Department of Natural Science Education National Pingtung Teachers College
II. Review of Related Literature
Science is an organized and systematized knowledge system. It is a thinking method in the pursuit of specified knowledge about the natural universe. Driven by curiosity, human beings ponder and resolve problems that trouble them. From the philosophical and cognitive psychology points of view, Science is a creative activity and a reasonable method for interpreting natural phenomena. (Collette, A. T. &
Chiappetta, E. L., 1994).
“Create” means “to bring into existence”(Gove, 1986). Psychologically speaking, creation is an ability that includes sensitivity, fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration (Guilford, 1986). To be successful on science requires professionals to be well equipped with these creative abilities.
The creative scientist utilizes suitable thinking patterns, including such as categorization, description, explanation, and prediction, for discovering new truths, new products, and new theories. The core of creativity lies within the operation of the mind. Most people are able to bring their creativity into full play if they perform normally. Humans have different degrees of creativity development and performance (Torrance, 1972; Sternberg & Lubart, 1995; Hung, 1997; 2001; 2002).
“Problem solving”,according to Chang,(Chang,C.H.,1997),in termsofbeing a mental process, is a thinking process created when one tries to achieve goals.
Kahny (1986)views creativity as a way of retrieving answers using the knowledge and skills one has acquired. Mayer (1992) believes that creativity is a process of moving from a known description to a goal description. He belives that problem solving is a systematic procedure that moves toward a specific goal. Cheng (Cheng, C. M., 1993) regards“problem”astwo statesofconflictand controversy,oneisthepresentation state while the other is the goal state. The problem solving thinking process is a goal-oriented process.
“Scientificproblem solving”istheprocessoneuseswhen facing ascientific
problem. Based on cognitive experience and ability, one uses effective thinking strategies to solve the presented problem and to differentiate between goals.
Someresearcherson problem solving havestarted to emphasizethat“creativity”
is one of the keys to problem solving (Hung, 2000a; Higgins, 1994). Guilford (1967) believes that creative problem solving is a complex thinking procedure. The procedures used for problem solving include operational thinking skills such as:
cognition, memory, divergent thinking, convergent thinking, and evaluation, which are all covered inwhathecalled the“structure-of-intellectmodel”. In termsofthe characteristics of thought, Guilford believes that what has an intimate relationship with creation is divergent thinking and the transfer-factor. Some scholars even interpretGuilford’sdivergent thinking ability as creativity (Cheng, C. H. & Lin, C. H., 1973). Torrance (1970) once proposed three characteristics of divergent thinking in Guilford’sstructure-of intellect model. They are fluency, flexibility, and uniqueness.
The end of the divergence and factor-transfer interaction is the source of uniqueness (Chen, 1994; Cheng, U. C., 1983; Guilford, 1977). Convergent thinking is needed in addition to divergent thinking. Convergent thinking is the reasoning and logical thinking that oneusesin perusing thecorrectanswersfrom one’smentaldatabase,i.
e., known knowledge and experiences. During the creation and problem-solving procedures, the problem-finding to conclusion process must be evaluated to determine if the messages conveyed during instruction suitthestudent’sneeds(Kuo,1985). This kind of evaluation is a kind of critical thinking (Treffinger & Isaksen, 1992).
The purpose of the Oxfordshire Skills Program is to improve the thinking ability of children. It includes critical thinking, creative thinking, reasoning thinking, and problem solving. The relationships are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: The problem solving and creativity relationship (Coles & Robinson, 1989).
This researcher believes that the “problem-solving ability”mustinclude three kinds of thinking abilities: creation, discrimination, and reasoning. This researcher also suggests that student scientific creativity should be cultivated during problem solving procedures.
The course of science development can be seen as a continuing scientific problem solving process. The root of problem solving lies within the “mental operation”, that is, the mental process is the core of problem solving. Creative problem solving is a higher order mental reasoning activity. Looking at the history of scientific developments, the scientific research process involves continuous scientific creativity. Without creativity, many of the scientific research problems could not have been solved. From that, we see that there is an intimate relationship between problem solving ability and creativity. Therefore, we should be able to enhance student scientific creativity in a problem solving course. Yager (1996) pointed out that the core of science is too often only in the science concept and process domains. One has to reason the concepts through probing courses to bring creativity into full play. Furthermore, this process must be applied to daily life. As a result, this researcher modified Figure 1 into Figure 2:
P S
R T
C T C
T
Figure 2: The relationship between scientific creativity and problem solving abilities (modified from Hung, 2000a).
