DOI 10.5958/2230-7311.2015.00004.5
Scientific Creativity in relation to Cognitive Style and
Achievement in Science of Secondary School Students
Neeru Sharma
Ramgarhia College of Education, Satnampura, Phagwara, Punjab, India.
ABSTRACT
The aim of present paper was to study the influence of Cognitive Style, Achievement in Science and their Interaction on Scientific
Creativity of secondary school students. Total 205 students of classes IX and X (mean age 14.8 Years) studying in schools affiliated
to Central Board of Secondary Education were taken as sample. Standardized tools, namely, Group Embedded Figures Test by
Witkin, Oltman, Raskin and Karp (1971), Scientific Creativity Test by Majumdar (1982) were used to collect data. Marks of students
from school records were taken as a measure of their achievement in science. The data were analysed using 2 × 3 Analysis of
Variance. Field Independent Students had significantly higher Scientific Creativity than Field Dependent Students. Also, Students
with High Achievement in Science had significantly higher scientific creativity than students with Low Achievement in Science.
Keywords: Scientific Creativity, Cognitive Style, Field independent, Field dependent and Achievement in Science,
Due to progress of civilization, modern world has become highly
Feldhusen (1994) and Diakidoy and Constantinou (2001)
complex and needs a large no of creative persons to meet
argued that creativity is considered in relation to a specific
multidimensional challenges emerging in the society. Not only
domain in the context of learning. They further emphasized that
the survival, but also future prosperity of the society depends
though most of the earlier researches on creativity recognized
upon creative vision and its implementation. Creativity has the
it as domain independent, but learning related creativity is
immense scope to be investigated in the context of learning
domain specific by nature; its functioning in one domain is
(Mukhopadhyay, 2011). Guilford, one of the pioneers in the
unique and psychologically differs from that of in other. This is
field of research on creativity, also emphasized cultivation
why domain specific creativity is gradually receiving more and
of creativity among school children (Baghetto and Kaufman,
more attention of researchers, working in the field of creativity
2007) and therefore supported the view.
in the context of school education.
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The complex society, being technical and scientific, needs a
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good number of scientifically tempered and skilled persons
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who may effectively contribute to its development. These
two prime requirements of the society obviously suggest the
DOI:
importance of fostering creative thinking in the field of science.
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Scientific discovery and creativity has recently become one
of the special concerns in education. In evaluations of the
Address for correspondence
Neeru Sharma, Ramgarhia College of Education, Satnampura, Phagwara, Punjab, India.
E-mail: neeru001@hotmail.com
Submission: 24 January, 2015
Accepted : 13 February, 2015
Acceptance: 14 April, 2015
Educational Quest: An Int. J. of Education and Applied Social Sciences Vol 6 l Issue 1 l April 2015
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