Assessing creative problem solving ability in mathematics: The DISCOVER Mathematics Assessment

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to revise and revalidate the scoring procedure of the DISCOVER Mathematics Assessment to allow evaluators to better measure creative problem solving ability in mathematics, identify gifted students, and evaluate the programs for creative problem solving. The data consisted of scores of 233 students selected from five different grade levels. We compiled descriptive statistics and conducted regression analyses to compare the relationships between both the original and revised versions of the scoring system and general creativity. The revised scoring system was more effective when predicting variance in general creativity for overall problem-solving performance, and performance in semi-open-ended problems. It also predicted more variance in general creativity for the group Higher Grade Levels than the group Lower Grade Levels. Therefore, we suggested that quality should be considered as well as fluency, flexibility, and originality when scoring assessments for creative problem solving ability in mathematics.