Thinking Skills and Creativity最新文献

{"title":"Building blocks of abstraction: exploring children's real-life problem solving in block-based programming","authors":"Ünal Çakiroğlu,&nbsp;İlknur Özyilmaz Şahın","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101995","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101995","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study seeks to examine how secondary school students demonstrate abstraction skills while solving real-world problems using block-based programming platforms. The research, exploratory in nature, involved 6th-grade students in a computer science class engaging with real-world problems through Scratch. Screen recordings and interviews were used to examine the students’ ways of demonstrating abstraction. The findings showed that real-world problem contexts, combined with the features of Scratch as a block-based programming platform, supported the emergence of abstraction behaviors in problem solving process. Among the indicators of abstraction, \"eliminating unnecessary blocks\" and \"finding clear and practical solutions\" were the observed most frequently. The \"applying previous solutions\" has developed slightly less. These indicators of abstraction were demonstrated within the affordances of Scratch, particularly through its support for suggesting the necessity of blocks, reflecting on the complexity of solutions, presenting efficient alternative blocks, and structuring the solution for better interpretability. The results indicate that working with problems based on real-life contexts in block-based programming platforms may offer students rich opportunities to demonstrate abstraction in diverse ways through meaningful problem-solving. We hope this study will support more effective programming instruction on block-based platforms through the use of real-world problems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101995"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099619","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":"Comparing the Aha! experience to resilience in innovation performance predicted by creative self-efficacy","authors":"Jon-Chao Hong ,&nbsp;Kuen-Yi Lin ,&nbsp;Ming-Wen Chang ,&nbsp;Chung-Hao Chiang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101992","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101992","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>According to regulatory focus theory, the Aha! experience and resilience represent two distinct psychological states that influence creative performance. However, limited research has explored how these states emerge and function in the context of youth innovation. To address this gap, the present study investigated participants in the Taiwan Youth Innovation Exhibition, an annual competition that selects top projects to advance to the International Exhibition for Young Inventors. The study examined how creative self-efficacy (CSE) predicts both the Aha! experience and resilience, and how these states mediate the relationship between CSE and innovation performance. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was conducted using data collected from student participants. Results indicated that all hypothesized relationships were supported: CSE positively predicted both the Aha! experience and resilience, and both in turn significantly predicted innovation performance. These findings suggest that encouraging students to cultivate Aha! moments and develop psychological resilience may enhance their creative outcomes in innovation-based competitions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101992"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026441","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":"From comfort zone to growth zone: Experiential projects as catalysts for creativity in pre-service teachers","authors":"Serap Sevimli-Celik ,&nbsp;Elif Güvelioglu","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101994","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101994","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to analyze the creative experiences of early childhood pre-service teachers enrolled in a semester-long course designed to enhance their creative potential through experiential projects. Using a qualitative research design, this study explored the subjective experiences of 16 pre-service teachers, aged 21 to 23-years-old, who participated in a 14-week course focused on integrating creativity into early childhood education. Data were collected through weekly reflections, project reports, and multimedia documentation, capturing each pre-service teacher’s creative journey. The findings revealed four key themes which characterized the pre-service teachers’ creative experiences: (1) learning a new skill, (2) expressing creativity and experiencing a sense of accomplishment, (3) overcoming challenges related to fear and insecurity, and (4) achieving personal fulfillment and professional growth. These open-ended projects fostered an environment where the pre-service teachers could take risks, embrace failure, and reflect on their development, building essential skills such as problem-solving, creative confidence, and resilience. This approach equipped pre-service teachers with the skills and mindset necessary to foster creativity in their future classrooms, supporting both their personal and professional growth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101994"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145099618","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":"Mediation mechanisms in the hierarchical evolution of high-order thinking skills: A longitudinal study in Chinese science education","authors":"Shiyi Zang ,&nbsp;Pingting Lin ,&nbsp;Xiaojun Xia ,&nbsp;Yi Bai ,&nbsp;Huihua Deng","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101996","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101996","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigated the mediation mechanisms underlying the internal evolution of high-order thinking skills (HOTSs) among 132 seventh-grade students in China, focusing on the hierarchical relationships between specific HOTSs (S-HOTSs: evidence-based reasoning, model construction, systematic thinking and critical discussion skills) and complex HOTSs (C-HOTSs: critical-thinking and problem-solving skills). Using a longitudinal design with formative and summative assessments, the study employed single and chain mediation models to analyze HOTSs development during a 9-session biological science course on photosynthesis, respiration and the food chain. The results revealed that S-HOTS indirectly promote C–HOTS through sequential mediation pathways, with stronger effects from chain mediators compared to direct effects. Notably, model construction and systematic thinking skills emerged as pivotal mediators, bridging early-developing HOTSs and later-developing HOTSs. These findings highlighted the importance of stepwise instructional strategies aligned with hierarchical skill evolution, offering empirical insights for designing curricula that foster the development of HOTSs in science education.