Scientific creative thinking ability grew out of existing scientific fields with new improvements and new concepts to generate new content (Hung, 1997). According to Guilford (1971), creative thinking is divided into fluency, flexibility, uniqueness, enrichment, and sensitivity. In a previous study, the creative thinking model in children (Hung, 1999; 2002), illustrated that the first three characteristics are more obvious than the others in elementary school students. The reason why scientific creativity is different from ordinary creativity is that, besides involving science related knowledge, suitable logical reasoning about the “thing”isessential.In Figure 2, this researcher used the scientific concept as the base and combined fluency, flexibility, and uniqueness to express student scientific creativity. This researcher also used scientific creativity as the foundation, adding“reasoning” and “criticalthinking”to fluency, flexibility, and uniqueness to form student “scientific problem solving ability”. In thenine-year“Naturalscienceand living technology”,curriculum the Ministry of Education pointed out that the purpose ofeducation isto foster“initiative probing” and “independentthinking and problem-solving abilities”(E.M.O.,2000). The new curriculum emphasizes these abilities. It is believed that there is an urgent need for teachers to use on the research on scientific creativity and problem solving ability and to contribute to it. Therefore, studies on cultivating student scientific creativity and problem solving abilities are needed.
The most distinct characteristic of the nine-year sequence curriculum is that there isflexibility in how thelessonsaretaught. The“Teaching module”refersto asetof teaching activities designed and operated with one theme. Each and every activity is related to the theme yet can be conducted independently. The teacher combines all of the teaching units according to his/her local needs (Yao, 2001). The teaching module was designed with diversified teaching activities based on the knowledge framework of theme-related concept and theory. The teaching module user chooses suitable teaching units and teaching strategies based on his/her own professional experiences and administers the teaching activities and assessments to the best teaching effect (Lai & Yang, 2001).
Thespiritofthecurriculum in “Naturalscienceand living technology” sharesa common notion with Yager’s(1992;1996)STS teaching concept. Thisresearcher regards a teaching module as a set of activities, that stem from probing and resolving questions related to society and daily life, leading to probing and resolving related sub-questions. Social topics and living events utilizing flexible and diverse teaching methods to cope with the teaching goals and hours are provided. For example, experimental design, hands –on activities, research reports, field studies, or visiting other institutions. Therefore, the teaching module is a set
of unifying teaching activities built on student involvement and centered on SCK
P
C1 R C2
SCK：scientific concept and knowledge
P：problem solving ability C1：critical thinking ability R：reasoning thinking ability C2：creative thinking ability
events from real life. The topic, style, living contents, and methods are diverse and meet student learning desires.
Performance assessments were performed using a setting constructed similar to the applicable setting to evaluate what the students known and can do in new situations. Assigning certain homework is a way of evaluating the learning condition. Most of the assessment materials are associated with real life. Solving problems is emphasized to encourage students to apply what they learned from school in their own lives. (Yu, 1997; T. Wu & B. Hung, 1998; Chen & Y. Wu, 1991; Airasian, 1966; Aschbacher, 1991). A chart of the performance assessment characteristics collected from scholars Lin, Y,H. (2000) and B.Y. Wang (1995) is offered in Table 1.
Table 1. The characteristics of student performance assessment Performance assessment
Example National Assessment of Educational Progress、The Practical English Skill Test in Japan, the English Ability Test of Taiwan, Physical Strength Test.
Response method There are more than one correct answers.
The range and depth of the questions
The range of the questions is wide. It evaluates different knowledge skills at the same time to assess the application of higher order thinking, judgment, and strategy.
Time limitation There is a time limitation.
Testing environment
The test is given in an imaginary environment or a manufactured studio.
Testing method Observe the performance or the product of the behavior.
Scoring method It is not easy to mark because the procedures and conclusions have equal standing.
Applicable environment
The assessment during teaching or the subject that stresses technique performance.
Strength 1. Students can demonstrate the knowledge and skills in real or imaginary settings.
2. Would be able to ask students for higher order thinking and problem solving abilitues.
3. Focuses not onlyon theend results,butalso the“getting it” process.
4. Students need to unify the knowledge and skills learned and illustrate them it with integrity which would reflect the individual differences from different angles.
Shortcoming 1. The reliability of measure is a question. The score might represent only the evaluator’s own opinion.
2. Performance assessment is time consuming, which affects the reliability due to the limitation of the sample size.
3. Because of the diversity of assessment, the assessing
standard need to be designed with caution to meet the constructive reliability.
4. Teacher’sprofessionalintelligencemustbeelevated aswell; otherwise the application and effect of the performance assessment would not be as powerful.
5. The cost is high; designing and assessment time are both long; more labor needed in scoring; preserving and recording the data are both time and money consuming.
Table 1 shows that, even though performance assessments costs more, they evaluate higher order thinking, judgment, and strategy application. Therefore, the spirit of this assessment was used in this study to perform the post-test, evaluation, and modification.
