Dr. Richard H. McCuen is an Emeritus Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Maryland. He retired in 2020 as the Ben Dyer Professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering. Dr. McCuen received a BSCE degree from Carnegie-Mellon University (1967) and the MSCE and Ph.D. (1971) degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He was a faculty member at the University of Maryland for 49 years and served as Director of the Engineering Honors Program for more than 35 years. Each year, Dr. McCuen taught an honors course that was centered about the topic of creative thinking.

Critical Thinking, Idea Innovation, and Creativity discusses methods of solving complex problems, demonstrates the benefits of using imaginative thinking, identifies ways to overcome inhibitors, provides guidelines for assessing creative experiences, and encourages the application of these methods.

1. Introduction. 2. Processes for Problem Solving. 3. Brainstorming: Fundamentals of Idea Generation. 4. Synectics: Analogical Brainstorming. 5. The Delphi Method. 6. Checklist Development and Applications. 7. Inhibitors of Creativity and Innovation. 8. Assessment of Critical Thinking Activities. 9. A New Perspective on Critical Thinking. 10. The Skill Dimension of Critical Problem Solving. 11. The Value Dimension of Critical Problem Solving. 12. The Mindset Dimension of Critical Problem Solving. 13. The Thinking Dimension of Critical Problem Solving. 14. Leadership of Critical Problem Solving. 15. Critical Thinking: Applications to Research. 16. Critical Decision Making. 17. Introspective Idea Innovation. 18. Conclusions.