Does creativity contribute towards success in performance of open-ended science investigations?

Abstract

The study explores the relationship between creative thinking ability and the performance of open-ended science laboratory investigations in secondary school female pupils aged 13 to 14 years old. Toh (1990) has found that open-ended science investigations consisted of six distinct components: preliminary trials, planning, performing, communicating, interpreting and feedback. The paper looks into the correlation of creative thinking ability and the six components as well as the performance of whole investigations. Analysis of results reveals a significant correlation between creative thinking ability and four of the six components: planning, performing, communicating and interpreting. The study, however, finds no significant correlation between creative thinking ability and the performance of whole investigations. These findings have important implications for teachers who planned on using open-ended laboratory investigations as a strategy to achieve creativity in the laboratory.