III. Design
Thegoalofthisresearch isto increaseelementary schoolstudent’sscientific creativity through problem solving. From the documents found, we determine that creative problem solving (CPS) is the best model for scientific problem solving among all the other problem solving procedures. According to this theme, the investigator revised the CPS courses into fact finding, problem finding, idea finding, solution finding and solution acceptance. The revised module was called RCPS.
RCPS wasused to design the“Acid-Base”teaching module. CPS wasused forthe
“Oxidation-Reduction”teaching module.
There is no standardized testing tool for student’s scientific creativity in existence. The testee must have sufficient fundamental knowledge about the science to bring his/her scientific creativity into use. The aim of this research to is develop an assessment tool for evaluating scientific creativity and problem solving abilities.
1. Designing teaching module:
This research designed a teaching module based on the “Acid-Base” and
“Oxidation-Reduction”chemistry unitsin the5th and 6th grades. The“Acid-Base”
topic includes three teaching units: （1） acid-base properties of aqueous solutions,
（2） hands-on the natural indicator, and（3） acid and base mixtures. The oxidation-reduction module includes two units;（1）the magic of color change, and（2）
the mystery of fire. The teaching goals are as follows:
◎ Acid-Base activity 1: acid-base properties of aqueous solutions (80 minutes)
i. From the learning activity, students learn that the aqueous solution has a hidden danger. Protection is needed before using this solution.
ii. Understand the basic properties of aqueous solutions.
iii. Understand how to define acid, base, or neutral aqueous solutions.
◎ Acid-Base activity 2: hands-on the natural indicator (80 minutes) i. Learn to make natural indicator out of certain plants.
ii. During the discussion, explain the reason why certain plants can be used as indicators.
iii. Be able to determine several ways to extract plants from the existing tools.
◎ Acid-Base activity 3: acid and base mixtures (80 minutes)
i. Learn to know the hidden dangers of the aqueous solutions around us.
Especially solutions that are commonly used around the home, like vinegar and hydrochloric acid.
ii. From actual examples, discuss the theory and phenomena of neutralization iii. From the experiment, learn to turn strong acids and bases into mild or
neutralized solutions.
◎ Oxidation-reduction activity 1: the magic of color change (120 minutes) i. Observing the changes in objects.
ii. Be able to construct a factor connection, and design an experiment to prove it.
iii. Be able to find the factors influencing the pace of oxidation. For example, temperature,water,acid environment… etc.
iv. Be able to create a way to speed up the oxidation.
v. Understand that under different circumstances, the speed of oxidation would be different.
vi. Provoking students’scientificcreativity,problem solving ability,and team spirit during the activity.
◎ Oxidation-reduction activity 2: the mystery of fire (120 minutes) i. Be able to understand the basic elements in burning.
ii. Be able to observe and discover the quality change in all materials before, during and after burning.
iii. Be able to create a fast and convenient procedure to finish the experiment.
iv. Be able to categorize objects according to their burning quality.
v. Provoking students’scientificcreativity,problemsolving ability, and team spirit during the activity.
To match the research requirement, this study designed teaching activities based on CPS to foster creativity in problem solving. Adjustment would be made according to different features of the contents with the different topics to elevate the learning effects. Due to the space limitation of this paper, the investigator listed only the lesson plans for the acid and base mixtures from Acid-Base activity 3 and the mystery of fire from Oxidation-reduction activity 2.
This activity is based on the creative problem solving module. To coordinate with the theme, the researcher modified the CPS courses into fact finding, problem finding, dea finding, solution finding, and solution acceptance. The remodeled module is called RCPS. The topic on oxidation-reduction took longer to present.
Students were asked to table their thoughts and determine the possible solution in every stage to provoke divergent and convergent thinking abilities. Stuents also asked to prepare problem sheets.
Table2. Lesson Plan forscientificcreation of“acid-baseofaqueoussolution”
(Activity 3: acid and base mixtures)
Settings Stages (RCPS) Students activity
T ime
Assessment
The teacher prepares self-made indictor, vinegar, egg, egg shell, and some aqueous solutions.
◎ Students, think of what are those aqueous solutions that might be consumed or used at home?
Students report:
they might have used detergent, soap, vinegar, toilet washer, salt water…etc.
they might have drank juice, sugared water, orsoftdrinks… etc.
5 Be able to name the aqueous solutions used.
◎ Do those aqueous solutions cause any safety concern?
◎ We have learned the acid-base nature of aqueous solution. Can you tell which of them are acid, or base?
Teacher puts vinegar and eggshells into the beaker and covers it with a glass lid.
Then, displaying the vinegar-egg that’s already made.