The effects of models and instructions on children’s divergent thinking

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of explicit instructions on children’s divergent and creative thinking. Fifty-two children were assigned to one of four groups. Two of the groups were presented a problem with a model and instructions for solving the problem first and then presented problems with no instructions/model. The other two groups had a task with no instructions/model first and then were presented problems and provided instructions and a model for solving the problems. Data were collected from video-tapes of the activities, artifacts of the participants’ solutions to the tasks, participant notes, and interviews of children regarding how they approached the tasks. For one of the problems, there was a wide range of materials available to all groups. Participants produced a wide range of products that demonstrated divergent idea generation with no difference in quality or quantity of ideas between groups though there were more mimics of the model in the model/instructions group. For the second and third problems, materials were limited. Children in the model/instruction group generated solutions that in part mimicked that of the model but also included novel solutions. The group with model/instructions had more success completing the challenge.