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

Newton, D.P.

Abstract

Assessing 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. 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.

Citation

Newton, D. (2010). Assessing the creativity of scientific explanations in elementary science: an insider-outsider view of intuitive assessment in the hypothesis space. Research in Science and Technological Education, 28(3), 187-201. https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2010.501752

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Nov 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Jul 15, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 10, 2012
• Journal: Research in Science and Technological Education
• Print ISSN: 0263-5143
• Electronic ISSN: 1470-1138
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 28
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 187-201
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02635143.2010.501752
• Keywords: Primary science, Assessing creativity, Explaining in science.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1543285