reserch
DEVELOPING STUDENTS’ CREATIVITY: importance of creativity styles
Tom Balchin, Brunel University
Norman Jackson, Higher Education Academy
Proposition
It is difficult to find ways to focus on examining how much creativity a student possesses. I propose that examining the relationship between creativity and cognitive styles is useful to explore, and have found research, notably Guilford
1980; Kirton 1976; Messick1984 and Witkin and Goodenough 1981 that indicates that cognitive styles have an impact upon thinking, problem solving, decision making and creating.
This avenue of research appears to be a productive one for several reasons.
First, examining styles in relationship to creativity will assist researchers and teachers in discovering what kinds of creativity techniques work best with what kinds of people and under what kinds of circumstances (Stein 1975). Secondly, understanding style may help an individual to appreciate why someone else approaches or solves problems differently than oneself. Finally, understanding style may be very important for those that rely on group creativity. Research has demonstrated that individuals of various styles will possess different creative strengths and weaknesses (Bloomberg 1967, Kirton 1976 and Spotts and
Mackler 1967). Utilizing the styles and strengths, which various individuals bring to a group, will empower the group to function more effectively and efficiently. In the context of the growing interest in problem and enquiry based learning in higher education it would be worth considering the likely group dynamics that would result from mixes of people with different cognitive styles.
What do we mean by cognitive style?
Cognitive styles refer to the preferred way an individual processes information and describe a person’s typical mode of thinking, remembering or approach to problem solving. Cognitive style simply denotes a tendency to think and behave in a certain manner. Learning styles (for
Tom Balchin, Brunel University
Norman Jackson, Higher Education Academy
Proposition
It is difficult to find ways to focus on examining how much creativity a student possesses. I propose that examining the relationship between creativity and cognitive styles is useful to explore, and have found research, notably Guilford
1980; Kirton 1976; Messick1984 and Witkin and Goodenough 1981 that indicates that cognitive styles have an impact upon thinking, problem solving, decision making and creating.
This avenue of research appears to be a productive one for several reasons.
First, examining styles in relationship to creativity will assist researchers and teachers in discovering what kinds of creativity techniques work best with what kinds of people and under what kinds of circumstances (Stein 1975). Secondly, understanding style may help an individual to appreciate why someone else approaches or solves problems differently than oneself. Finally, understanding style may be very important for those that rely on group creativity. Research has demonstrated that individuals of various styles will possess different creative strengths and weaknesses (Bloomberg 1967, Kirton 1976 and Spotts and
Mackler 1967). Utilizing the styles and strengths, which various individuals bring to a group, will empower the group to function more effectively and efficiently. In the context of the growing interest in problem and enquiry based learning in higher education it would be worth considering the likely group dynamics that would result from mixes of people with different cognitive styles.
What do we mean by cognitive style?
Cognitive styles refer to the preferred way an individual processes information and describe a person’s typical mode of thinking, remembering or approach to problem solving. Cognitive style simply denotes a tendency to think and behave in a certain manner. Learning styles (for
References: Bloomberg, M. (1967) “An Inquiry into the Relationship between Field Independence-dependence and Creativity.” in the Joumal of Psychology, 67, p. Gregorc, A. F. (1979) “Learning/Teaching Styles: Their Nature and Effects. Gryskiewicz, S. S. (1982) “Creative Leadership Development and the Kirton Adaption-Iinnovation Inventory.” Paper presented at the Occupational Guilford, J. P. (1980) “Cognitive Styles: what are they?” in Educational and Psychological Measurement, 40, p Kirton, M. J. (1977) “Manual of the Kirton Adaption-Iinnovation Inventory.” in London, England: National Foundation for Educational Research. Messick, S. (1976) Personality Consistencies in Cognition and Creativity, in S. Spotts, J. V. & Mackler, B. (1967) “Relationships of Field-dependent and Fieldindependent Cognitive Styles to Creative Test Performance.” in Perceptual and MotorSkills, 24, p Stein, M. 1. (1975) “Stimulating Creativity .” N.Y. : Academic Press. Witkin, H. A., Moore, C. A., Goodenough, D. R. and Cox, P. W. (1977) “Fielddependent and Field-independent Cognitive Styles and their Educational Implications.” in the Review of Educational Research, 47, p Witkin, H. A. and Goodenough, D. R. (1981) ”Cognitive Styles: Essence and Origin (Psychological Issues Monograph NO