New Horizons in Education, Vol.55, No.3, Dec. 2007 Creativity Training in Problem Solving: A Model of Creativity in Mathematics Teacher Education Mehmet Ali KANDEM�R* Hülya GÜR* Balikesir University, Turkey Abstract Background: The goal of the pedagogical content course is to teach how to make mathematics education better through the use of different teaching methods, and techniques. By learning the different teaching methods, future teachers will be able to apply their learning into the teaching. Aims: The aim of this exploratory study is to note and discuss some of the diversified views in the perspectives of the prospective mathematics teachers on improving creative thinking in problem solving. Sample: 43 prospective secondary mathematics teachers participated in the study. Method: All the participants were observed and interviewed during the eleven-week of that academic year. Data were recorded and transcribed. Results: The results related to prospective mathematics teachers’ views on how to improve creative thinking, and to provide an analysis on their perception of creativity in problem solving were found. The pedagogical knowledge of mathematics content course should be reconsidered in how to provide subject matter knowledge, and opportunities to teach creative problem solving techniques. This will contribute to the goal of improving creativity in problem solving in mathematics education. In brief, creative training can really enhance creativity. Conclusion: Authors’ experiences indicated that the most effective method is to provide a relevant training. Teacher training should be redesign according to creative problem teaching techniques. These include the use of creative problem solving to allow future teachers a chance to have experience and training. The factors of divergent thinking determined were special characteristics, types of thinking, supporting creativity, factors affecting creativity, and the ways to improve creativity. 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The study is creativity defined as an idea or product should also important to educate prospective be new, original and appropriate. Creativity is a mathematics teachers the creative thinking in thinking process that results in new, unusual, problem solving during their teacher training. and insightful solutions to a given problem Creativity plays an important role in that can branch from any difficulty, by students’ academic achievement (Onda, thinking divergently and looking at problem 1994). Creative thinking can be improved solving using new perspectives. The present with creativity, and with the use of creative research combined creativity with six problem solving techniques (Puccio and adjectives, novelty, originality idea, creative Murdock, 2001), and open-ended questions product, creativity process, creative person, and (Silver, 1993). Additionally, Meissner (1999) creative environment. Starko (2004) mentioned says that students should be asked first two of them while Fisher (1995, p.31) challenging question to improve creativity in mentioned last four of them. mathematics. It is commonly believed that divergent thinking exercises should be done LITERATURE REVIEW in the training. A desired teaching situation According to the related literature, can be reached through problem solving and creativity in problem solving related to brainstorming being used in conjunction thinking patterns such as creative, divergent, with each other, and to encourage the reflective and convergent thinking. students to produce more answers, the According to Feldhusen (1995, p.31), mathematics teacher needs to assume the creative thinking is the process of modifying role leader for these exercises. Real life ideas from existing knowledge, along with questions should be presented to students the ability to form, or to bring forth, a new and problems should include contradictory thought by using intellectual imagination. situations. This gives them an opportunity to Divergent thinking develops and broadens use their creative thinking (Ediger, 2000). out thinking process while thinking According to Fisher (1995), real life problems, divergently entails starting with a specific as they were developed to consider real life, problem or idea and generating various need to be open-ended. However, currently, perspectives on it. The purpose of divergent the problems presented to students are not thinking is to ignore constraints, and to real life problems. Instead, students are entertain all different kinds of possibilities. mostly asked close-ended questions, which On the other hand, there is a parallelism direct them to one answer only, and this is between the uses of divergent and creative what causes the conflict. The use of standard thinking together by teachers in mathematics operations to solve closed-ended questions lessons. Haylock (1987, 1997) notes that results in the information of clinches and having an acceptance of teachers receiving algorithms, and causes mental barriers improved creativity in problem solving by (Haylock, 1987). getting rid of obsessions, and through divergent thinking. Teachers who make There is not a single description of statements supporting their ability to get rid creativity, and to define it is difficult to themselves of obsessions were more suitable design. However, there are some descriptions to Ediger’s (2000) statement of a creative 0 0 106 Creativity Training in Problem Solving: A Model of Creativity in Mathematics Teacher Education mathematics teacher. Reflective thinking is (Sternberg, 1996). First of all, in order to the child of careful, efficient and consistent develop creativity, teachers should be both thinking that supports an idea, or knowledge, open-minded (Barak et.al, 2002) and have and the reaching of the goals it aims to new thoughts (Evans, 1991). This can be achieve (Dewey, 1991). Rodgers (2002) achieved by not being biased about the perceives reflective thinking as the process of programs they apply for their biases may carrying one’s own experience into meaning- prevent creativity. Creative individuals formation, and the relation and connection develop a strong self-confidence (Sternberg, of bringing a deep understanding into other 1988; Brolin, 1992). experiences and ideas. Components of reflective thinking are attitudes, process, A perception is a barrier of learning. content and depth (Lee, 2000). Thinking Additionally, some barriers such as family patterns have important role of presenting and relatives, the educational system, and the creativity. Teachers’ effect on students’ organizational environment are external. The attitudes towards creativity helps the students mental barriers, named inner barriers, were to develop positive attitudes towards formed by our confrontation of outer or mathematics. Education focuses on judging physical effects. The key to improving ideas, and those were judged without being creativity is to remove these barriers and to considered well enough or there can be prevent these barriers from forming. Every prejudices towards them. According to person has barriers, but the degree and Sternberg (1996), the development of number of these barriers changes from one creativity is time-consuming and quite to another. Adams (1986) connected the normal that the techniques being applied barriers to creativity with four subtitles: take time to improve and comprehend. A perception, emotional, cultural, prejudiced teacher prefers to judge rather environmental, and mental. Perceptional than to generalize ideas and to have little or barriers restrict the information gathering too much self-confidence stands as a barrier needed to understand the problem, or the to the development of their creativity. It can inability to identify the problem itself. be stated that those individuals cannot Perceptional barriers result from the fact that overcome the mental, comprehensive, and learner perception is not always right (Vidal, emotional barriers. Parnes (1978) puts forth 2004). Haylock (1987) divides into two that prospective teachers indicated that they fixation categories. One is algorithmic developed their self-confidence and freedom fixation (obsession), and the other is a real by participating in the creativity training. life obsession. According to Finke and et al. Scott et al. (2004) implicates that the training (1996, p.150): aimed at developing creativity provided self- confidence to the participants. Additionally, “Fixation is a very general Haylock (1987) determined that teachers, phenomenon and occurs in a wide who express their development of confidence variety of cognitive domains, and opinions to use