Creativity development through problem-based informal science

GIREP–ICPE–EPEC–MPTL CONFERENCE 2019 Programme

and

Book of Abstracts

Budapest, 1–5 July, 2019

Celebration of Eötvös Year 2019 MPTL

Multimedia in Physics Teaching and Learning

GIREP-ICPE-EPEC-MPTL 2019 CONFERENCE Celebration of Eötvös Year 2019 Teaching-learning contemporary physics, from research to practice 1st July – 5 th July 2019 Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Budapest, Hungary

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME BOOK OF ABSTRACTS

M GIREP S C PT Z P ELFT A BME C K I

BUDAPEST Ö

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Creativity development through problem-based informal science Martha Lucía OROZCO GÓMEZ Universidad de Burgos, Departamento de Ciencias de la Educación, 09001, Burgos, Spain

Radu Bogdan TOMA; Jairo ORTIZ-REVILLA Universidad de Burgos, Departamento de Didácticas Específicas, 09001, Burgos, Spain

María MERINO Asociación Autismo Burgos, 09001, Burgos, Spain Abstract. In this study, a problem-based informal science program called TECNOartea is introduced, and the results of a pilot study on the development of creativity in students (N = 14) with double exceptionality is examined. The results reveal that students’ creativity significantly improved following participation in the 12-week out-of-school intervention program.

1 Introduction Science curriculum and its delivery to students is undergoing continuous reform worldwide.

Nowadays, student-centered teaching approaches are being promoted over traditional pedagogies at all education levels to engage students in scientific and engineering practices [1]. There is a need to advance science education beyond the mere learning of scientific concepts to the development of those competences that allow individuals to become active citizens with the capability to critically engage in problem solving processes that address societal challenges [2].

Among many competences and skills, creativity is being endorsed as critical for everyday life [3] and problem-based learning [4] is being promoted as an effective active teaching method.

The main aim of this study is to present the UBUingenio initiative as an out-of-school science program focused in fostering schience learning and creativity development. Under the UBUingenio initiative, two subprograms destined for gifted students (called Ingenio) and for students diagnosed with dual exceptionality (called TECNOartea) are being designed and implemented at the University of Burgos (Spain). In this paper, we specifically examine the results of a pilot study performed during the 2017-2018 academic year for the TECNOartea program. The main research question guiding this study was: Is there a significant change dual exceptionality student’s creativity following participation in the TECNOartea program?

2 Theoretical underpinnings Problem-based teaching methods are rooted in constructivism theories that consider learning as the construction of meanings from experiences and that postulates that learners must be engaged in real-world situations where the new knowledge is contextualized and used, and the instructional methods adopted by teachers should assist learners in actively explore and build their own understanding [5]. Using this conceptualization, students were introduced to the following problem: “What is the sound? Can sound be visualized?” During the intervention, the physics content addressed was wavelength, period and frequency.

In relation to creativity, despite the many definitions existing in the literature, there seems to be a growing consensus that creativity is related to inventing, designing or proposing novel work.

Therefore, creative people are conceived as those who can produce something new. In this study we adopt Sternberg & Lubart [6] definition of creativity as the ability to generate new, appropriate and high-quality ideas.

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3 Method A pre-posttest quasi-experimental design with no control groups was used in this pilot study.

The intervention lasted 30 hours and was implemented during weekly sessions over twelve weeks. Fourteen students (one girl) diagnosed with double exceptionality constituted the sample.

Students were drawn from the Asociación Autismo Burgos institution situated in the city of Burgos (Spain). The average age of the participants was 11.21 (SD = 3.85), ranging from 6 to 17 years old.

Data was collected using the CREA-C test [7], which is a cognitive measure of creativity that examines the ability of the subject to elaborate questions related to a graphic material as a procedure for the measurement of creativity. Students were shown a picture and were instructed to write for four minutes any question that can be asked about what is depicted in the picture. It is assumed that more questions reflect higher levels of creativity.

Q-Q plots of distributed data revealed that both pre and posttest data was skewed. An inspection of histograms with normality plots revealed that data was positively skewed. Since (i) the distribution is neither normal nor symmetrical, (ii) the dependent variable (i.e. creativity) was measured on a continuous level, and (iii) sample size was small, a non-parametric paired-sample sign test was the most appropriate test to analyze the data [8].

4 Results A paired-sample sign test revealed a statistically significant median increase in number of questions recorded following participation in the pilot study (p = .021). The median CREA-C score significantly increased from pre-program (Md = 10) to post-program (Md = 13.5). All but one students test score improved after the pilot study, with ranges from 1 to 22 additional questions recorded. Students older than ten years old reported an average of 6.6 more question on the posttest compared to only 3.4 more question in the case of students younger than ten years old.

5 Conclusions Taken together, the results of this study seems to show that the proposed problem-based informal science program called TECNOartea improved the creativity of dual exceptionality students through the learning of physics content. Considering the growing importance of creativity for everyday life [3] these findings are promising and suggest that informal science environments using problem-based learning approaches are useful for the development of creativity in this understudied sample, especially in students older than 10 years old.

References [1] NGSS Lead States. Next Generation Science Standards: For States, By States. The National Academies Press, Washington, DC, 2013.

[2] European Commission. Science Education for responsible citizenship. Brussels. European Commission, 2015.

[3] M. A. Runco. Creativity (2nd edition), Academic Press, Boston, 2014.

[4] H. G. Schmidt. Problem-based learning: Rationale and description, Medical Education, 17 (l983) 11-16.

[5] P. A. Ertmer, and T. J. Newby. Article update: Behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism: Connecting “yesterday’s” theories to today’s contexts. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 26 (2013), 65–71.

[6] R. J. Sternberg, and T. I. Lubart. Defying the crowd: cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. Free Press, New York, 1995.

[7] F. J. Corbalán Berná, F. A. Martínez Zaragoza, D. S. Donolo, C. Alonso Monreal, M. Tejerina Arreal, and R. M. Limiñana-Gras. CREA. Inteligencia Creativa. Una medida cognitiva de la creatividad. TEA, Madrid, 2003.

[8] J. H. Zar. Biostatistical Analysis (5th edition), Prentice-Hall/Pearson, Upper Saddle River, 2010.

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