Supporting creative problem solving in primary geometry education

Abstract

This intervention study aimed to identify how creative thinking can be supported in geometry education. Fifth-graders received five geometry lessons that incorporated divergent and convergent thinking. Children were assigned to a condition with either no creative thinking support (n = 60), support for divergent thinking (partial support; n = 55) or support for divergent and convergent thinking (full support; n = 59). Divergent thinking was assessed by a multiple-solution task and scored in terms of fluency, flexibility and originality. Convergent thinking was assessed by an idea evaluation task. Repeated measures MANOVA showed that different aspects of divergent thinking (i.e., fluency, flexibility and originality) benefited from different types of support. Students’ fluency scores improved in the full support condition, but decreased in the other two conditions. A reverse pattern was found for flexibility and originality, which decreased in the full support condition but increased in the other conditions. No time and condition effects were found for convergent thinking. In all conditions, there was a non-significant increase in geometry scores. However, geometry performance differed between conditions, and was lower (across pretest and posttest) in the full support condition than in the no support and partial support conditions. These results provide some initial evidence that divergent thinking can be promoted in geometry education. Convergent thinking, on the other hand, might be more difficult to support effectively. As different types of support seem to affect different aspects of divergent thinking, teachers might consider adapting support to the specific task or individual needs of children.