Neurodiversity-Affirming Engineering Creativity Assessment: Validating ECAT and Linking ADHD Traits to Creative Productivity

• In Event: Rethinking Ability and Assessment – From Accommodation to Affirmation

Abstract

Traditional creativity assessments, such as the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT), privilege neurotypical cognitive styles and may overlook the creative strengths of neurodivergent learners. Grounded in the neurodiversity paradigm, this study develops and validates the Engineering Creativity Assessment Tool (ECAT), which is a domain-specific, product-based measure capturing fluency, originality, and cognitive flexibility in authentic engineering tasks. Using data from 199 undergraduate students, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses established ECAT’s robust multidimensional structure. Executive functioning was measured with the Barkley Deficits in Executive Functioning Scale (BDEFS), focusing on inhibitory control. Correlation and regression analyses revealed that reduced inhibitory control uniquely predicts higher originality and cognitive flexibility. Findings challenge deficit-based interpretations of ADHD traits, advancing equitable, neurodiversity-affirming creativity assessment in engineering education.

Authors

• Zeynep Gonca Akdemir, University of Connecticut

• Arash Zaghi, University of Connecticut