Education Commons^™

“It’S Just Lines”: A Qualitative Analysis Of Emergent Structures And Experiences Within Steam Education Initiatives For Secondary-Level Students, John O'Meara

LASER Journal

This qualitative analysis is oriented around the experiences and discourse of high school students participating in LASER (Linking Art and Science through Education and Research), an initiative at Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ that seeks mathematics and physics education reform through an immersive and innovative approach to STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) experiences. This work focuses on the concluding task of a one-day workshop wherein students are led on a campus walk to observe the local campus architecture, and then must recreate one of the observed structures within the Desmos graphing utility. Student approaches and narratives reveal …

Exploring Creative Pedagogical Practices In Secondary Visual Arts Programmes In Ghana, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Secondary visual arts education provides learners with opportunities to develop critical thinking, and their creative potential, as part of their personal growth. This development happens when visual arts teachers actively integrate creative pedagogies to target creative thinking in learners. Ghana's 2019 National Pre-tertiary Curriculum Framework has added creativity as one goal for all learners. This research study explores teachers' perceptions and use of creative pedagogies as part of implementing this creativity into their teaching. A multi-site qualitative case study was conducted in government secondary schools within Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana, and data were gathered from interviews and participant observations. The 16 cases …

An Investigation Into The Role Of Innovative Learning Environments In Fostering Creativity In Secondary Visual Arts Programmes In Ghana, Enock Swanzy-Impraim, Julia E. Morris, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Andrew Jones

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Innovative learning environments (ILEs) have been regarded as one of the contributing factors that facilitate creativity in learners. At the pre-tertiary level of education, Ghana has recently undergone educational reform that sees creativity being added as a key goal for education, but it is unknown if teachers' practices within current educational facilities can support the enactment of this goal. The multi-site qualitative case study explores the secondary visual arts learning environments within the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis in Ghana. Interviews and observations were used as instruments for data collection with 16 visual arts teachers. This study confirmed two categories of environments that …

Is There A Correlation Between Creativity And Learning Achievement? A Meta-Analysis Study, Abdul Manaf, Sintha Sih Dewanti, Socheath Mam, Endang Susetyawati, Ika Ernawati

REID (Research and Evaluation in Education)

This study aims to describe the actual correlation between creativity and learning achievement. The research method used is a meta-analysis involving 41 research titles with 9,675 respondents. This research study involved respondents consisting of elementary education students, secondary education students, and higher education students. The data analysis technique used is a bare-bones meta-analysis. Based on the data analysis, it can be concluded that there is a positive and significant correlation between creativity and learning achievement, both overall and by considering the education level of the respondents. The results of this study recommend that teachers and lecturers develop student creativity in …

Measuring Creativity In The Fermi Problem, A Type Of Mathematical Modeling, Applying Information Theory, Hidemichi Okamoto

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Many methods of measuring creativity have been studied - mainly in psychology. In recent years, there have been attempts to incorporate such creativity into mathematical modelling, a topic handled in mathematics education. Accordingly, some studies have been trying to assess creativity in it. However, there have been no clear criteria or formulas that can be used for any problem, since a rubric has been created for each problem and evaluated individually. In the present study, to measure creativity in the Fermi problem, a type of mathematical modelling, a formula that applies information theory used in information science is proposed and …

Impact Of Traditional Versus Alternative Assessment On Student Achievement, Beth Lustgarten

Honors Projects

The focus of this study looks at the effect of alternative assessment on student achievement in a high school science classroom. Within this action research, students have choices and are able to demonstrate creativity in their alternative assessments. By comparing student results from traditional and alternative assessments, the impact of assessment showed students had an overwhelming preference for completing alternative assessments, and a majority of students did better on the alternative assessment when compared to the traditional assessment.

Development Of A Transcript To Record Learner Creativity And Curiosity, Prue Anderson, Toby Carslake, Anit Cherian, Bethany Davies, Laura Good, Jonathan Heard, Sladana Krstic, Brendan Mcginley, Dara Ramalingam, Sarah Richardson, Claire Scoular, Shani Sniedze, Jennifer Star

Assessment and Reporting

Funded with generous support by the Jacobs Foundation, the ultimate goal of this project was to develop transcripts to track learner progress in the domains of creativity and curiosity. To support this overarching goal, the research team sought to define creativity and curiosity in language that would resonate with learners and teachers and that would be appropriate across numerous cultural settings. The result of the project is a series of prototype materials and resources, specifically: literature reviews, frameworks, enabling environment summaries, reflective quizzes and transcripts. Based on insights from the literature reviews, the researchers developed frameworks to define the constructs …

