UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones August 2019 Effects of Creativity Instruction in Science on Creative Thinking and Science Achievement in Chinese Students Yun Peng Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons, and the Educational Psychology Commons Repository Citation Peng, Yun, "Effects of Creativity Instruction in Science on Creative Thinking and Science Achievement in Chinese Students" (2019). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 3743. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/16076284 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 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EFFECTS OF CREATIVITY INSTRUCTION IN SCIENCE ON CREATIVE THINKING AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT IN CHINESE STUDENTS By Yun Peng Bachelor of Science – Educational Technology South China Normal University 2003 Master of Science – Educational Psychology University of Nevada, Las Vegas 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy - Educational Psychology Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education College of Education The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2019 Copyright 2019 by Yun Peng All Rights Reserved ii Dissertation Approval The Graduate College The University of Nevada, Las Vegas July 16, 2019 This dissertation prepared by Yun Peng entitled Effects of Creativity Instruction in Science on Creative Thinking and Science Achievement in Chinese Students is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy - Educational Psychology Department of Educational Psychology and Higher Education E. Michael Nussbaum, Ph.D. Kathryn Hausbeck Korgan, Ph.D. Examination Committee Chair Graduate College Dean Lori Olafson, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Stefani Relles, Ph.D. Examination Committee Member Hasan Deniz, Ph.D. Graduate College Faculty Representative ii ABSTRACT This study investigated the effectiveness of the 3eT instructional model designed by Hong (Hong, 2012a; Hong, O’Neil, Drobick, & Beisel, 2013) that focused on increasing students’ creative-thinking ability. 120 seventh-graders in China participated in the study. Participants were randomly assigned to the experimental or the control group. They learned a segment of a science curriculum unit with instructional materials developed based on the 3eT model which aimed to encourage students to use creative thinking techniques. Patterns of students’ perceptions of a creative person were compared between the experimental group and the control group. Content analyses of students’ narrative responses elicited five themes: Thinking Ability, Personality, Motivation, Intelligence, and Skills. In general, both the control and the experimental groups provided similar results for the five themes. However, Fisher’s exact tests indicated that students in the experimental group proposed more concepts related to “Divergent thinking,” “Like to conducting experiments and research,” and “Having special talents,” which were some of the key features that the 3eT instructional model had emphasized during the training. The MANOVA tests indicated that significant differences were found in the combined creative-thinking scores for three TIPS items. The follow-up ANOVA tests indicated significant differences between groups on all three dependent variables (fluency, flexibility, and originality) for the TIPS1. There were significant differences on originality mean scores across all three TIPS items. In addition, the results of the current study did not support the claim that the 3eT instructional model affected students’ science achievement scores. iii The current study provided a practical and effective way that creative-thinking techniques could be integrated into the 3eT instructional model and be delivered in the regular classroom curriculum. iv ACKNOLEDGMENTS I am so grateful for many people who helped me complete this doctoral journey. First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my advisor and committee chair, Dr. E. Michael Nussbaum. The completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without his excellent guidance, support, and encouragement. He helped to bring this study to fruition. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my previous advisor Dr. Eunsook Hong. No words can explain how appreciative I am of her guidance and effort in training and shaping me as a professional educational researcher for more than ten years. Her influence is clearly seen in my dissertation. This study would not be started without her tremendous dedication and guidance. As a mentor, she also taught me lessons beyond academic contents that I can used in my life. I would like to express my appreciation to my committee members, both past and present, including Dr. Hasan Deniz, Dr. CarolAnne M. Kardash, Dr. Lori Olafson, Dr. Stefani Relles, and Dr. David Vallett. Your insightful critiques and invaluable advice were greatly appreciated. I would like to acknowledge Professor Dr. Qianwei Zhang, my undergraduate advisor, who referred me to the participating school and gave me inspirational thoughts. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Xiayan Li, who accepted my invitation and spent a lot of time on rating students’ responses. I also wish to thank the participating school for providing its great resources and making this study possible. My appreciation also goes to my doctoral peers who gave me support and steady pushiness. I was delighted to share every accomplishment in my milestone with them. v I would like to thank Pastor Oliver Lung, Julian Kwok, and Vivian Chan for warming my soul and keeping me in their prayers when my life was in fear and darkness. I have been blessed to have them in my spiritual life. The greatest source of strength and confidence came from my family. To Mom and Dad, thank you for your endless love and unwavering support. To my mother-in-law, thank you for flying hundreds of miles from Seattle to help me take care of my daughters at every crucial moment I went through. Finally, to my daughters Rachelle and Arielle, thank you for making my life joyful and inspiring me to be a Dr. Mom. To my husband, thank you for your support and accompaniment throughout this long journey. vi DEDICATION To My Parents and My Two Daughters vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................ ...iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iv DEDICATION .............................................................................................................................. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................................................................................... viii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... xi CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 Background ..............................................................................................................................3 The Need for Creativity in Science Education ......................................................................5 Creativity in the Classroom ..................................................................................................10 The 3eT Model: Integrating Creative Thinking in Classroom Instruction .....................13 Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................................16 Research Questions ................................................................................................................17 Significance of the study ........................................................................................................17 Definition of Terms ................................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................21 Education in Creativity China ..............................................................................................21 Science Education in China...................................................................................................42 Training Programs for Increasing Creative-Thinking Ability ..........................................52 Techniques and Strategies Used in Education and Research in Science ..........................59 Creativity Instruction and Academic Achievement ............................................................75