creative potential of young children. Creative abilities of 155 the three instruments were computed

142 Pages·2011·4.04 MB·English

DOCUEENT RESUME
PS 007 515
ED 097 978
Deily, Margaret Mary
AUTHOR
Identifying Creative Activities in Preschool
TITLE
Children.
Jun 74
FUB DATE
142p.; Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Oregon
NOTE
MF-S0.75 HC-S6.60 PLUS POSTAGE
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Checklists; *Correlation; Creative Ability; *Creative
DESCRIPTORS
Activities; Creativity Research; *Creativity Tests;
Data Analysis; Divergent Thinking; Individual
Development; Personality Assessment; *Preschool
Children; *Reliability; Standardized Tests; Test
Results; Thought Processes
Creative Activities Checklist
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
This study compared the creative self-direction,
creative behavior, and creative activities of preschool children to
determine if students and teachers trained in the creative process
and in observation techniques can, with reliability, observe the
creative potential of young children. Creative abilities of 155
children from four preschool centers in Bismarck, North Dakota were
identified through the use of three instruments: Kindergarten
Evaluation of Learning (KELP) ; the Starkveather Test of Conforming
and Nonconforming Behavior; and a Creative Activities Checklist (an
instrument designed for teacher and parent training). Data were
collected by teachers and college students enrolled in a 15-week
course on creativity. At the end of the courses correlations among
the three instruments were computed using Pearsons Product-Moment
Correlation Coefficient and Spearman's Rank-Order Correlation
(1) teachers and students
Coefficient. General conclusions were:
working with the three instruments can become aware of the total
education of the child, including cognitive, affective, and
psychomotor aspects; (2) the Creative Activities Checklist is a valid
instrument for measuring small children's creativity; and (3) the
checklist is of value in alerting both teachers and parents to the
significance of creativity and some means of fostering it in
children. (Author)
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IDENTIFYING CREATIVE ACTIVITIES
IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN
by
Sister Margaret Mary Kelly
A DISSERTATION
Presented to the Department of Curriculum and Instruction
and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon
in partial fulfillment
of the requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
June
1974
iii
VITA
Sister Margaret Mary Kelly, OSB.
NAME OF AUTHOR.
Kidder County, North Dakota
PLACE OF BIRTH:
April 14, 1929
DATE OF BIRTH:
UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED:
Valley City State Teachers College
St. Joseph's College, Indiana
St. Benedict's College, Minnesota
Mary College
Marquette University
Eastern Michigan University
North Dakota State University
University of North Dakota
University of Minnesota
University of Oregon
DEGREES AWARDED:
Bachelor of Science, 1962, Mary College
University
Master of Arts, 1968, Eastern Michigan
1972,
Specialist of Arts Degree in Elementary Education,
Eastern Michigan University
Doctor of Philosophy, 1974, University of Oregon
AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST:
Teacher Education
Elementary Education
Early Childhood Education
Social Sciences Curriculum Reform
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
1947-49.
Teacher, Rural School (1-8), Kidder County,
Bismarck
Classroom Teacher (2-8), Parochial Schools,
Diocese. 1955-67.
Pr:r.C;037 (7, Bismarck.
Classroom Tt-acher
Fn,"1
1966-67.
1968-73.
Assistant Professor of Education, Mary College,
iv
VITA - - continued
North Dakota State University
Graduate Faculty (Extension),
1968 --
Aberdeen, South
Graduate Faculty, Northern State University,
Dakota, 1973-
Curriculum and In-
Graduate Teaching Fellow, Department of
of Oregon, 1972-
struction, College of Education, University
1973.
1973--
Associate Professor of Education, Mary College,
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS:
North Dakota Education Association
National Education Association
Association of Supervisors of Student Teachers
National Catholic Education Association
National Council for the Social Studies
Pi Lambda Theta
AWARDS AND HONORS:
Social Sciences for the
ExTFP Grant in Curriculum Reform in
Elementary School, 1967-68.
Department of Public
Consultant to the North Dakota State
and reading.
Instruction in the area of social studies
National Council for the
North Dakota State Delegate at the
1968.
Social Sciences in Washington, D. C.,
Graduated magna cum laude, 1968.
PUBLICATIONS:
A Handbook for Elementary Methods
Keily, Margaret Mary (Sister).
Ypsilanti: The U. S. Office of Education
Course in Social Studies.
1968, 207 pp.
at Eastern Michigan University,
Mary College Directed Teaching Hand-
Kelly, Margaret M. (Sr.)
Bismarck, North
book: For Student and Supervising Teachers.
tikry College Printing Press, 1968, 25pp.
Dakota:
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author wishes to express sincere appreciation to Dr. Mildred
C. Robeck, advisor of the dissertation, for her inspiration, guidance,
Appreciation is
assistance, and general faith in me as an individual.
also extended to Dr. C. Bowers, Dr. J. Moursund, and Dr. W. Lemon for
their services on the dissertation committee.
