Thinking Skills and Creativity最新文献

Drawing a paper-based concept map gives students more freedom to express their mental model than digital concept mapping tools. However, this freedom can hinder a uniform structure and make determining the structural quality of students’ mental models more difficult. In this dual-study paper, we develop and determine the reliability of our Width, Depth and Strength Tool (WiDeST) for assessing paper-based concept maps in secondary and tertiary education. In the first study, 157 secondary education students created 1377 concept maps in a longitudinal design over 24 weeks. The first study's results indicate that WiDeST is reliable, with an Omega Total of 0.81. Test-retest stability (ICCk2) ranges between 0.72 and 0.84. To test whether WiDeST remained reliable in tertiary education, we undertook a second study in which 80 students created 80 concept maps. The second study's results show that WiDeST is reliable with an Omega total of 0.70. WiDeST remained reliable while the structural complexity of the mental models increased from secondary education to tertiary education.

Creativity which is driven by negative intention can be termed as malevolent creativity (MC). Existing findings revealed that unfairness promoted regular antisocial behavior like aggression or lying. But the relationship between unfairness and creative antisocial behavior (i.e., MC) have not been investigated. Based on AMORAL theory, two studies were conducted to investigate the relationship between unfairness and MC from trait and state levels respectively. In Study 1, participants completed several questionaries about unfairness, MC, and other personality traits in online formats. Results showed that MC was significantly correlated with individuals’ unfairness, aggression, and moral disengagement. Aggression and moral disengagement played mediating roles between unfairness and MC. In Study 2, the Ultimatum Game paradigm was used to activate participants’ feelings of unfairness and they were further asked to solve MC problems in control or unfair conditions. Results showed that the experience of unfair condition enhanced individuals’ MC performance. Anger and implicit aggression played mediating roles between unfairness and MC. These findings indicate that individuals’ MC performance might be enhanced by unfairness and this effect could be related to individuals’ moral disengagement, aggression and anger.

This article aims to demonstrate how critical thinking skills can be developed as a citizenship competence in higher education. Critical thinking skills are necessary for citizens to participate in democratic processes effectively and consciously. The participants of this “action research” based study are the researcher who conducts the undergraduate course Contemporary World Issues and 30 preservice social studies teachers taking this course. Action research was conducted through distance education at a university during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected through Zoom lessons, student products, semi-structured interviews, semi-structured focus group interviews, and WhatsApp text conversations. Descriptive and content analyses were conducted using MAXQDA 2020 software. According to the research findings, a curriculum based on distinguishing arguments, writing pedagogy, and online group discussions improved students’ critical thinking skills. Students used distinguishing arguments as a cognitive framework for solving social and political problems and thus developed citizenship competence. Throughout the process, feedback was found to be quite functional. The curriculum used in the action research process can be recommended for use in the development of critical thinking skills as a citizenship competency in higher education.

Divergent thinking (DT) tests are often used to estimate creative potential. They have sound theoretical bases, good reliability, and moderate predictive validity. One previous study that sampled gifted and nongifted children tested the interactions among DT indices (fluency, originality, and flexibility) in the predictive equation and reported a respectable validity coefficient of 0.59. Two meta-analyses have also supported the use of DT tests as estimates of creative potential, but neither of these examined interactions among the DT indices. The present correlational, group-comparison (N = 312) investigation (a) replicated the 1986 study and examined interactions among the three DT indices and (b) extended that research by using two newer criterion measures. One was the Creative Activity and Accomplishment Checklist (CAAC) which had been updated such that it included scales for Technological, Athletic, and Everyday creativity, in addition to scales for Art, Science & Math, Writing, and Music. The updated CAAC also used a new method for assessing the quality of creative accomplishment (in addition to the quantity of creative activity). A final novel feature of the present investigation was the use of a second criterion, one that was developed specifically for research on DT. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that the fluency X originality and flexibility X originality interactions were significantly related to the Quantity of creativity activity score. Giftedness, fluency, and the fluency X originality interaction were significantly related to the Quality score. Canonical correlation analyses indicated a predictive validity of 0.73 (p < 0.001) for the total sample. One clear conclusion is therefore that predictions from DT tests should take interactions into account. These findings are discussed in the context of theories which recognize creativity as an important part of giftedness and theories which suggest that several facets of DT need to be taken into account when assessing creative cognition.

With the advancement and promotion of AI in the education domain, learning motivation (MO), critical thinking (CT) and creativity (CR) have drawn immense attention both at home and abroad. To ensure that these skills permeate the education sector in the age of artificial intelligence (AI), the Chinese government proposed the sustainability of multi-disciplinary subjects in higher vocational education to upgrade its industries. Nonetheless, despite this emphasis, the association among MO, CT and CR—deemed essential sustainable skills in the age of AI—remains unclear. This research was aimed at investigating the structural relationship among MO, CT and CR in business English learners from higher vocational colleges in Shanxi in the age of AI. This research was designed as a non-experimental correlational study. Data were collected from 153 business English learners from higher vocational colleges. Furthermore, structural equation modelling was employed to test the validity and reliability of the motivation model and the path relationships among MO, CT and CR. The findings indicated that the instruments utilized were valid and reliable in this research context. In addition, the structural model revealed the significant direct effect of MO on CT and the positive and significant direct effect of CT on CR. Regarding the mediating effect, the total effect of MO on CR and the indirect effect were significant. However, the direct effect of MO on CR was non-significant. Therefore, CT plays a complete mediating role between MO and CR. The findings are expected to contribute domestically and also have key implications for international research.

