For 19 years, the author has been teaching scientific research and writing skills using 'Household Chemistry Projects.' These are projects which students propose, and which they perform at home using household chemicals and items. All projects are screened to make sure that they are safe. For the students, one of the hardest parts of this assignment is coming up with interesting ideas that make good research projects. Although creativity is notoriously hard to teach, the author has tried a variety of methods over the years to stimulate and exercise the students' creativity in their proposals for these projects. The successes and failures of these methods suggest that scientific creativity is far more than a 'nice extra,' only to be expected from the most promising students. Rather, it can be a good indicator of how students understand the nature and process of the scientific enterprise, and the importance of formal and informal communications in this enterprise.

Teaching scientific creativity to undergraduates: A forgotten "soft skill"

248th National Meeting (2014)

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