On the Relationship between Creative Problem Solving Skill and EFL Reading Comprehension Ability

The relationship between language and thinking and the effect of these two skills on each other is accepted by field experts, but the level of the relationship is still a matter of debate. In this research, some part of the relationship between language and thought has been dwelled upon. The aim of the research is to determine the 7th grade students' reading, listening comprehension and creative thinking levels; to determine the relationship between reading comprehension and creative thinking and listening comprehension and creative thinking skills. The data of the study, which is a descriptive field study in the relational screening model, was collected from a total of 380 7th grade students, 199 women and 181 men, in the 2019-2020 academic year. As a data collection tool within the scope of the research; "Reading Comprehension Achievement Test", "Listening Comprehension Achievement Test" and "Torrance Creative Thinking Test Verbal A Form" were used. The analysis of the data was done by pearson correlation analysis. Secondary school students' reading comprehension levels are medium, and their listening comprehension levels are medium. As a result of the correlation analysis, most significant correlation is between reading comprehension and listening comprehension, and the least significant correlation is between reading comprehension and fluency, which is a sub-dimension of creativity. There is a positive, statistically significant relationship between the listening comprehension and creative thinking skill scores. There is a positive and statistically highly significant relationship between reading comprehension and listening comprehension skill scores. There is a positive, significant relationship between reading comprehension and creative thinking skill skills. All of the relationships are statistically significant.

A validation study of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking with a sample of Korean elementary school students

Can a creative interpersonal problem solving program improve creative thinking in gifted elementary students?

In Japan, recently many laboratories are adopting Idea-Marathon System (IMS) for creative training of their researchers. It becomes more important how IMS can contribute to improve creativity through the typical IMS training in quantitative analysis. This paper explains analysis of empirical experiment for measuring effect of creativity improvement before and after IMS training method for about a 3 months period, especially for researchers in R&D and laboratories. To confirm the creativity influence to researchers in details, TTCT (Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking) Figural tests were selected. One major food manufacturer's laboratory in Tokyo, Japan offered us the cooperation for this experiment. There are two tests of TTCT Figural tests, i.e. Pre-test and Post-test. This paper describes the statistical analysis result of both Pre-test (Figural A test of TTCT) and the Post-test (Figural B test of TTCT) between which Idea-Marathon training was continued for about three months by all the participants. As the result of analysis between two TTCT tests scoring before and after IMS training for three months, IMS was found significantly effective to improve creative factors proposed in the TTCT test.

The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) was developed in 1966 and renormed five times: in 1974, 1984, 1990, 1998, and 2008. The total sample for all six normative samples included 272,599 kindergarten through 12th grade students and adults. Analysis of the normative data showed that creative thinking scores remained static or decreased, starting at sixth grade. Results also indicated that since 1990, even as IQ scores have risen, creative thinking scores have significantly decreased. The decrease for kindergartners through third graders was the most significant.

Creativity has been a key graduate attribute and transferrable skill for the universities nowadays. A better understanding of freshmen students’ level of creativity thinking facilitates the cultivation of the ways for nurturing the development of creativity in students throughout their university education studies. The purpose of this study was to investigate creative thinking abilities of first-year undergraduates in Hong Kong using the Torrance Tests of Creativity Thinking (TTCT) – a commonly known assessment for creativity. A total of 492 first-year undergraduates at a university in Hong Kong were asked to complete TTCT Figural Form consisting of picture construction, picture completion and lines activities. Generally, the creative potential of Hong Kong undergraduates was well above the average. The students demonstrated their abilities in generation of a number of relevant ideas (fluency), producing novel responses (originality), abstract thinking (abstractness of titles), and open-minded thinking (premature closure). They exhibited creative strength of, for example, flexible imagination, thinking with senses, and thinking beyond boundaries. However, students’ elaborative thinking, metaphorical-thinking and sense of humor had a lot of room for improvement. Based on the assessment results, some implications on the possible institutional strategies for nurturing creativity among students during university education were discussed.

This study investigated university students' evaluation of their own level of creativity, their teachers' level and their colleagues' level of creativity, as well as the relationship between results in creative thinking measures and in the evaluation of their own level of creativity by the university students. Four hundred and twenty eight Brazilian university students were asked to rate their level of creativity, their university teachers' and colleagues' level of creativity in a seven point scale, after completing the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (Verbal form A). Students judged themselves and their colleagues as significantly more creative than their teachers. It was also found that most students evaluated their teachers as presenting low levels of creativity. Moreover, significant relationships were observed between different measures of creative thinking and the level of their own creativity as evaluated by the students. The results suggest that university teachers are ill-equipped in designing a facilitative environment for creativity. They also give support for the concurrent validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.

On the basis of contradictory findings regarding the factor structure of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) Figural scale, the objective of this study was to compare, through a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), four theoretical models that explain the operationalized creativity construct with the TTCT. We evaluated a sample of 577 Spanish-speaking school children of both genders, aged 9 to 14 years. The CFA of most satisfactory fit identified two correlated factors: (a) innovative and (b) adaptive. Besides, multigroup CFA revealed that the 2-factor solution was invariant (configural, metric, and structural) across gender. Finally, MANOVAs were conducted to analyze the differences in each factor and subscale according to gender, revealing significant group differences. The methodological and educational implications of the results are discussed.

The Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT) is the most widely used norm-referenced creativity test used in gifted identification. Although commonly used for identifying talent, little is known about how creativity tests, like the TTCT-Figural, contribute to the probability of being identified as gifted especially with underrepresented populations. Using nominated students ( n = 1,191) from a diverse midsized urban school district, this study examined the differential predictive validity among student demographics (i.e., race/ethnicity, free/reduced price lunch status, English learning status, sex) and the TTCT-Figural to the probability of being identified as gifted. Results of a multilevel hierarchical generalized linear regression indicated underrepresented groups showed no difference in the probability of being identified after controlling for cognitive ability and academic achievement; the same was true when the TTCT-Figural was included within the model. The inclusion of the TTCT-Figural does contribute to the probability of identification; however, the disproportionality of underrepresented student groups remains in this school district. Gifted administrators looking to enhance equity may not find the solution with the mere inclusion of a creativity assessment. Implications for practice and future directions are discussed.

Torrance Test of Creative Thinking: The question of its construct validity

50 pupils from self-contained classrooms for learning disabled students in Grades 5 and 6 were subjects. The Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking were used as pretests and posttests to measure the effect of instruction for creativity on drawings by these subjects. For 14 wk. the Purdue Creative Thinking Program was used to stimulate the learning disabled group. These children made significantly higher scores than a control group on the figural subtests of drawing of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking.

This research provides evidence of the validity of the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT; 1966, 1990). The sample consisted of 59 Brazilians (29 males, 30 females) who have received public recognition through awards and 69 Brazilians (31 males, 38 females) who have not received recognition. The TTCT were administered to all participants and scored using Torrance's procedure as well as Wechsler's procedure (1985). Results analyzed through Pearson correlations indicated there were significant relationships among creative achievements and the creative indicators in the TTCT (r = .14 to r = .33, p ≤ .05 to p ≤ .001). Persons with recognized and without recognized achievements also could be distinguished on the basis of the presence of creative indicators in the TTCT using t tests. Figural and Verbal Creative Indexes were significantly related. The validity of the Verbal and Figural TTCT to the Brazilian culture was confirmed.

In an era where creativity drives innovation and problem-solving, creating imaginative skills is more crucial than ever. Drama, a dynamic art form involving role-play and improvisation, offers a unique opportunity to support creative imagination. However, the specific impact of drama on enhancing imaginative capabilities has not been extensively explored. This research explores the transformative potential of drama participation on creative imagination. It seeks to uncover how involvement in drama activities can dynamically enhance creative thinking and problem-solving skills. While drama is often used to foster creativity, there is a lack of clear evidence demonstrating how and to what extent drama participation affects creative imagination capabilities. The study involved 120 middle school students (ages 11-14), split into experimental (drama program) and control groups. Pre- and post-tests, such as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) measure, were utilised to evaluate the level of creativity. Chi-square tests, independent sample t-tests, and paired sample t-tests were among the statistical analyses used. The study revealed significant improvements in creativity for students participating in the drama program. Specifically, 7th graders showed the most significant increase in creativity scores, indicating a substantial effect. Engaging in drama activities can be a valuable strategy for enhancing creativity and should be considered in educational and developmental programs. Further research could explore long-term effects and the impact on different age groups.

PurposeThis study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent years, the debate among researchers has persisted regarding the impact of various educational technologies, including interactive learning environments, digital instruction and platforms, and educational games and robotics, on students' creative thinking in diverse educational settings due to inconsistent findings.Design/methodology/approachThis study, conducting a meta-analysis by synthesizing 35 relevant empirical studies with 2,776 participants, aims to investigate the association between educational technology interventions and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and its subscales (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration).FindingsNo evident publication bias was found. From a general perspective, the results demonstrate a moderate level of influence of educational technology on the overall TTCT scale, with high heterogeneity attributed to the adopted instruments, mixed methods and target outcomes. Additionally, the results indicate that only three of the TTCT subscales (fluency, flexibility and originality) are influenced by educational technologies. Among the interventions, interactive learning environments yielded medium to the largest mean effect size. Furthermore, moderator analyses suggest that the effects of interventions on two subscales of TTCT (flexibility and originality) are moderated by school types, research design and the duration of intervention. The conclusion drawn is that interventions promoting students' creative thinking in different educational settings are efficacious.Originality/valueDespite the low homogeneity of the results, which might have influenced the findings, the large fail-safe N suggests that these findings are robust. The study examined potential causes of heterogeneity and emphasized the importance of further research in this area.

During the shifting of teaching and learning methods using computer technologies, much emphasis was paid on the knowledge content more than the thinking skills. Thus, this study investigated the effects of a computer application, namely, designing electronic slides on the development of creative thinking skills of a sample of undergraduate students. A total number of 50 subjects, 25 in an experimental group and 25 in a control group were selected and a design of pre and post-test with an experimental and a control group was employed in this study. Torrance Test for creative thinking (TTCT) form (A) was applied on both groups. The experimental group was taught to design electronic instructional slides using Microsoft PowerPoint. After six weeks, both groups were given the TTCT form (A) again. Using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), the findings revealed significant differences between the two groups favoring the experimental group over the control in the total creative thinking scores. Designing electronic slides can enhance the creative thinking skills for students, and the expansion of using computer applications in promoting thinking and learning skills is recommended.