Intrapreneurial behavior is more and more valued in today's society. However, actually instigating this behavior in individuals is challenging. Drawing upon the theory of planned behavior, we investigate which behavioral components in employees help develop positive intrapreneurial norms, attitudes, perceived behavioral control, intentions and behavior. This work comprises two studies: a first qualitative study with 94 employees to determine twenty intrapreneurial behavioral components. Then, we create and test an intervention in a second study in ten existing teams with 90 employees undergoing a one-month intervention and 100 in a control group. Our results show that our intervention group indeed becomes better in intrapreneurial attitudes, perceived behavioral control, intention, and behavior, compared to the control group, immediately and three months after the intervention. This while contextual turbulence causes a decrease in the intrapreneurial behavior of the control group. To our knowledge, this paper is the first to create an intrapreneurship intervention, and to investigate behavioral components of intrapreneurial behavior.

Previous research has shown that scientific thinking (ST) is a significant positive predictor of scientific academic achievement (SAA), but the fact is that many students who lack ST also achieve high SAA. We hypothesize that there may be multiple pathways to high SAA and a complex interaction of multiple casual conditions, which are beyond the scope of conventional quantitative methods based on variance. This study explores the necessary conditions and sufficient pathways to the formation of SAA using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis. In a public elementary school in southern China, 232 sixth-grade students completed test papers (measuring ST and SAA) and questionnaires (measuring other conditions such as learning strategies, extracurricular scientific activities, student-centered teaching, scientific capital, and parental involvement). The results of the necessary condition analysis indicated that no single condition was necessary to obtain high SAA. Sufficiency configuration/path analysis indicated that there were eight equivalent pathways that achieved SAA, including four high ST-driven paths, two low ST-driven paths, and two other-condition-driven pathways. Potential substitution relationships in similar paths were discussed, as well as the theoretical and practical implications of this study.

In this study, we focused on children's well-being and dual manifestations of divergent thinking (DT), both direct and indirect, to investigate how these constructs correlate with children's literacy achievements. For this purpose, 107 children (52 % boys, mean age: 5.5 years, standard deviation (SD = 0.47 years) were recruited. Children's well-being was studied by counting their negative and positive affects expressed during solitary play and indicated by the positivity ratio, an index commonly used in adult studies but not previously employed in child samples. The same play episodes were used to examine indirect DT through object substitution generation (e.g., using a banana as a telephone), whereas direct manifestations of DT were examined using an alternate uses task that provided an indication of DT's triadic dimensions: fluency, flexibility, and originality. Vocabulary, morphology, and letter recognition tests were used to measure children's literacy achievements. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that well-being is related to literacy achievements through indirect DT manifestation, which drives the flexible thinking dimension when DT is induced directly. We concluded that allocating multiple representations of objects in a play setting provides children with an opportunity to practice flexible thinking, a critical mechanism that connects well-being with literacy skills. This study is significant in revealing the possible mechanisms that explain how well-being affects children's cognitive and academic development. Practically, it provides educational practitioners with insights into monitoring children's mental states and promoting flexible thinking, both implicitly through play activities and explicitly through structure tasks.

This study compares the effects of coding education with educational robot and unplugged coding activities on pre-school students' computational thinking and executive function skills. This study used a pre-test and post-test comparison group quasi-experimental design. The study was conducted in a public kindergarten with 48 pre-school students (24 educational robot- BeeBot® group and 24-unplugged coding group) aged 5-6. The TechCheck-K test was used to measure computational thinking skills, and Executive Functions Battery-Computerized Touch was used to measure executive function skills. The process started with pre-test applications and ended with post-tests after four weeks (16 different sessions) of the implementation in both groups. The study found a statistically significant difference between the computational thinking pre-test and post-test scores of pre-school students in both groups in favor of the post-test. It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference in favor of the educational robot group between the post-test scores of computational thinking skills. In addition, when the findings regarding executive functions were evaluated, there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores of total executive function in favor of the post-test in both groups. However, it was observed that there was no statistically significant difference between the post-test scores of both groups in terms of total executive function skills scores. In addition, when the post-test scores of pre-school students in two groups were evaluated, it was determined that there was no significant difference in computational thinking and executive function skills according to gender. Consequently, it was determined that coding education with an educational robot was more effective for gaining computational thinking skills than unplugged coding activities for pre-school students. However, it was observed that there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the development of executive function skills in pre-school education.

This study aimed to assess the impact of incorporating creative pedagogy within a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) on the development of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) in the field of natural science. A sample of 280 eighth-grade students from a province in Lampung participated in the study. Employing a quasi-experiment design, one experimental group underwent the integration of creative pedagogy within the PBL model, while two control groups did not receive this treatment. The findings from the experiment strongly suggest that the integration of creative pedagogy in PBL sessions significantly enhances the proficiency of higher-order thinking skills within the context of natural science education. Specifically, this integration fosters the students' capacity to critically analyze, evaluate, and devise innovative solutions for intricate problems. By integrating creative pedagogy, students were encouraged to transcend conventional knowledge and apply their critical thinking in authentic real-world scenarios. Notably, students demonstrated not only the capability to pinpoint problem origins but also exhibited prowess in evaluating diverse alternatives, considering consequences, generating creative and workable solutions. However, it is essential to acknowledge the existence of challenges and resistance encountered by both educators and students when implementing creative pedagogy in PBL activities. The implications of integrating creative pedagogy within the PBL model in natural science education underscore a paradigm shift in the learning approach, which has the potential to significantly enrich students' learning experiences.