EFFECT OF A COGNITIVE RESEARCH TRUST TRAINING PROGRAMME ON CREATIVE THINKING AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

ABTSRACT

The purpose of the study was to find out the effects of a Cognitive Research Trust Training programme on creative thinking among secondary school students. Four research questions and four were formulated to guide the study. The study used a quasi- experimental design. One hundred and forty-two senior secondary school students SSII were used as sample for the study.  Random sampling procedure was used for identifying the schools and classes for the study. The instrument used for data collection was Creative Thinking Test (CTT). Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA).  Results have shown that students who received training had significantly greater improvement in creative thinking performance. The findings also revealed that no significant difference was found on the mean performance of urban and rural school students in creative thinking test. There was significant difference in the mean performance of male and female students in creative thinking test in favour of the females. The findings also showed that there was no significant difference on the mean performance of younger and older students in creative thinking test. Major implications of the study are as follows: Cognitive Research Trust training programme is a credible tool for enhancing creative thinking potentials. This implies that the skill acquired in training can be transferred to other tasks. As a teachable and learnable skill this implies that, Cognitive Research Trust training programme should be included in the school curriculum as a means for training creative thinking skill

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

If the solution to every problem were to be obvious, problems would not last for more than a few seconds. If the solution to every problem could be reached by following straightforward formular, problems could all be assigned to computers. But problems persist because their solutions are not always obvious. Therefore, creative thinking that is out of the ordinary must be applied (Harris, 2002). According to Harris (2002), creative thinking is one of the most significant attributes of creative thinkers that help them respond to problems. Creative thinkers have learned to take time to play with all kinds of new ideas and to experiment with possibilities before focusing on a final approach. That is to say ideas are allowed to develop and flex their wings before they are evaluated. As with any skill, the more an individual practices this technique, the more powerful a creative thinker he becomes.

According to Barron (1998), creative thinking is a process. As such very few works of creative excellence are produced in a single attempt, and very few problems are solved instantly. Creative problem solvers engage in many hours of research, thinking, and experimenting before they begin to develop a solution which may indeed come at last in a flash of insight. Even then, the ideas usually require shaping and refining before they are ready for use.

For De Bono (1995), creative thinking is the most fundamental of all human resources and skill. He asserts that the quality of thinking determines the quality of human future. He also believes that creative thinking is essential for problem solving, decision-making, coping with change and success in today’s world.

To think creatively, Kim (2007) notes that it requires breaking out of familiar patterns of thought, being flexible and coming up with new and unusual associations and responsibilities between seemingly unrelated ideas and things.

         Creative thinking helps one to solve problems or brainstorm to find out ideas or solutions to improve one’s personal life in the following ways:

1. interpersonal relations: Creative thinking  generates ideas that could be used in dealing with persons of different social status or age
2. Solving one’s personal problems; such as overcoming one’s shyness.
3. Finding ways to improve one’s health, one’s mental or moral development.
4. It can also be used for tackling problems in civil life, international affairs, salesmanship, public relations, communication, transport, and administration of any kind and job (Boulden, 2002).

            Creative thinking, according to Snell (2000), contributes to the acquisition of information, and is essential in the application of knowledge to personal and professional problems. He maintains that countries that invested in their creative potentials have achieved a lot of economic and technological growth, wealth and development. If the creative abilities that are inborn are not trained, that may lead to actual breakdown of personality development. Similarly, Akinboye (2003) remarks that a basic principle of development is the empowerment of citizens of a society through constructive and creative thinking. Arinzechukwu (2007) asserts that creative thinking is called for when scheduling meetings, planning for tourism, any form of writing, and establishment of relationships.

Generally speaking, Osborn (1999) maintains that all professions call for creative thinking. For instance, the practice of medicine is a continual challenge to creative thinking. Doctors who serve children have a special need for imagination in relating to their patients. Lawyers certainly have to think up strategies and foresee what their adversaries will say. In the military profession, strategies and tactics all depend on creative thinking. Farmers also could feel similar impact of creative thinking. A creative farmer would not only produce in large quantity, but would also make sure his farm produce is qualitative. This suggests that the most important thing any country can do to assist the development of her citizens is to teach them creative, innovative, and constructive thinking.

According to Goh (1997), creative thinking helped Singapore to maintain her economic and technological success. Her leaders adhered to fostering creative, innovative, and entrepreneurial spirits among the youths. They also promoted three aspects of educational reforms: Creativity, character building, and moral values. They believe that an individual with the spirit of imagination is independent in finding solutions, taking initiative and making judgment. They also believe that imagination can bring forth innovations which can facilitate adaptation to all challenging circumstances. Adeyanju (1996) notes that  Asian countries like Japan, China, Indonesia and Korea that were considered as underdeveloped in the early part of the 20^th century applied creative labour force, and they  have developed  into industrialized nations of the world.

