Creative Thinking in Science: Influence of Ethnicity, Gender and Grade Level in Co-educational Schools, Kenya
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70232/jrep.v2i1.17Keywords:
Creative Thinking, Ethnicity, Gender, Grade LevelAbstract
The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of ethnicity, gender and grade level on creative thinking in science among co-educational secondary school students. The study employed cross-sectional design with purposive sampling through which 363 students were sampled from 2 co-educational secondary schools in Kakamega (n = 198) and Siaya (n = 165) counties of Kenya. The entire sample was made of grade 9 (n = 95), grade 10 (n = 99), grade 11 (n = 75), and grade 12 (n = 94) students. The same sample consisted of 168 males and 195 females. Students Science Creativity Questionnaire (SSCQ) was adapted from Smith (2019), piloted and used to measure creative thinking in science. The instrument measured four dimensions of divergent creative thinking as fluency, flexibility, elaboration and originality. The data were analysed using a 4 x 2 x 2 MANOVA. The findings indicated statistically significant ethnic differences between Luo students from Siaya county and Luhya students from Kakamega county with regard to fluency and flexibility in favor of Luhya students. There were no statistically significant gender differences in creative thinking in science and statistically significant grade level differences in the dimensions of fluency, elaboration and originality. The findings have implications for pedagogic practice. Science teachers could deliberately make learning environments characterised creative learning activities which require learners to to generate multiple ideas and encourage students to solve scientific problems. Such learning environments could be made to encourage gender inclusive pedagogic practices and tailor creative learning experiences to grade level of learners. The discussion, conclusions and recommendations of the study are herein explained.
Metrics
References
Abdalla Alabbasi, A.M., Thompson, T.L., Runco, M.A., Alansari, L.A., & Ayoub, A.E.(2022). Gender differences in creative potential: A meta-analysis of mean differences in variability. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/aca000056
Ahmadi, N., & Besancon, M. (2017). Creativity as a stepping stone towards developing other competencies in classrooms: Review. Education Research International, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/1357456
Alacapinar, F.G. (2013). Grade level and creativity. Eurasian Journal of Educational Research, 50, 247-266.
Amabile, T.M. (1988). A model of creativity and innovation in organizations. Research in Organizational Behaviour, 10, 123-167.
Baer, J. & Kaufman, J.C. (2008). Gender differences in creativity. Journal of Creative Behaviour, 42(2), 75-105.
Barbot, B., Lubart, T.I., & Besancon, M. (2016). “Peaks, slumps and bumps”: Individual differences in the development of creativity in children and adolescents. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development, 2016 (151), 33-45. https://doi.org/10.1002/cad.20152
Beghetto, R.A., & Kaufman, J.C. (2007). Toward a broader conception of creativity: A case for “mini-c” creativity. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts, 1, 73-79.
Beghetto, R.A., & Kaufman, J.C. (2014). Classroom contexts for creativity. High Ability Studies, 25(1), 53-69. https://do.org/10.1080/13598139.2014.905247
Charles, R.E., & Runco, M.A. (2001). Developmental trends in the evaluative and divergent thinking of children. Creativity Research Journal, 13(3-4), 417-437. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326934CRJ1334_19
Cheung, P.C., & Lau, S. (2010). Gender differences in the creativity of HongKong school children: Comparison by using the new electronic Wallach-Kogan Creativity Tests. Creativity Research Journal, 22(2), 194-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.481522
Cheung, P.C., & Lau, S. (2013). A tale of two generations: Creativity growth and gender differences over a period of education and curriculum reforms. Creativity Research Journal, 25(4), 463-471. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2013.843916
Choi, J.N. (2004). Individual and contextual predictors of creative performance: The mediating role of psychological processes. Creativity Research Journal, 16(2&3), 187-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2004.9651452
Claxton, A.F., Pannells, T.C., & Rhoads, P.A. (2005). Developmental trends in the creativity of School-age children. Creativity Research Journal, 17(4), 327-335. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1704_4
Cox, B.F. (2002). Relationship between creativity and self-directed learning among adult community college students (Doctoral dissertation, University of Tennesse).Tennesse Research and Creative Exchange. https://trace.tennesse.edu/utk_graddiss/2531
Fraenkel, J.R., & Wallen, N.E. (2008). How to design and evaluate research in education (7th ed.). McGraw-Hill.
Gall, M.D., Borg, W.R., & Gall, J.P. (2003). Educational research: An introduction (7th ed.). Longman, Inc.
Ghayas, S., Akhter, S., & Adil, A. (2012). Impact of gender and subject on the creativity level of high and low achievers. Journal of Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 39(1), 150-156.
Glaveanu, V.P. (2013). Rewriting the language of creativity: The five As framework. Review of General Psychology, 17, 68-81.
Guilford, J.P. (1967). The nature of human intelligence. McGraw-Hill.
Hemdan, A.H., & Kazem, A.M. (2019). Creativity development of high achieving students.Creativity Research Journal, 31(3), 296-308. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2019.1641684
Hong, E., Peng, Y., O’ Neil Jr, H.F., Wu, J. (2013). Domain-general and domain-specific creative thinking tests: Effects of gender and item content on test performance. Journal of Creative Behavior, 47(2), 89-105. https://doi.org/10.1002/jocb.26
Kaufman, J.C., & Glaveanu, V.P. (2021). An overview of creativity theories. In J.C. Kaufman & R.J. Sternberg (Eds.), Creativity: An introduction (pp.17-30). Cambridge University Press.