Doodling As Self-Expression: Building Self-Efficacy In Normally Functioning Adults, Journey Coward

Art Therapy | Theses and Dissertations

While previous studies identify doodling as a useful educational tool, this study sought to determine if doodling can build creative or emotional self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their own capacity to express behaviors necessary to attain specific performance goals. The current study also sought to determine if doodling can be a form of self-care. Research collected was quantitative and qualitative using surveys to measure both creative and emotional self-efficacy along with a doodling activity. Ten participants were recruited through convenience sampling on social media and were included in the study after meeting the inclusion criteria of identifying themselves …

Evidencing Creativity And Curiosity In Ib Schools, Sarah Richardson, Sladana Krstic

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

There is growing recognition of the importance of learners gaining transversal or 21st-century attributes in order to thrive in the contemporary world. This poses a number of challenges for educators. First, to what extent are transversal attributes innate, or do they include a combination of traits and skills? Second, what can teachers do to help nurture these attributes in learners? Third, how can the existence or strengthening of attributes be recognised? In this paper, we draw on work that we are doing for the International Baccalaureate Organisation to define conceptual frameworks for creativity and curiosity. Our goal is to enable …

Research Conference 2021: Excellent Progress For Every Student: Proceedings And Program, Australian Council For Educational Research

2021-2030 ACER Research Conferences

The focus of the 2021 Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) Research Conference is on evidence-based strategies for ensuring that every student makes excellent ongoing progress in their learning. This is an important topic because many students in our schools do not make good, steady progress. Some slip behind and fall increasingly behind the longer they are in school. By the middle years of school, this contributes to significant levels of student disengagement. ACER has invited a number of leading educational researchers to join us to share the findings of their research relevant to this topic. An important conclusion of …

Exploring Differences In Mathematical Creative Potential And Problem-Posing In Gifted And Non-Gifted Middle School Students, Aishah Ahmed Alzahrani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the link between students’ Mathematical Creative Potential (MCP) and giftedness by analyzing their abilities to pose mathematical problems. The participants included 260 gifted and non-gifted students from the 7th and 8th grades, representing four schools and four school districts in Northwest Arkansas. The study developed the Mathematical Creative Potential Scale (MCPS) to measure participant MCP. The MCPS is based on a divergent-thinking technique consisting of five free-structured and semi-structured situations. Students’ plausible problems were scored based on three dimensions of creativity: fluency, flexibility, and originality. This study found that there were statistically …

Creative Thinking: Skill Development Framework, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard

Assessment and Reporting

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has reviewed the extensive literature on creative thinking and developed both a definition and a framework that synthesise and harmonise existing theory and research on creative thinking. This framework has been developed to address the challenges associated with teaching and assessing creative thinking. It outlines creative thinking processes along prescribed strands and aspects informed by a sound evidentiary basis. The aspects contained within the framework are designed to provide foci for teaching and the basis of assessment. ACER’s creative thinking framework identifies key factors that underpin the development of creative thinking with a …

"Untrain Their Brains For Creativity To Feel Normal": A Case Study Of Four Early Career Secondary English Teachers' Perceptions And Practices For Cultivating Creativity, Jennifer A. Jennings

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Creativity in the context of teaching and learning has renewed its popularity in today’s social discourse. Journalists, business leaders, economists, government officials, entrepreneurs, and lay people are calling for those in P-20 education to produce workers and citizens with skills that allow them to be flexible and critical thinkers, as well as innovative problem-solvers. This qualitative, multiple case study examined early-career English teachers’ conceptual understanding of and classroom practices related to cultivating creativity skills among students. Data were gathered through opening interviews, classroom teaching observations, closing interviews.

This study culminated in four major findings. The first was that the teachers …

Creative Thinking: Definition And Structure, Dara Ramalingam, Prue Anderson, Daniel Duckworth, Claire Scoular, Jonathan Heard

Assessment and Reporting

In recent years there has been an increasing recognition that creativity and creative thinking should be fostered as valued outcomes of schooling, either in their own right, or as part of a set of so-called ‘21st-century skills’. While the importance of creative thinking is now widely accepted, it remains the case that there is a lack of agreement regarding a definition of creative thinking, nor is there a universally adopted framework to guide its teaching and assessment. It is in this context that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has reviewed the extensive literature on creative thinking and developed …

Key Skills For The 21st Century: An Evidence-Based Review, Esther Doecke, Quentin Maire

