Assessment of mathematical creative thinking: A systematic review

Abstract

With the increasing attention to mathematical creative thinking (MCT) in mathematics education, there has been a concomitant rise in the need to and interest in investigating how to assess MCT skills. Thus, a systematic review was conducted on how MCT has been assessed in the literature. We reviewed 70 journal articles to analyze specific MCT assessments from four perspectives: educational context, assessment of the familiar mathematics context, measurement tools, and reliability and validity of evidence. We found that (a) additional MCT measurements tools are necessary for secondary and high school levels; (b) the most familiar mathematics context for assessing MCT focuses Aon the curriculum of students according to the class level; (c) tools for assessing MCT often used open-ended questions, interview, multiple-choice, questionnaire, open-ended based on ethnomathematics, and Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT); and (d) the validity and reliability of the evidence of the MCT assessment tool should be collected and reported in further research. This systematic review identifies research gaps and topics for further research to conceptualize and assess MCT skills. The findings are expected to benefit researchers and teachers, to help them decide the best measurement tool to use in MCT assessment.