In view of this, Akinboye (2003) maintains that creative thinking is the most viable solution to Nigerian problems in education, science and technology, industrialization and governance. In other words, there is a need to apply creative thinking and innovation in order to provide viable and practical solutions for progress, peace and stability in Nigeria. Ortese (2002) also asserts that creative thinking can prepare Nigerian students to be of use in the labour market, and not only fit in but to be able to bring about novel ideas that will have impact on organizational creativity, innovation, and productivity. It will also help Nigerians to explore globalization that has brought about several changes, challenges and values that require new skills, new adjustment, and new ways of thinking. The byproducts of creative thinking, therefore, make it such an important skill worth developing.

 Attempts have been made to enhance creative thinking in Nigeria. For example, the Federal Government of Nigeria in 2004 revised the National Policy on Education thus:

1. the education of the child should be centered on the child  for maximum self development and self fulfillment;
2. modern educational techniques shall be increasingly used and improved at all levels of educational system;
3. science and technology shall continue to be taught in an integrated manner in schools to promote in the students the appreciation of practical application of basic ideas.

The University of Ibadan also introduced creativity as a course, both at undergraduate and graduate levels, in the Faculty of Education. Also, in October 2002, Creativity Forum of Nigeria (CFN) was inaugurated at the University of Ibadan. The major aim of the Forum is to propagate creativity in Nigeria with a view to introducing it in the Nigerian curriculum.

In the same vein, Akinboye (1999) developed Akinboye’s Practical Creativity at Work (APCAW) model involving the following steps:

1. creative pause- so that the mind can stop to observe the phenomena in details;
2. awareness and management of barriers to creativity;
3. definition of broad problem areas;
4. focus on appropriate domain of operation;
5. set criteria of success;
6. use appropriate creativity techniques to generate opportunity areas;
7. run creativity sessions to explore opportunity areas;
8. harvest actionable ideas;
9. evaluate actionable ideas, concepts and precepts for risks, feasibility fit, resources and effectiveness, and;
10.  commercialize, innovate actionable ideas, exchange concepts for profit, success and value.

Akinboye (1999) also developed Creativity Mind Prompt. This technique combines the behavioural promoting strategies with the integrated function of the mind. Particularly, it is active self-organizing patterning characteristics. Questions can be used to prompt the mind. One can prompt the mind by objects, shapes, substance, colour, and texture of objects. Another effective mind prompter is the situation of operation. One can also prompt the mind by putting things to alternative use. Friends, homework, failure and success can prompt the mind. In spite of all these, creative thinking is not emphasized enough in secondary education. Emphasis is more on following instructions in the conventional classroom than on creative thinking.

As with any other skill, there are a number of factors that influence creative thinking.  One of them is age. Psychologists agree that people change over time. Those stage theorists believe that all children must pass through different stages in the same order. These stages are believed to be biologically programmed to unfold in a fixed sequence in all normal persons. They also believe that a child cannot progress to the next until the current one has been mastered (Lahey, 2000).

According to Piaget (1954), people progress through 4 sequential stages of cognitive development. The challenges at each stage are unique. He used these to explain the cognitive development of individuals from childhood to adolescence. Using this theory, the following creative abilities are manifested:

Sensorimotor stage: 0-2 years. During the early part of this stage, the child understands his or her environment only through sensorimotor activities such as sucking, touch and feeling. Consequently, the child develops the ability to form cognitive representation of the world. For example, by 6-9 months of age, the child begins to understand that objects exist even when they are out of sight. These changes mark the beginning of a far more complex cognitive functioning.

Preoperational stage: 2-7years. This stage marks a dramatic change in cognitive development. At this stage, most children begin to think in mental images. Though the young child’s ability to think is quite illogical by adults’ standards, the child’s thought is egocentric. Piaget does not mean by this term that the child is selfish, but that the child is simply not able to see things from another person’s perspective. This shows that children at this stage cannot think in abstract term. Thus, learning is based on interaction with environmental stimuli such as arranging and rearranging toys, chairs and observing things. By doing this, the child does not only acquire knowledge, but also improve his or her creative ability.

Concrete operational stage, which is from 7-11 years, is marked by important cognitive challenges. According to Piaget, the concrete operational stage is when children begin to deal with conservation problems because their thought is decentred. This means that they can think of more than one thing at a time. It is also a stage when real thinking begins. Thus, if they are exposed to varied experiences within and outside the school, they will acquire more knowledge in terms of facts, methods and concepts that will increase their mental capacity to be creative.

Formal operational stage: 11years and above. This stage is characterized by the ability to use abstract concepts. The logic of formal operational thinking goes beyond the concrete details of each incident or problem to the underlying abstract principles involved. Although, most adolescents have reached the level of operational reasoning, they still have cognition that at times retains an immature quality. This is not really surprising because they have recently developed the ability to reason abstractly but have little experience on what to base abstract thought on.

