the study of creative thinking l evel of primary s tudents in watsaweatachat s chool

1. the study of creative thinking level of primary students in watsaweatachat school WandeeSrikongchan Ph.D.student, Learning Innovation and Technology Program, Faculty of Industrial Education and Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi Bangkok, Thailand

2. INTRODUCTION Each individual has a unique human thinking process. Psychologists, educators and researchers are showing increased interest in cognitive styles and learning styles, which are the fundamental factors that enhance effective learning for learners at all levels.

3. INTRODUCTION Creative thinking ability is one of the most important skills that teachers must develop in learners. Creative thinking skills are critical to individual success and development of the nation. Every individual possess creative thinking ability. Psychologists and educators have expressed various viewpoints on the concept of creative thinking. Guilford (1950) proposed the concept of "divergent thinking" in the 1950s, when he noticed that creative people tend to exhibit this type of thinking more than others.

4. Creativity has growing significance in contemporary world, and received increased attention in recent educational reforms around the world.

5. What is Creativity? Sternberg and Lubart(1999) : Creativity is the ability to produce work that is both novel and appropriate. In education field, creativity is believed to be a combination of abilities, skills, motivation, attitudes and other factors

6. What is Creativity? Ripple,1999 : Among all these attributes, creative thinking is always considered as central to creativity development. From the cognitive approach, leading scholars of creativity consider divergent thinking as the essence of creative thinking.

7. What is Creativity? Guildford, 1950 : The most influential definition of divergent thinking includes the elements in Structure of the Intellect (SOI) Model, which are Fluency, Flexibility, Originality and Elaboration.

8. What is Creativity? Torrance, 1974: Fluency refers to the number of relevant responses. Flexibility represents a change in thought. Originality refers to the number of unusual, but relevant ideas as measured by the statistical infrequency of the idea. Elaboration refers to the number of details used to extend a response.

9. What is Creativity? Williams (1980): In contrast, some scholars take an effective approach. In William’s Taxonomy of Creative Thought, he suggests that effective factors such as curiosity, imagination, Challenge-taking and risk-taking attitudes are conducive to creativity development, and motivational factors like interest, value and confidence in creative thinking are also important determinants.

10. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Purpose of the research The main purpose of the research was to study creative thinking level of primary students in Watsaweatachat School.

11. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY Research Design This researchdata was collected solely by the researcher. Watsawettachat Schoolwas the most favorable sample because the school supports creative thinking development. Similarly, Prathomsuksa 5 students were found to be the optimal sample because this age group is the most suitable for the development of creative thinking skill.

12. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY • Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Figural Form A • a reliability of .804. • integrated Picture Construction, Picture Completion and Use of Parallel Line. • Students were given 10 minutes for each activity with a total time of 30 minutes for the test. This Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Figural Form Awas translated and modified by AareeRungsinun(1978,1979,1980 reference from AareePhuntumanee, 2004)

13. QUALITY OF RESEARCH TOOL Researchers and experts have examined the quality of the research tool and validated the reliability of scoring between 0.95 and 0.98. This research tool showed a high level of reliability scoring comparing with the required standard reliability of 0.50 (Sirichai Kanjanawasi,2001).

14. This research tool showed a high level of reliability scoring as illustrated below:- Reliability Coefficient of Research Tool

15. THE SAMPLE OF THE STUDY • The sample was selected using purposive sampling. • The sample included 64 Prathomsuksa 5 students of Watsaweatachat School studying in the second semester in the academic year 2011.

16. DATA ANALYSIS • The score for each creative thinking variable will be converted out of 100. • The criterion is shown in this next table. Analysis of Creative Thinking Level

17. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS Creative Thinking Level of Grade 5 Students **The absolute score was taken from the average score of the four variables.

18. DISCUSSIONS The research result showed that overall Prathomsuksa 5 students have a moderate creative thinking score with • a moderate level of Fluency and Elaboration, and • a low level of Flexibility and Originality. The potential cause of low creative thinking level is the negligence of teachers in focusing on developing students’ creative thinking ability.

19. In today’s world Creative thinking ability is Very Essential and can be developed by using various approaches such as teaching, training and creating an Environment which can enhance freedom in learning.

20. The creative thinking variable of Fluencycan be developed by teaching the skills of Word Fluency, Associational Fluency, Expressional Fluency and Ideational Fluency. Elaboration can be developed by teaching students the observational skill and the step-by-step thinking method, which will enhance the ability to think in a more detailed manner. However, Elaboration also depends on age factor (AareePhuntumanee, 2004).

21. Furthermore, to improve Originality and Flexibility, students should be taught to think innovatively and generate new ideas. Teachers can assist by teaching students to analyze problems in different views and learn new solutions to those problems.

22. CONCLUSION Prathomsuksa 5 students of Watsaweatachat School showed a moderate level of creative thinking. Since Torrance Test of Creative Thinking Figural Form A integrates Picture Construction, Picture Completion and Use of Parallel Line, students who are not good at art may find it difficult, hence the low result. However, the research results are limited only to Watsaweatachat School.

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