Kaufman, J.C., Baer, J., & Gentile, C.A. (2004). Differences in gender and ethnicity as measured by ratings of three writing tasks. Journal of Creative Behavior, 38(1), 56-69.
Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (2014). Economic survey 2014. Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Nairobi, Kenya.
Khakhurin, A.V. & Motalleebi, S.N.S. (2008). The impact of culture on the creative potential of American, Russian, and Iranian college students. Creativity Research Journal, 20(1), 404-411. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400410802391835
Kim, K.H. (2009). Cultural influence on creativity: The relationship between Asian culture (Confucianism) and creativity among Korean educators. Journal of Creative Behavior, 43(2), 73-93.
Kim, K.H. (2011). The Creativity crisis: The decrease in creative thinking scores on the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking. Creativity Research Journal, 23(4), 285-295. https://doi.1080/1040419.2011.627805
Kozlowski, J.S., Chamberlin, S.A., & Mann, E. (2019). Factors that influence mathematical creativity. The Mathematics Enthusiast, 6 (1), Article 26. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/tme/vol16/iss1/26
Kyungwhwa, L. & Hyejin, Y. (2016). Cross-cultural research on the creativity of elementary school students in Korea and Australia. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(11), 2618-2626. https://doi.10.13189/ujer.2016.04115
Lee, H., Kim, J., Ryu, Y., & Song, S. (2015). Do people use their implicit theories of creativity as general theories? Journal of Creative Behaviour, 49, 77-93. https://doi:10.1002/jocb.55
Ma, H.H. (2009). The Effect size of variables associated with creativity: A meta-analysis. Creativity Research Journal, 21(1), 20-42. https://doi:10.1080/104004/0802633400
Naderi, H., Abdullah, R., Aizan, H.T., Sharir, J. & Mallan, V.K. (2009). Gender differences in creative perceptions of undergraduate students. Journal of Applied Sciences, 9(1),167-172.
Ndeda, M.A.J. (2019). Population, movement, settlement and the construction of society to the East of Lake Victoria in pre-colonial times: The Western Kenya case. The East African Review, 52, 83-108. http://journals.openedition.org/eastafrica/474
Plucker, J.A., Beghetto, R.A., & Dow, G.T. (2004). Why isn’t creativity more important to educational psychologist? potentials, pitfalls and future directions in creativity research. Educational Psychologist, 39(2), 83-96. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep3902_1
Rhodes, M. (1961). An Analysis of Creativity. Phi Delta Kappan, 42 (7), 305-310.
Roue, L.C. (2011). A study of grade level and gender differences in divergent thinking among 8th and 11th graders in a mid-western school district (Doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota). Minnesota.
Runco, M.A. & Jaeger, G.J. (2012). The standard definition of creativity. Creativity ResearchJournal, 24 (1), 92-96. https://doi.10.1080/10400419.2012.650092
Runco, M.A. (2011). Developmental trends in creative abilities and potentials. In M.A. Runco & S.R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of creativity (Vol. 1, pp. 376-378). Elsevier.
Runco, M.A. (2014). Creativity theories and themes: Research, development and Practice (2nd. ed). Elsevier. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-410512-6.00002-3
Runco, M.A., Cramond, B., & Pangani, A.R. (2010). Sex differences in creative potential and creative performance. In D. Mc Creary (Ed.), Handbook of Gender Research in Psychology (Vol. 2, pp.343-357). Springer.
Sarsani, M.R. (2011). Socio-economic status and performance in creativity tests. In M.A. Runco & S.R. Pritzker (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of creativity (2nd ed.) pp. 360-363. Academic Press.
Shaheen, R. (2010). Creativity and education. Creative Education, 1(3), 166-169.https://doi.10.4236/ce.2010.13026
Shao, Y., Zang, C., Gu, T., & Yuan, Y. (2019). How does culture shape creativity? A mini-review. Frontiers in Psychology, 10 (1219), 1-8. https://doi:103389/fpsy.2019.01219
Sing, L. & Ping, C.C. (2010). Developmental trends of creativity: What twists of turn do boys take at different grades? Creativity Research Journal, 22 (3), 329-336. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2010.503543
Smith, J.E. (2019). Creative self-efficacy: Students in general education with learning disabilities and with gifts and talents (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nevada). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones, 3679. https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations/3679
Sternberg, R.J. (2006). The nature of creativity. Creativity Research Journal, 18(1), 87-98. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326934crj1801_10
Sternberg, R.J., & Lubart, T. I. (1995). Defying the crowd: Cultivating creativity in a culture of conformity. Free Press.
Tabachnick, B.G., & Fidell, L.S. (2007). Using multivariate statistics. (5th Ed.). Allyn and Bacon.
Taylor, C.L., Said-Metwaly,S., Carmada, A., & Barbot, B. (2023). Gender differences and variability in creative ability: A systematic review and meta-analysis of the greater male variability hypothesis in creativity. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000484
Tomassoni, R., Treglia, E., & Tomao, M. (2018). Creativity across cultures: Comparison between Uganda and Italian students. Creativity Research Journal, 30(1), 95-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2018.14/1565
Torrance, E.P. (2008). Torrance tests of creative thinking: Norms-technical manual, verbal forms A and B. Scholastic Testing Service.
Wang, B., & Greenwood, K.M. (2013). Chinese students’ perceptions of their creativity and their perceptions of western students’ creativity. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology, 33(5), 628-643. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ecuworks2013/807
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Richard Ongowo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