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

It is vital that education systems deliver quality outcomes for all young people and prepare them well for their future in the economy and society. To do so, many systems have traditionally had a strong focus on developing academic skills, particularly in literacy and numeracy. In recent years, education systems have developed greater expectations that schools will also equip young people with a broader set of skills for the 21st century (e.g. creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving). This paper addresses these developments and the challenges they present. Building on an evidence-based review, this paper asks what are the key skills required …

Video Composition, Creative Discourse, And Facilitated Freedom: A Teacher's Journey To Reveal Student Potential, Michael A. Brinkmeyer

MSU Graduate Theses

This research project was conducted in response to students’ lack of engagement in traditional modes of instruction and composition in a high school English Language Arts course. In order to better understand students as creative composers of knowledge, this research project asked students to engage in the video production process in collaborative groups. The research was conducted over the course of eight class periods in three different sections of Junior-level English Language Arts courses. Analysis of the data from this study reveals three important findings: 1) students respond well to creative and relevant performance assessments; 2) students’ collaborative conversations, or …

Unlocking Creative Potential: Catholic Elementary School Principal Perceptions Of Creativity, Kellie Scherer

Doctoral Dissertations

Church documents and scholars affirm that traditional pedagogies are ineffective in preparing students for the demands of the 21st century (CCE, 2014, p. 13, Darling-Hammond, 2010; Hartley, 2003; Kampylis, 2010; Skiba, Tan, Sternberg & Grigorenko, 2010). A review of the literature revealed that a gap in research on the Catholic elementary school principal’s understanding of and commitment to creativity exists. Even teachers who value creativity cannot fully support its development in the classroom without proper training. Continuing education coordinated by principals is one of the few opportunities for teachers to identify and confront their creativity misconceptions. The purpose of this …

Mapping Elementary School Students' Creativity In Science Process Skills Of Life Aspects Viewed From Their Divergent Thinking Patterns, Bambang Subali, Paidi Paidi, Siti Mariyam

REID (Research and Evaluation in Education)

The purpose of this study was to map elementary school students' creativity in science process skills (SPS) of life aspects in science subjects viewed from their divergent thinking patterns using written tests whose items were fitted with Partial Credit Model (PCM). The measurement used a test validated using the IRT approach published in JEE journal in 2015. The trials employed four sets of test, each comprising 20 items completed with anchor items which were fitted referring to PCM. The measurements were performed with larger scale on 14 regional technical implementation unit (RTIU) in Yogyakarta Special Province in five regencies/cities to …

Fostering Creative Ecologies In Australasian Secondary Schools, Leon R. De Bruin, Anne Harris

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates and compares elements of creativity in secondary schools and classrooms in Australia and Singapore. Statistical analysis and qualitative investigation of teacher, student and leadership perceptions of the emergence, fostering and absence of creativity in school learning environments is explored. This large-scale international study (n=717) reveals the impact of teacher behaviours, teaching environments and school leadership approaches that promote and impede the enhancement of creative, critical, and innovative thinking, organisation, and curriculum structures. Implications for Australian schools and teaching urge for secondary education to challenge current, practices, pedagogies and environments, arguing for school-based strategies and considerations that enhance …

The Influence Of Creativity Inhibitors And Collectivist Dynamics, Anthony Abidemi Olalere

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study examines the mediating influence of creativity inhibitors on collectivist dynamics and faculty creativity in higher education organizations. Complexity theory was employed to frame how collectivist dynamic (Complexity Interaction) and creativity inhibitor foster faculty creativity in higher education. The Partial Least Square of Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze data using the PLS algorithm, and mediating effect to assess the predictive accuracy on creativity among 73 tenure and tenure-track faculty members in a south east research-based university in the United States. The result showed that creativity inhibitors have positive influence on the interaction between complexity interaction (collectivist) …

Digital Storytelling As Poetic Reflection In Occupational Therapy Education: An Empirical Study, Lisebet S. Skarpaas, Grete Jamissen, Cecilie Krüger, Vigdis Holmberg, Pip Hardy

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Stories are powerful aids to reflection. Thus, the use of stories may be a pathway to enhanced reflective practice and clinical reasoning skills. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether and how digital storytelling can contribute to occupational therapy (OT) students’ learning through reflections on experiences from placement education. A cohort of OT students (n = 57) participated in a 2-day workshop to create digital stories. Data were generated through a questionnaire with a response rate of 100% of students who completed the workshop (n = 34). Quantitative analysis methods were used to reveal a level of agreement …

T He Effects Of Loose Parts And Nature-Based Play On Creativity In The Montessori Early Childhood (3-6 Year Old) Classroom, Leah C. Yavuz

