Thinking Skills and Creativity最新文献

The present paper describes a new, theoretically grounded model for stance de-centring that advocates for enhancing foreign language learners’ intercultural awareness, sensitivity, and behaviours. This model embraces both three levels of stance de-centring: epistemic, emotional and effective, and three dimensions of intercultural competence: cognitive, affective and conative. Epistemic, emotional, and effective stance de-centring is carried out at the cognitive, affective and conative intercultural dimensions to raise foreign language learners’ intercultural awareness, develop their intercultural sensitivity, and activate their intercultural behaviours. Each intercultural dimension comprised within the model is rigorously examined, highlighting the importance of nurturing skills in critical thinking, empathy, and behavioural adaptability to counter ethnocentrism through stance de-centring. Practical examples illustrating the successful implementation of the stance de-centring model within the foreign language classroom are also presented. These examples elucidate the practical application and potential impact of the model, offering insights into fostering inclusive environments and preparing foreign language learners to navigate diverse cultural landscapes as future agents of change.

This study investigates the potential of using ChatGPT, a large language model, to assess students' critical thinking in online peer feedback. With the rapid development of technology, big language models, such as ChatGPT, have made significant progress in natural language processing in recent years and have good potential for application in teaching evaluation and feedback. However, can generative AI help educational practitioners in teaching and learning? How to accurately assess students' critical thinking using generative AI remains a challenging task. This study investigates whether ChatGPT can effectively evaluate critical thinking using established coding systems. By comparing the consistency and accuracy of manual coding with ChatGPT coding in online peer feedback texts, it clarifies how ChatGPT processes online peer feedback data and conducts assessments. Through a comprehensive analysis employing various metrics including precision, recall, F1 score, and a confusion matrix, we assess ChatGPT's performance. Additionally, we group students and analyze how ChatGPT's assessments relate to their critical thinking levels. Our findings suggest that the ChatGPT demonstrated some ability to assess higher dimensions of critical thinking, but showed limitations in assessing the more granular secondary dimensions under the higher dimensions of critical thinking. However for this kind of granular assessment will more accurately capture the level of learning critical thinking. Surprisingly, ChatGPT's evaluations are not influenced by students' critical thinking levels. This study underscores ChatGPT's potential in automating critical thinking assessment at scale, alleviating the burden on educators and enhancing understanding of critical thinking in peer feedback.

The article reviews different interventions to teach critical reading and proposes a tested two-stage critical reading model, starting from identifying the author's purposes to responding to the text. In the stage of identifying the author's purposes, students need to analyse the text and connect the text to its context. In the stage of responding to the text, students need to evaluate the author's message. After a teaching experiment carried out with undergraduate students (n = 39), a vast majority of the participants (94.87%) believed that the model helped them to practise fundamental reading skills, such as predicting, identifying the main idea, arguments and evidence, to construct their critical thinking by reflecting, understanding different perspectives and building their own arguments. From students’ suggestions, the model is revised to make it more interactive and dynamic by applying the double-entry note technique and repetitive reading in groups with discussion to exchange viewpoints and interpretation.

Question-asking, an underexplored aspect of creativity, is integral to creative problem-solving and information-seeking. Previous research reveals that lower creativity correlates with asking simpler, closed questions, while higher creativity correlates with complex, open-ended inquiries. The present study explores the relation between question asking complexity and problem-solving tasks involving open- and close-ended thinking and how these abilities generalize and compare to AI. In Study 1, participants (N = 89) completed the alternative questions task (AQT), a close-ended riddles task (Stumpers), and the alternate uses task (AUT), a creativity measure. Our results show AQT question complexity wasn't correlated with stumpers performance, although it correlated with AUT originality (r = .3). In Study 2, participants (N = 100) completed the AQT, AUT, and open-ended creative problem-solving (CPS) task. CPS responses were evaluated for originality and quality. A positive correlation was observed between CPS quality and AQT complexity (r = .29) and originality (r = .34). In study 3, AI agents (N = 100) completed the AQT, AUT, stumpers, and CPS tasks. Like humans, AI's AQT originality and complexity were related with open, but not closed problem-solving. AI questions were also significantly more creative and complex, it solved more stumpers and gave higher quality CPS solutions. Surprisingly, human and AI CPS originality didn't differ. We find significant links between question complexity and open—but not closed-ended—problem-solving in humans, which generalize to AI. Our results highlight the significance of complex and creative question-asking in everyday life and as an integral part of our problem-solving toolkit.

This study aims to explore the pivotal roles of environmental resources (ER) and grit in fostering creativity, while meticulously examining the diverse effects of motivation on creativity across various educational stages, ranging from primary school to university. A large random sample of 47,278 Chinese students was examined for ER, grit, motivation, and daily creative behavior using questionnaires. The findings revealed that ER and grit positively predicted creativity among students. ER, and grit among high school and university students predicted creativity through autonomy orientation, whereas those among upper primary schools were predicted through controlled orientation. Additionally, the creativity of lower primary schools is predicted through controlled-autonomy orientation. The current research reveals that the impact of autonomy and controlled orientation on creativity varies among students of different grades. These findings enrich current models of motivation on creativity and provide a reference for the application of external rewards in teaching and learning among different grade students.

