{"title":"Exploring dynamics in learners’ cognitive engagement associated with learning activities using EEG microstate approach","authors":"Yue Li, Xiuling He, Yingting Li, Xiong Xiao, Rui Li, Jing Fang, Ruijie Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101911","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101911","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding the cognitive engagement of learners is essential for the cultivation of higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) as it reflects their thinking development process. However, it is unclear how cognitive engagement is temporally modulated by different types of learning activity. The electroencephalogram (EEG) microstate provides a methodology for understanding the complex dynamic processes of the brain and reflects the functional significance of cognitive activity. In this study, we designed three different types of learning activities (i.e., video-watching, keyword-extracting, and essay-creating) based on the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive (ICAP) framework. EEG data from thirty-one students were collected during the engagement of these activities. Four typical microstates (i.e., MS A, MS B, MS C, and MS D) were employed to explore the dynamic characteristics of cognitive engagement in the brain associated with activity type and learning stage. We found that the features of MS A, MS B, and MS C were significantly different among the three activities. Meanwhile, we performed individual analyses for the pre-activity, mid-activity, and post-activity of each activity. The features of MS A, MS B, and MS C were different during the video-watching activity, and MS C and MS D showed differences during the keyword-extracting activity. However, no significant difference was found during the essay-creating activity. These findings reveal that microstate features can provide information about neural activity patterns with the dynamic temporal structure for exploring changes in learners’ cognitive engagement. Such dynamic changes rely on learning activity and corresponding functional brain systems. Furthermore, this study provides cognitive neuroscience support for teacher educators to design effective learning activities to promote the development of HOTS.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101911"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ahmed M.Abdulla Alabbasi , Kristen N. Lamb , Selcuk Acar , Jonathan A. Plucker , Ghada M. Alabbasi , Fatima A. Aljasim
{"title":"Examining the effect of primary education thinking skills curriculum on the creative thinking abilities of gifted female students","authors":"Ahmed M.Abdulla Alabbasi , Kristen N. Lamb , Selcuk Acar , Jonathan A. Plucker , Ghada M. Alabbasi , Fatima A. Aljasim","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101908","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101908","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, we investigated the effects of the Primary Education Thinking Skills (PETS™) curriculum on the development of divergent thinking abilities among gifted female students in primary schools in Bahrain. A quasi-experimental design was implemented with an experimental group and two control groups. The experimental group received 16 lessons on divergent thinking distributed across eight weeks (two lessons per week). Two divergent thinking tests from the Runco Creativity Assessment Battery (r-CAB) were used to assess students’ creative thinking abilities in fluency, flexibility, and originality. The results indicated significant differences favoring the experimental group on measures of fluency, flexibility, and originality, providing evidence the PETS™ activities enhanced the creative thinking abilities of gifted elementary female students. Limitations and future directions are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101908"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144514077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Interrelationships among parental play support and kindergarten children’s playfulness and creative thinking processes","authors":"Wing Kai Fung , Kevin Kien Hoa Chung","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101907","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101907","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examined the direct and indirect relationships of parental play support with playfulness and creative thinking processes in Hong Kong Chinese kindergarten children. Participants were 181 (age range 4 to 5 years) local kindergarten children (54.1 % girls) and their parents. Parents reported demographic information, parental play support, and children’s playfulness (physical spontaneity, social spontaneity, cognitive spontaneity, manifest joy, and sense of humor) through a questionnaire. Participating children were administered behavioral assessments of convergent thinking and divergent thinking at their kindergarten. Results from a path analytic model revealed social spontaneity and cognitive spontaneity as the mediators in the indirect relationships of parental play support with children’s convergent thinking and divergent thinking, respectively. In contrast, the direct relations between parental play support and creative thinking processes were nonsignificant. The findings suggest that parents supporting household play might foster their children’s creative thinking processes by nurturing children’s playfulness. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of fostering creativity in the early years by promoting kindergarten children’s playfulness.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101907"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144471743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Turkish version of the Dual Facet Imagination Scale (DFIS) and its relationship with Openness","authors":"Tuğba Ay, Makbule Kalı Soyer","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101903","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101903","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Imagination has been recognized as a powerful mental faculty and individual trait, vital for creativity, problem-solving, and personal growth. Yet, despite its importance, comprehensive tools to measure its various facets are scarce, especially in diverse cultural contexts. This study aims to adapt the Dual Facet Imagination Scale (DFIS), developed by Sassenberg et al. (2023), into Turkish. The DFIS assesses both the general tendency for imagination and its two core subdimensions: Experiential Simulation and Conceptual Innovation. Following the linguistic equivalence process, the Turkish version of the scale was tested on 435 participants aged 14 to 55 (<em>M</em> = 21.79, SD = 7.89). Through psychometric analyses, including confirmatory factor analysis and criterion validity tests, the scale demonstrated construct validity, criterion validity and reliability (Cronbach’s Alpha = 0.89). Significant correlations were found between the DFIS and the Openness Factor of the Faceted Inventory of the Five-Factor Model (FI-FFM). Additionally, the study explored how imagination scores differ across demographics, such as sex and education level, revealing notable differences. The current study provides the DFIS Turkish version was found to be a valid and reliable tool.