Assessing the creativity of scientific explanations in elementary science: an insider–outsider view of intuitive assessment in the hypothesis space

Abstract

Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. AbstractAssessing creativity is commonly believed to be difficult but there is evidence that an intuitive, holistic assessment is easy and reliable. Given that children can engage in creative activity and teachers are expected to foster it, some assessment of it could aid planning and optimise support. Assessing creativity intuitively and holistically could be a useful, quick way of assessing to inform teaching. A teacher of young children, however, is essentially an outsider in the child's world and often also in the world of science.Judging a child's creativity in this way from a child's point of view may not always be easy or reliable. Here, pre-service elementary teachers in the UK assessed explanations of simple science events. Their holistic assessments of creativity did not agree to any great extent. Agreement improved when they assessed some of the attributes of creativity but was still less than expected. Nevertheless, these novices' assessments as a whole showed there was some ability to discriminate usefully between explanations, albeit with considerable variation from teacher to teacher. Some implications for teacher training are described.

Beliefs About Scientific Creativity Held by Pre-Service Science Teachers in the State of Kuwait

“…The study followed steps for ensuring the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. For example, the researchers reviewed similar instruments from related literature, such as Alsahou (2015), Hong and Kang (2010), Lee and Kim (2005), Liu and Lin (2014), Newton andNewton (2009, 2011), Park, Lee, and Oliver (2006), and Lederman, Abd-Elkhalick, and Schwartz (2002). Then, the initial questionnaire was examined and reviewed by three experts in creative and gifted education.…”

Assessment of Creativity in K‐12 Education: A Scoping Review

“…The researchers concluded that the pre‐service teachers needed to acquire more experience and improve their knowledge of creative composition. In earlier research, Newton () examined 60 UK pre‐service elementary science teachers’ holistic assessment of the creativity of students’ scientific explanations. The pre‐service science teachers tended to identify the explanations as creative when they were correct, or when they demonstrated imagination, even if the explanations were implausible.…”

“…Long () found that teachers identified answers that were ‘scientifically appropriate’ as creative. Newton () found that teachers identified answers that were ‘correct’ as creative. Kokotsaki and Newton () found that teachers rated student products as creative when they were appropriate to the task, while imagination, originality, and variety featured to a lesser extent as significant criteria.…”

Development of an Assessment Formula for Scientific Creativity and Its Application

“…그러므로, 장차 과학자 가 되거나 사회에서 과학자의 역할을 이해할 필요 가 있는 학생을 교육시키는 학교 과학에서 과학창 의성 함양을 중요하게 인식하고 실천해야 한다. 과 학자들의 과학창의성에 관한 연구는 몇 가지 있지 만, 학생들의 과학창의성, 특히 평가에 관한 연구는 많지 않은 실정이다 (Barbot et al, 2011;Batey, 2012;Hu & Adey, 2002;Newton, 2010). 과학창의성은 학 교 과학교육의 중요한 한 요소이므로, 형성평가나 총괄평가의 목적으로 사용할 수 있는 구체적이고 실용적인 과학창의성 평가 방법이 필요하다.…”