What creative thinking skills do your students struggle with?

The art teachers in my department decided to survey students self- perceptions of their creative thinking skills. Here is what we asked:

Instructions: The following are specific ways that creativity can be developed. 
Rate yourself in each category. Think about your life and your art.

Red and White (Homecoming) Show, 2010

Do you practice spotting paradoxes? (paradox=irony, inconsistencies and apparent contradictions)
Do you notice discrepancies? (discrepancy=differences, gaps and missing links)
Do you see and make analogies? (analogies=comparison; likenesses among unlike things)
Are you a skilled researcher?  Can you obtain needed information? (artistic research)
Do you overcome the effects of habits? (Can you break out of conventional thinking and habits?)
Do you engage in visualizing? (seeing a problem in your mind’s eye)
Do you carry out intuitive thinking? (making an informed guess, or following a hunch)
Do you communicate in your art? (both skills and willingness)
Do you learn from mistakes?
Can you accept change and novelty?
Can you tolerate ambiguity? (ambiguity=doubt, uncertainty)
Do you have good work habits? (effort does matter)
What strengths and weaknesses did you spot?   
Write one ‘creative’ goal based upon your results.

We would be curious to know what your students report. Ours rated making analogies and seeing paradoxes as their weakest abilities. As a group of art educators, we are now engaged in using instructional strategies and lesson ideas that will help students practice and improve their skills in these areas. Do you have a favorite technique or lesson for improving students use and development of visual metaphors?

-Laura Milas