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101903"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562855","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Failing together: Interactive patterns of problem-solving between youth and educators in informal stem environments","authors":"Amber Simpson , Kelli Paul , Jacey Ruisi","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101905","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101905","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>By incorporating learning-through-failure into facilitation, educators can offer learners the opportunity to promote their creativity and problem-solving skills. However, more research is needed to explore the implementation of this pedagogical approach. In this study, we utilized sequential analysis to examine common failure-based problem-solving patterns between educators and learners during informal STEM-based museum activities. Our data included 38 self-recorded videos of museum educators interacting with a learner or a group of learners in either a camp, drop-in exhibit, or a class setting. Through sequential analysis, the results demonstrate the joint nature of educator-learner interactions, while also emphasizing the educator's crucial role in guiding learners through the problem-solving cycle with pedagogical moves. Specifically, the results of this study highlight the importance of an educator’s use of ‘prompting’ to motivate the learners to engage in the cycle. Simultaneously, we observed how the collaborative nature of interactions, where educators and learners engaged in problem-solving roles, supported the learners in demonstrating creativity and agency. These findings contribute to both theory and practice by reframing failure as a co-constructed learning experience and identifying facilitation strategies that support creativity and problem-solving in informal STEM settings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101905"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144501144","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zheyu Jin , Xuening Li , Junting Yin , Juping Yang , Baolin Min , Wen He , Guoping Zhang , Junlong Luo
{"title":"Longitudinal association between physical activity and creative self-efficacy in adolescents: Mediating role of psychological resilience","authors":"Zheyu Jin , Xuening Li , Junting Yin , Juping Yang , Baolin Min , Wen He , Guoping Zhang , Junlong Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101904","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101904","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creative self-efficacy (CSE), an individual’s belief in their ability to produce creative outcomes, is fundamental to adolescents’ creative development. Embodied cognition theory and current empirical evidence link physical activity and creativity. Yet, the longitudinal association between physical activity and CSE remains poorly understood. This study investigated the longitudinal association between physical activity and CSE in adolescents, with a particular focus on the mediating role of psychological resilience. A total of 751 Chinese adolescents (48.20 % boys, M<sub>age</sub>=16.27) completed self-report questionnaires on physical activity, psychological resilience, and creative self-efficacy at three time points over 12 months. Using both cross-lagged panel modeling (CLPM) and random intercept cross-lagged panel modeling (RI-CLPM), we differentiated between-person from within-person effects. Results showed that physical activity was significantly associated with CSE over time. Notably, at the within-person level, psychological resilience was a significant mediator, with sensitivity analyses demonstrating the relative robustness of the mediation effect. These findings not only advance embodied cognition and stress adaptation theories by illuminating a time dynamic mechanism among physical activity, psychological resilience, and creative self-beliefs, but also highlight the potential practical implications of promoting physical activity and resilience-building programs to foster adolescents’ creative self-beliefs. Finally, the limitations and future directions of this study are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101904"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366869","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Exploring creative thinking skills and creativity in English courses through the lenses of creative pedagogy in two continuum IB schools","authors":"Seçil Chouseinoglou , Armağan Ateşkan","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101901","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101901","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creativity and creative thinking skills are imperative in the 21st-century workforce and are integral to modern educational curricula. The International Baccalaureate (IB) stands out for seamlessly incorporating these skills into its Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), and Diploma Programme (DP). However, the interchangeable use of the terms creativity and creative thinking skills presents challenges to their differentiation and integration into teaching practices. This study examines the roles of creativity and creative thinking skills in two continuum IB schools in Türkiye. Lin’s (2011) creative pedagogy framework, which originally included teaching creatively, teaching for creativity and creative learning as the core components, has been revised twice for the current study. It now includes creative thinking skills as the fourth component and this is one of the major contributions of this research. Our findings revealed that IB curricula foster creativity and creative thinking skills, but the teachers faced some challenges as a result of the demanding nature of the curricula and time constraints. This multiple case study followed a concurrent mixed-methods approach employing semi-structured teacher interviews, questionnaires and class observations as data sources to ensure triangulation. Based on the findings, each component of the framework has been redefined from the IB perspective. Thus, the final version of the framework, the Creative Pedagogy Framework for Continuum IB Schools, offers a systematic infusion of each component mentioned previously into IB curricula in continuum IB schools, addressing challenges and enhancing integration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101901"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144480098","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qingtang Liu , Yubei Chang , Guangqiong Zhang , Xiaojuan Li , Linjing Wu
