative
thinking in students of all ages. Its main goals are to turn
children onto science and engineering, and to develop

24 Workshops in Creative Education for Students and Teachers in the United States and Japan
their creative problem-solving skills. In order to survive
in our ever changing world, the younger generation (our
future leaders, scientists, and engineers) must be able to
solve new and challenging problems. This successful
project is being carried out through workshops using in-
novative teaching techniques and materials, developed by
the authors. It continues to grow and to attract new
schools and students in various countries.
REFERENCES
[1] Barry, D.M., and Kanematsu, H., “International Program
to Promote Creative Thinking in Chemistry and Science,”
The Chemist, Vol. 83, No. 2, 2006, pp. 10-14.
[2] Ebert, C. and Ebert, E. The Inventive Mind in Science.
Colorado:published by Teacher Idea Press, 1998.
[3] Barry, D. M., and Kanematsu, H., “Students Enjoy
Chemical Sensation,” The Science Education Review, Vol.
2, No. 2, 2003, pp. 2-6.
[4] Barry, D. M. (composer). Chemical Sensation with the
Barry Tones {CD}, 1996.
[5] Barry, D.M., Kanematsu, H., Shimofuruya, H., and Ko-
bayashi, T., “Multisensory Science,” The Science Teacher,
Vol. 70, No. 5, p. 66.
[6] Barry, D.M., Kanematsu, H. and faculty at SNCT, Sci-
ence Fair Fun in Japan. Japan: published by Gendai Tosho,
2005.
[7] Barry, D.M. and Kanematsu, H., Develop Critical Think-
ing Skills, Solve a Mystery, Learn Science. Oklahoma:
published by Tate Publishing, 2007.
[8] Barry, D.M. and Kanematsu, H., Develop Critical Think-
ing Skills, Solvea Mystery, Learn Science (Japanese Edi-
tion). Japan: published by Pleiades Publishing, 2007.