Masters of Arts in Education Action Research Papers

The purpose of this research was to determine if the addition of natural loose parts, or manipulatives, to the outdoor play yard would increase creativity in the classroom. This study took place in a private Montessori school with 14 children ages 3 to 6 years old over a five-week period. Various methods were used to gather information to determine any change in creativity. Observations of creative behaviors, concentration (state of flow), and spontaneous collaboration were collected as well as drawing tests for creative thinking, and samples of creative writing and artwork. The results of the study found that the loose …

Mathematician's Apology, Tom Clark

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

"Better standards may help all math teachers to shape our classes to better reflect the creativity and play at the heart of mathematics."

Posting about ways to improve math's negative image­­­­­­­­ from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world.

http://inallthings.org/a-mathematicians-apology/

The Psychometric Assessment Of Creativity As A General Ability. A Complete Waste Of Time? Perhaps Not, Brad Jackel

Dr Brad Jackel

No abstract provided.

Reach To Teach, April R. Cowles

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Multiple intelligences theory of Howard Gardner are used as a foundation of research in order to explain how educating students of all learning styles should include interdisciplinary methods and creative applications. Primary and secondary research of Howard Gardner’s theory and interdisciplinary methods, specifically the Integration Model and Broad Model approaches were completed. Two different lesson plans demonstrating how to teach students integrating two disciplines while including creativity were generated as examples of thesis. Qualitative research on creativity and motivation identified connection between the two and why interdisciplinary methods enable more possibilities of adding creativity to lessons taught. Advantages include reaching …

The Inclusion Of Cognitive Complexity: A Content Analysis Of New Jersey's Current And Past Intended Curriculum, Dario Sforza

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Policy makers and educators have stated that the internationally benchmarked standards will place greater emphasis on 21^st century skills including creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, presentation and demonstration, problem solving, research and inquiry, and career readiness. Many educators believe that if schools are “injected” with creativity, students will have a better chance at a prosperous and productive future. Are the current reform movements thwarting the opportunity for students to “find their own niche” and perhaps turning “them into disciples of ‘intellectual clones’ who will do ‘our thing’ rather their own?” (Sternberg, 2003, p. 335). In response to inquiry, this dissertation …

Teaching The Universal Language Of Creativity: A Guide To Training., Carlie R. Arnone

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

Teaching the Universal Language of Creativity: A Guide to Training.

The purpose of education in any regard is to provide knowledge and information, to teach something. Parents, educators, and professionals alike are experiencing some difficulty in education, in that they are not being properly taught how to nurture some particular needs of individuals with developmental disabilities, specifically on how to use creativity to do so. Educators, parents, and professionals in the field need to start advocating for a balance between strict regulations and creativity. In the recent years, there has been quite the push for creativity and innovation in businesses, …

Future-Focused Leadership: Three Mega-Trends Influencing Distance Learning, Connie I. Reimers-Hild

Kimmel Education and Research Center: Faculty and Staff Publications

While many continue to question the skyrocketing costs and value of a college education, future-focused leaders are recreating learning experiences by blending technology with the human experience. What does the future of distance learning look like, taste like and feel like? It can be difficult to predict the future of education as the world continues to evolve at an increasingly rapid pace; however, distance learning administrators can use a future-focused leadership approach, which includes examining megatrends, to plan for the future. Megatrends are global shifts that influence society, the economy and the environment. The purpose of this paper is to …

Creative Classrooms To Teach And Learn Grammar Lessons For Middle School Students With The Design Of Tim, Christina M. Belesovski (Demarco)

Master's Projects

Project Abstract

Creative Classrooms to Teach and Learn Grammar Lessons for Middle School Students with the Design of TIM

This project focuses on creating a classroom as a learning environment to help to teach Middle school students at the level of 8^th grade lessons on grammar. Also incorporated in this project will be the emphasis on the Torrance Incubation Model of Teaching and Learning (TIM).

E. Paul Torrance, better known as “the father of creativity” was quoted once saying, “tomorrow’s world will be vastly different for today’s children. They will do kinds of work that do not exist now. …

Improv(Ing) Students: Teaching Improvisation To High School Students To Increase Creative And Critical Thinking, Beth D. Slazak

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project focuses on teaching High School students improvisational techniques to increase their creative and critical thinking skills. This covers tools of Creative Problem Solving, rules and concepts of improvisational theater, and affective thinking skills. The finished project includes lesson plans, a workbook, and a video that will assist students and educators in teaching these skills.