{"title":"Exploring the emotional interaction of emergent roles in collaborative argumentation with multidimensional and fine-grained analysis","authors":"Qingtang Liu , Yubei Chang , Guangqiong Zhang , Xiaojuan Li , Linjing Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101902","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101902","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Students generate diverse emergent roles when they engage in discussions and contribute their insights during collaborative argumentation. The emotional interactions among the emergent roles affect the effectiveness of collaborative argumentation. However, existing studies lack a multidimensional and dynamic process analysis of emergent roles in collaborative argumentation, especially considering the emotional interaction of emergent roles closely related to successful collaborative learning. To fill the above research gaps, the study designed and implemented five phases of collaborative argumentation activities: context creation, peer communication, intra-group negotiation, inter-group integration, and classroom activities. The present study examined the emotional interactions of emergent roles based on the multidimensional and processual discourse data in collaborative argumentation using content analysis, cluster analysis, the Kruskal-Wallis test, and Post-hoc tests. Three emergent roles in collaborative argumentation were identified: activity guider, active constructor, and task follower. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test and Post-hoc tests revealed significant differences among emergent roles in terms of positive emotional response and evaluation. The active constructors’ negative emotional evaluation and expression gradually weakened, and the activity guiders’ negative emotional expression and evaluation gradually strengthened. But the positive emotional interactions of the three emergent roles did not significantly change in phases. Finally, suggestions for promoting high-quality collaborative argumentation were discussed based on the study findings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101902"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144331031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Academic buoyancy and self-regulated learning among doctoral students: The mediating roles of creativity-generating research styles","authors":"Siyao Chen, Li-fang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101900","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101900","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Self-regulated learning among doctoral students is essential for their transition from students to independent and creative scholars. More importantly, it fosters a lifelong learning mindset that enhances their creativity and competitiveness in the knowledge economy. The present study investigated the predictive role of academic buoyancy in self-regulated learning and the mediating roles of research styles in this relationship, controlling for age and gender. Two hundred and three doctoral students in China’s Greater Bay Area provided their demographic information and responded to three inventories: the <em>Academic Buoyancy Scale</em>, the <em>Research Styles Inventory</em>, and the <em>Academic Self-Regulation Scale</em>. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses showed that academically buoyant doctoral students used self-regulated strategies (memory strategy, goal setting, and learning responsibility) more frequently. Structural equation modelling revealed that the three creativity-generating research styles (legislative, hierarchical, and liberal) mediated the relationship between academic buoyancy and three categories of self-regulated learning, while the three norm-conforming research styles (executive, conservative, and monarchic) did not mediate this relationship. These findings highlight the importance of academic buoyancy and creativity-generating research styles in doctoral students’ learning and have practical implications for doctoral students, their supervisors, and university senior managers in their efforts to enhance doctoral students’ self-regulated learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101900"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144366870","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The curvilinear relationship between creative self-efficacy and creative functioning: Perspective of the threshold hypothesis","authors":"Wu-jing He, Tin-wai Chiang, Kai Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101884","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101884","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The role of creative self-efficacy in creativity has received increasing attention in scientific research. Whereas previous research has focused primarily on analysing the linear relationship between these two constructs and reported mixed findings, the present study aimed to take an alternative approach to the task of examining the role of creative self-efficacy in creative functioning based on an embedded perspective of social cognitive theory (i.e., the <em>threshold hypothesis</em>), which postulates a nonlinear or curvilinear relationship between these two constructs. A total of 688 10th and 11th graders (51.6 % male; mean age = 15.5 years) attending senior secondary schools in Hong Kong participated in the study. Creative self-efficacy and creative functioning were assessed using the Creative Self-Efficacy Scale and a verbal and figural creative problem-solving test, respectively. Evidence was found to support the threshold hypothesis, in which context creative self-efficacy positively contributed to creative problem solving in both the verbal and figural domains at lower levels up to an inflection point, beyond which creative self-efficacy led to no additional benefits with regard to creative problem solving. These results contribute new findings to the efficacy-creativity literature and shed important light on ways of enhancing creativity through efficacy interventions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"58 ","pages":"Article 101884"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144298987","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}