Students’ Divergent and Convergent Thinking in Groups Focused on Inquiry and Design in Secondary Education

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 9:50 am Four Seasons Ballroom 2-3
  In Roundtable Session: Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG Roundtable: Creativity (Table 5)

Abstract

Divergent thinking (generating ideas) and convergent thinking (selecting and evaluating ideas) are often measured individually via questionnaires. However, it is unclear how student groups align divergent and convergent thinking with each other during a creative project in secondary education. To investigate this, we included 40 participants divided into 11 groups who designed a garden for a residential care center. A thematic analysis of transcribed audio-recordings of one hour of group conversations revealed that students generated and elaborated on each other’s ideas, often when addressing elements of the context. However, ideas were not evaluated thoroughly before they were selected. This implies that to stimulate students’ group creativity in secondary education, teachers should support communication about context and evaluation of ideas.

Authors

• Martina van Uum, Radboud University/Radboud Teachers Academy

• Petrie van der Zanden, Radboud University Nijmegen