The Manifestation of Creative Thinking in Chinese Mathematics Textbooks for Senior High Schools

• In Event: Role of Curriculum and Instruction for Math Learning

Abstract

Creative thinking is considered as an important higher order thinking skill in mathematics education. However, educators may not be clear about how to cultivate it in daily teaching. This study examines how creative thinking (CT) is manifested in mathematical textbooks of senior high school in China. We apply a modified creative thinking framework to code and classify tasks in the textbooks. Our results indicated that 3.06% of the total tasks (N = 2415) reflect creative thinking and can be classified into ten different categories (e.g., multiple-solution task). In addition, these tasks appeared in different sections (e.g., exercise) and mathematical themes (e.g., functions). The results may provide deep insights for educators to better utilize textbooks and thus promote student creative thinking.

Authors

• Li Ni, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

• Yue Ma, Shanghai Jiao Tong University