Abstract:

In recent years, mainly after the 50’s, and especially following Guilford’ works, the problem of creativity has been intensively analyzed as a mental aspect that might be developed through certain pedagogical approaches. The lines of research on this issue have broadly focused to elucidate whether creativity should clearly distinguish from or identify with the originality and divergence together with certain requirements such as utility or validity of the creative thinking product (Mednick, 1962), or the specific mental structure required to deal with challenges and opportunities that are novel, ambiguous or complex, which has been called creative problem solving developed in Parnes, Nolli and Biondi (1976); Isaksen and Treffinger (1985), Isaksen and Treffinger (1991), o Isaksen, Dorval and Treffinger (1993). Each of these lines is in turn linked to the model structure of the human mind. However, among the various models proposed to investigate the Structure of the Mind from different research fields, we believe that is Guilford’s Structure of the Intellect model (1967) which offers more possibilities in the field of Science Teaching Methodology, both in research and in teaching practice. In this model a special section called Divergent Production is included. We considered that section the most appropriate to be used as a measure of creativity using quantification tests. In this sense, and in different works made for our group of research (Ribeiro and Pérez Fernández, 1985; Civantos and Pérez Fernández, 1985; Pérez-Fernández, Civantos and Gastesi, 1989; Aguirre, 1993; Pastor, 1993; Aguirre,1995; Aguirre, Gastesi and Pérez, 1995; Pastor, Pérez and Aguirre, 1997; Aguirre, Pastor and Pérez, 1998; Aguirre, 1999), we have proceeded to develop a series of divergent thinking tests based on Guilford’s model. We have particularly worked in the semantic area and in the scientific fields of physics and chemistry in order to stimulate scientific creativity both in secondary education and in the first university courses. What we find interesting of this work is the fact that we had not found in the literature adaptations to the experimental sciences of a comprehensive framework for the intellect as is the Guilford’s model in which the divergent production and Creativity have concrete coordinates. In the oral presentation, we will try to develop more deeply the above mentioned Structure of the Intellect model and illustrate with concrete examples the several types of divergent production tests in physics and chemistry and in the ordinary life. These tests are of the type listed as semantic which we consider more suitable in science and what have been used in different contexts with different teachers and different teaching and research objectives.

Keywords:

Creativity, Divergent Thinking, Physics an Chemistry Education, Guilford's model.