Gratitude is also due to the children, teachers, and directors of
the study sites for their time, effort, and genuine interest in the
research.
Sincere thanks is extended to 0( members of Mary College faculty
`he year of working on the dis-
who took time to offer guidance durir.
sertation while teaching at Mary Col'tge.
Special thanks go to my many friends, members of my religious com-
munity, and my immediate family who took such an interest in my work and
prayed for its success.
S.M.M.K.
Vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
viii
LIST OF TABLES.
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Chapter
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
1
I.
Rationale
1
4
Statement of the Problem
5
Purpose of the Study
6
Hypotheses
7
Definition of Terms.
7
Limitation of the Study
8
Education
Significance to the Field of
10
Organization of Presentation
11
Summary
12
REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE
11.
12
Organization of Chapter
12
Defining the Creative Process
17
Adolescents
Studies of School-age Children and
18
Creativity
Studies of Preschool Children and
.
21
Process
Creativity and the Socializing
30
Summary
31
METHOD
III.
31
Design of the Study
31
Pilot Study
34
The Sample
40
Selection of the Instruments
43
Testing of the Data
43
Summary
45
RESULTS
IV.
. ........ .
45
Analysis of Data
.
.
.
.
.
48
Testing of the Hypotheses
51
Summary
vii
Chapter
54
DISCUSSIONS, IMPLICATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
V.
54
Introduction
-
Analysis of the Data From the Three Instruments
55
Comments by Teacher-observers Using the
Creative Activities Checklist
71
.
76
Implication for Early Childhood Education .
.
.
.
85
Implication for Future Research
87
Summary
88
Conclusions
90
APPENDICES
...
90
Appendix A. Validation of KELP
94
Appendix B. Validation of Starkweather
98
Appendix C. Creative Activities Checklist
. .
104
Appendix D. Syllabus of Class on Creativity .
.
108
Appendix E. Students in Class on Creativity .
.
Appendix F. Chronological Age and Raw Scores for
113
Students in the Sample
Appendix G. Students' Mean Scores for Two Ob-
servations Using Creative Activ-
118
ities Checklist
123
BIBLIOGRAPHY
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Page
Table
Correlation Coefficient Between
1. Pearson Product-Moment
35
for the Pilot Study
Scores on the Three In-,truments
36
Age and Sex
2. Distribution of Subjects by
Correlation Coefficient Between
3. Pearson Product-Moment
47
Scores on the Three Instruments
Coefficient Between Scores
4. Spearman Rank-Order Correlation
49
.ruments
on the Three R
Younger and Older Preschoolers'
5. Histogram Comparing
57
Starkweather
Mean Scores on KELP and
Preschoolers According
6. A Comparison o' Younger and Older
and Level of Significance on Ob-
to Sex and Mean Scores
Creative Activities Check-
servation #1 and # 2 Using the
6o
list
Coefficient on Scores
7. Pearson Product-Moment Correlation
and According to
Between Observations of Two Teachers
69
Sites
Coefficiert According to
8. Spearman Rank-Order Correlation
Second Observa-
Four Sites on Scores Between First and
70
Checklist
tions Using Creative Activities
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure
1. The Degree of Relationship Between Scores on the Creative
Activities Checklist
50
2. Comparison of the Mean Scores on KELP and Creative Activities
Checklist According to Sex, Age, and Percentage of Total
Population in Each Age Bracket
59
3. Comparison of Mean Scores on Starkweather and Creative Acti
vities Checklist According to Sex, Age, with Percentages of
Total Population in Each Age Bracket.
63
4. Degree of Relationship Between Scores on the Creative Ac-
67
tivities Checklist on Two Observations
5. Sample of the Computation of the Split-half Analysis Com-
pleted Through the Use of Two Formulas with Samples of 22
and 39 Checklists to Validate the Internal Consistency of
68
Items on the Creative Activities Checklist
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
Rationale
Creativity has been a persistent and recurrent issue throughout
Although educational researchers have con-
the history of education.
tinually struggled to understand the nature of creative functioning,
the conditions that ficilitate and inhibit creative growth, and the
means of rewarding creative achievement, it has only recently come to
grips with a definition which can be qualitatively verified.
(1957),
Because of Investigations of such scholars as J. P. Guilford
Viktor Lowenfeld (1959), E. Paul Torrance (1962), J. W. Getzel (1962),
Donald MacKinnon (1964), Michael Wallach (1965), and Elizabeth Stark-
weather (1967), the topic has become so poptslar that there are now more
than 5000 bibliographic entries on creative functioning (Hopkins, 1970).
Until 1955, most of the literature on creativity was largely
The accepted belief among most educators was that
philosophical.
creativity was an intangible quality found in only a few people and
Talented, creative people were thought to
not subject to research.
be different and even eccentric (Smith, 1963).
Guilford's research of the middle 50's focused on divergent
thinking and transformational abilities as potential sources of
Later (1966) he dealt with the broader aspects
creative talerts.