Similarly, Brunner, (1966) notes that people go through three stages of cognitive development: enactive, iconic and symbolic stages.. These developmental stages, however, are not irreversible. As people grow older, they typically use all three stages in acquiring knowledge.

Enactive stage: in this stage, infants acquire knowledge by actively engaging in activities. Brunner’s enactive stage is similar to Piaget’s sensorimotor stage. At this stage too, young children need lots of opportunities to engage in activities with a variety of objects if they are to learn effectively.

Iconic stage: in the iconic stage, children learn through visual stimuli. This is to say children rely on visual representations to aid their thinking. Here too, students’ visual perceptions determine how they understand the world.

Symbolic stage: in the symbolic stage, children can understand symbols, including words, mathematical and scientific notations. Once students reach the symbolic stage, they are able to take in large amounts and varied types of information. Symbolic materials include written passages, scientific and mathematical formulas, and abstract charts.

In line with this, Tesano, Moran, and Sawyers (1991) note that when judging creativity in children, emphasis should be more on the creative process than on the product. By this they meant that young children do not always have the skills to make a creative product. A similar point is made by Malaguzzi (1995) who says that creativity becomes more visible when adults try to be more attentive to the cognitive process of children than to the results achieved in various fields of doing and understanding

Apart from inherent nature of creative potentials, all other factors that influence creative thinking come under environmental factors. Therefore, the place in which one lives can affect one’s creative thinking (Amabile, 1993). According to Fisher (1990), the richer and more varied the environment in which one lives, the better the chances of one assimilating experiences and knowledge that will feed the imagination, facilitate the production of ideas, and promote an imaginative approach to problem-solving. Osborn (1998) notes that a harmonious, meaningful environment helps an individual to become personally creative. It also helps an individual to live a life that is rarely boring and out of control.

 Vygosky (1987) highlights the importance of culture in students’ learning. He believes that development occurs in a cultural context. Culture profoundly influences how an individual thinks and what he thinks about. This suggests that patterns of cognitive growth may vary from culture to culture He also believes that elementary and higher mental functions influence cognitive development. Elementary processes are those that are automatic, immediate and usually necessary for survival. The society contributes to the development of higher mental function. According to Vygosky, children develop higher mental processes by internalizing the rules and knowledge of their culture.

Furthermore, Vygosky is of the view that significant people such as parents, peers, siblings, and teachers, in the lives of children provide social context in which a child’s higher mental functions develop. To understand an individual’s cognitive development, his social environment and culture must be considered. He maintains that teachers, schools, along with family, play pivotal role in children’s cognitive development. Therefore, this approach of cognitive development has particular appeal to educators because it stresses the active role adults play in guiding children’s’ cognitive growth (Vygosky, 1981).

 Relating to socio-cultural effects on cognitive development, Ortner (1990) opines that girls are often treated as inferior and are socially considered last, thus, undermining their self-esteem. This discrimination against girls starts from the earliest stage of life through childhood and into adulthood. In many cases, girls start to undertake heavy domestic activities at a very early age and are expected to manage both educational and domestic responsibilities, often resulting in poor scholastic performance and early dropout from school.

 A report from a world conference on women in 1995 has also shown that the percentage of girls enrolled in secondary schools remain insignificantly low in many countries of the world. Girls are often not encouraged or given the opportunity to pursue scientific and technological training. This limits the knowledge they require for daily living and employment opportunities. The report has also revealed that women are less encouraged than men to participate in the social, economic and political function of the society, with the result that they are not offered the same opportunity as men to take part in decision-making process. With this stereotype in the society, not all her members are able to express their creative abilities.

There is also consistent evidence on gender studies that in many cultures men and women differ (Schuilkin, 1999). For example, Ode (2002) and Okpeh, (1999) have variously confirmed that men seem to think more; that women do not possess enough quotient of intelligence to receive and critically process information and arrive at a meaningful decision. In this way, men think that they need to watch and guide women all the time.

Another factor that influences creative thinking is training. According to Tucker (1996) and Harris (2002), this factor forms the basis for the use of creative thinking training programmes and techniques. They include:

 Brainstorming: This technique describes a group’s attempt to find a solution to a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously by members of the group. Brainstorming is a process designed to obtain maximum number of ideas relating to a specific area of interest or ability to generate new ideas. Brainstorming is where a group of people put social inhibitions and rules aside with the aim of generating new ideas and solutions. It is also a time dedicated to generating a large number of ideas regardless of their initial worth. It is a part of problem solving which involves creation of new ideas by suspending judgment. It is the free association of different ideas to form new ideas and new concepts (Osborn, 1998).