Dr. Sandra I Kay
Educator
Researcher
Author
Documentarian
A developmental model of creative thought informed by curiosity, wonder, aesthetic understanding, and Elegant Problems.
Core Contribution
What are elegant problems?
Elegant Problems are problems that invite the possibility of elegant solutions while providing others with meaningful creative engagement worthwhile across all levels of expertise.
Featured Project
Engaging the Imagination: Wally’s Way
Engaging the Imagination: Wally’s Way is Dr. Kay’s most recent public work and illustrates how creative observation, aesthetic understanding, and imaginative inquiry can be cultivated through encounters with abstract art. The documentary demonstrates an example of an Elegant Problem and its elegant solution.
Guiding Framework
A Developmental Model of Creative Thought
Dr. Kay’s developmental framework proposes that aesthetic literacy is a factor guiding all stages of advanced creative thought, from beginning to end. Aesthetic literacy—a sense of what is beautiful—guides the natural resources of curiosity and wonder to recognize and seek the peak of creative thought through Elegant Problems and/or Elegant Solutions.
Curiosity & Wonder
â–Ľ
Aesthetic Literacy
â–Ľ
Elegant Problems
â–Ľ
Elegant Solutions
â–Ľ
Creative Potential
Theory, Tools, & Scholarship
Talent Profile
Documenting a developmental model of talent development to create a record of a child’s network of enterprise across domains and time.
Research & Writing
Books, articles, and presentations exploring creativity, aesthetic understanding, talent development, and Elegant Problems.
Dr. Sandra I Kay
Learn about Dr. Kay's career as an educator, researcher, instructional strategist, and developer of the Elegant Problem framework.