The relation between creativity and students\u2019 performance on different types of geometrical problems in elementary education

Eveline M Schoevers,Evelyn H Kroesbergen,Mirjam Moerbeek,Paul P M Leseman

doi:10.1007/s11858-021-01315-5

Abstract

AimIn the current study we aimed to investigate the relation between creativity and mathematical problem solving in the upper grades of elementary school.MethodsTo examine how student’s levels of general creativity were related to their performance on different types of geometrical problems, a geometry test with diverse problems was administered to a sample of 1665 Dutch students from third to sixth grade, as well as a creativity test. The geometry test consisted of four closed-ended routine problems, six closed-ended non-routine problems (related to a visual artwork) and four open-ended non-routine problems (multiple solutions problems). The Test of Creative Thinking—Drawing Production was used to measure students’ creativity. Multivariate multilevel analyses were conducted to take the nested structure of the data into account.ResultsThe results showed that creativity was a significant predictor of students’ performance on all types of geometrical problems, but most strongly associated with performance on open-ended non-routine problems, suggesting that students with higher levels of creativity perform better in solving geometry problems in general, but especially in geometry problems asking for multiple solutions.

Highlights

In contemporary mathematics textbooks for elementary education, students predominantly have to solve routine problems in which they have to reproduce and apply a fixed solution procedure in one or two steps (Kolovou et al, 2009; van Zanten & van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, 2018)
The present study investigated the relations between students’ independently assessed domain-general creativity and their performance on three types of geometry problems: closed-ended routine, closed-ended non-routine and open-ended non-routine problems
The results show that students who scored higher on the general creativity test, were better in solving geometrical problems regardless the type of problem

Summary

Introduction

In contemporary mathematics textbooks for elementary education, students predominantly have to solve routine problems in which they have to reproduce and apply a fixed solution procedure in one or two steps (Kolovou et al, 2009; van Zanten & van den Heuvel-Panhuizen, 2018). It is increasingly considered important that students learn to solve problems that are not straightforward and for which they do not have a learned solution immediately available (Schoenfeld, 1983), and which, may elicit other, more complex cognitive processes, such as creative thinking (Liljedahl et al, 2016). Different types of non-routine and open problems exist (Leikin, 2018), and it is an open question if all types of non-routine and open problems call upon creative thinking . To answer this question, we investigated the relations between students’ creativity and their performance on three types of mathematical problems in the upper grades of elementary school. Typical topics in geometry in the upper grades of elementary school are (1) ‘spatial sense’, including localizing, taking a standpoint and navigation, (2) ‘plane and solid figures’, including

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