Methodological Aspects of Developing Students’ Creative Thinking in Chemistry Lessons

The article examines methodological aspects of developing students’ creative thinking in chemistry lessons. Based on the analysis of psychological and pedagogical approaches to the concept of «creativity», it is interpreted both as a stable personal characteristic and as a process of productive thinking. Special attention is paid to the use of non-standard chemical problems as an effective tool for fostering students’ creative thinking. The paper presents problems with insufficient initial information, open-ended tasks with multiple solutions, explanatory problem-based tasks, and logical problems involving a limited set of reagents. The didactic value of each type of task is analyzed, and their role in developing analytical, logical, and research skills is substantiated. It is concluded that the systematic integration of non-standard tasks into the chemistry learning process enhances students’ cognitive activity, promotes flexibility of thinking, and increases motivation for learning the subject.