The current study examined the role of mindfulness-enhancing instruction (MEI) in university students’ Electroencephalogram (EEG) dynamics, Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), and effective learning. In so doing, 60 junior university students, being screened out of 72 available sample, were randomly assigned into two groups. MEI was incorporated into class activities of the experimental group during the term. A package containing a host of activities was devised, integrating general meditation practices with educational MEI. These in-class activities were complemented with daily at-home practices offered by a mobile application. To assess participants’ level of HOTS, two tests from the “Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal” (CTA) (Form A) was utilized. In this study, inference and deduction modules were included. The participants responded to the tests while they were involved in EEG acquisition. The results of statistical analysis demonstrated the efficiency of the implemented MEI in enhancing two dimensions of HOTS (inference-making & deduction) as well as academic achievement. The EEG analysis demonstrated notable changes in the experimental group's brain activity patterns. Specifically, there was a significant decrease in the ratio of energy in the alpha to beta frequency band (α/β ratio) for Fp1 and Fp2 channels post-meditation, indicative of heightened attentiveness. Conversely, the control group exhibited less pronounced changes in the EEG measures.

In the context of tertiary education, the ability to evaluate sources is of paramount importance for students’ academic reading and writing development, particularly for first-year university students who are still in the transitional stage. Some researchers have argued that Chinese students may lack critical thinking skills, including evaluation skills. However, little attention has been given to this higher-order thinking skill when it comes to first-year Chinese university students reading academic literature. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the criteria used by 117 Chinese first-year undergraduates when evaluating academic literature and how these criteria influence their evaluation accuracy. The results revealed that students generally demonstrated the ability to distinguish reliable from unreliable academic documents by utilizing a range of evaluation criteria. Among the identified criteria, Topicality and Publication Information were prominently employed by students. Furthermore, these criteria accounted for approximately 21 % of the variance in evaluation accuracy, with Publication Information, Reference, and Data significantly predicting evaluation performance. The study also discussed the pedagogical implications of teaching academic literacy to first-year undergraduates.

Digital technologies are increasingly acknowledged for their potential to enrich early childhood learning experiences, particularly in the area of creativity. However, research has tended to focus upon end products and skill development, and little is known about creative development processes. This study sought to explore young children's creative processes as they engaged with three digital coding devices over an eight-week period as part of a Digital Discovery Program. It employed a microethnography to provide nuanced observations of five young children's (aged 4–5 years) interactions and behaviours. Data was collected through approximately 40 hours of video recordings, capturing the dynamic and multimodal aspects of the childrenʼs play and learning experiences. A multimodal interaction analysis was used to examine the multimodal design affordances of each device as mapped against Murcia et al.'s (2020) A-E of Creativity Framework. The findings revealed a clear interplay between digital technologies and various modes of communication, with children demonstrating creativity through their verbal expressions, manipulation of the devices, and spatial understanding of their physical environment. By understanding the multimodal affordances of digital devices aligned with educational frameworks and embracing child-specific definitions of creativity, educators, curriculum designers, policymakers, and researchers can collectively promote creativity and enrich digital learning and play for young children.

This paper investigates the intersection of media and design literacies in learners becoming more competent in developing complex ideas within a history classroom. Drawing from multiliteracies, design literacy, and media literacy, this paper conceptualizes media design rhetoric as a process. It utilizes a virtual exhibition as a facilitator to deepen the understanding of propaganda. We accumulate qualitative data from artifacts created by 10th and 11th graders (age range: 15–17) in a history classroom within a suburban high school in Western Canada, with written reflections on their artifacts. artefact analysis is followed by thematic and subject analysis in NVivo 12. Results show that media design rhetoric supports learners in deepening their understanding of propaganda, critically reading media, and creatively communicating messages. Results suggest that virtual exhibitions can be pivotal in creating new artifacts with complex but interest-driven topics. This research introduces media design rhetoric as a bridging concept (between multiliteracies, design literacy, and media literacy) and situates virtual exhibitions as a facilitator for developing complex ideas. This research highlights the significance of critical thinking and creativity in the media design rhetoric, as students critically engaged with historical content and creatively adapted it to modern contexts.

Critical thinking has been recognised as a core skill in the latest English curriculum standards for secondary schools in China. However, the current state of critical thinking education in China remains underdeveloped. Although some Chinese secondary schools have reported success in infusing critical thinking into regular teaching, there is little evidence of its impact as no independent robust studies have been conducted. The aim of this study was to determine whether the infusion of critical thinking in the regular curriculum has any impact on improving Chinese secondary students’ critical thinking skills and academic attainment using a more robust research design that can establish causation. Twenty-one English language teachers and 2,011 Grade 8 students from four rural secondary schools in China participated. The intervention was delivered by 11 experimental English language teachers once a week for three months. The impact of the intervention was measured by differences in modified standardised critical thinking skill tests. A process evaluation, including class observations and interviews, was also conducted to determine fidelity to the treatment. The results indicate a small positive impact of the infusion teaching on students’ critical thinking skills. Therefore, it is feasible and promising to infuse critical thinking into the English curriculum in China's secondary schools. However, the positive impact was not observed in academic attainment outcomes. The trial provides policy and educational practice recommendations to support the development of critical thinking skills among Chinese students.