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101996"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145060666","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":"Research agendas and teaching emotions among academics: The mediating role of teaching efficacy","authors":"Li-fang Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhengli Xie ,&nbsp;Mengting Li ,&nbsp;Weiqiao Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101991","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101991","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Scholars have long debated the existence of the research-teaching nexus. Guided by the Job Demands-Resources model, the present study pioneered the investigation of the predictive power of academics’ research agendas for their emotions in teaching, considering the mediating role of academic self-efficacy (i.e., teaching efficacy and research efficacy). Participants were 332 academics from nine research-oriented comprehensive universities in mainland China. The participants responded to the <em>Multi-Dimensional Research Agendas Inventory-12</em>, the <em>Research-Teaching Efficacy Inventory-6</em>, and the <em>Emotions in Teaching Inventory-Revised-6</em>. Academics who were more deeply engaged in creative research agendas tended to report more positive emotions in teaching, whereas those more engaged in conventional research agendas tended to report more negative teaching emotions. These statistical predictive findings were obtained, with academics’ age, academic rank, gender, and academic discipline controlled for. Moreover, teaching efficacy provided a pathway from creative research agendas to both positive and negative teaching emotions. These findings unveiled intricate interconnections between academics’ research and teaching. The study has made theoretical contributions and it has practical implications for both academics and university senior managers in their respective efforts to promote positive teaching emotions through fostering creativity in research agendas and boosting teaching efficacy. Furthermore, the limitations of the study can provide guidance for future research directions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101991"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145007629","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":"Embedded entrepreneurship pedagogy: Six key practices for an entrepreneurial classroom","authors":"Gregory R.L. Hadley","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101993","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101993","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper explores youth entrepreneurship education, most suitable at the secondary school level, through the mobilization of embedded entrepreneurship pedagogy. The paper is informed by a two, recently completed research projects, involving classroom teachers, and practicing entrepreneurs. Those projects, which examined how secondary schools can sharpen their entrepreneurial offerings to students, and in addition to their primary findings, hinted at the possibility of infusing key entrepreneurial principles into all curricular learning experiences. To illustrate this approach, this paper will examine how embedded entrepreneurship education can be included as part of the curricular and pedagogical planning of any subject area. It introduces six key practices for embedded entrepreneurship and explores, with examples, their curricular and cross-curricular potential.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101993"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049409","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":"Embedding 21st-Century Competencies into Higher Education: Insights from Vietnamese Lecturers’ Perspectives and Pedagogical Strategies","authors":"Nguyen Thi Thao HO ,&nbsp;Ha Van LE","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101990","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101990","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The integration of 21st-century skills, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity (the 4Cs) is pivotal in contemporary higher education to prepare students for a rapidly evolving global landscape. Despite widespread theoretical emphasis, empirical insights into how these competencies are implemented in Vietnamese universities remain limited. This study aims to explore the extent of 4Cs integration in Vietnamese higher education and to identify lecturers' opinions on the instructional strategies used and the barriers encountered. To address this aim, a cross-sectional quantitative study using an adapted, validated survey was distributed electronically across multiple institutions in four major Vietnamese cities, employing a multi-stage institutional sampling approach. A total of 140 valid lecturer responses met the inclusion criteria, reflecting the accessible population during the data collection window. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequencies, means, standard deviations) and internal-consistency estimates in SPSS 26. Descriptive analyses indicate widespread integration of the 4Cs, with lecturers most consistently employing structured collaboration and creativity strategies (e.g., group activities and granting student autonomy in resource selection). Conversely, project-based learning, collaborative online tasks, and the use of graphic organizers were reported as less consistently applied. Patterned differences across strategies highlight instructional and institutional barriers, including inadequate technological infrastructure, rigid curricula, and limited professional development opportunities. The results extend the existing literature by providing context-specific evidence on practice patterns and constraints, emphasizing the need for targeted institutional support to enable comprehensive implementation of the 4Cs. Implications include policy measures to enhance infrastructure, greater curriculum flexibility, and sustained professional learning to strengthen lecturers' capacity to embed 21st-century skills in teaching and learning.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101990"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049408","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 integration of technology and education: An innovative research on the evaluation system of college students’ programming ability","authors":"Dongxuan Wang ,&nbsp;Zihan Xie ,&nbsp;Dapeng Lian ,&nbsp;Qingjiao Lu ,&nbsp;Ning Li ,&nbsp;Hongbo Yuan ,&nbsp;Yaju Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101989","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101989","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The rapid development of artificial intelligence technology has made programming ability a core competency for college students. However, the existing single-indicator evaluation system struggles to accurately distinguish between different levels of ability, highlighting the urgent need for a scientific and multidimensional evaluation system. In this study, the AHP-TOPSIS method was adopted. Combined with the grades of programming-related courses and competition results, a multi-dimensional evaluation system for programming design ability was constructed, and a comprehensive score was given to 307 students. The results show that the weight of mathematical analysis ability is the highest (0.26), highlighting its core position in programming education. Furthermore, the comprehensive scores of students follow a normal distribution. 68 % of the students' scores are concentrated between 70 and 79 points, which can effectively distinguish students of different ability levels. Further analysis indicates that there is a strong positive correlation between course grades and competition grades (Pearson's <em>r</em> = 0.78), emphasizing the importance of a solid course foundation for the development of programming ability. Furthermore, there was no significant difference in the comprehensive score between genders (<em>p</em> = 0.22, Cohen's <em>d</em> = -0.15), indicating that programming education should focus on individual differences rather than gender. The evaluation system proposed in this paper not only provides scientific assessment tools for educational institutions, but also offers a basis for optimizing teaching strategies, improving teaching quality and the quality of talent cultivation, which is of great significance to the reform and innovation of computer education.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101989"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144996316","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 the synergy of social-individual enablers of creativity in science: A multidimensional study of fourth graders","authors":"Qimeng Liu ,&nbsp;Tianxue Cui ,&nbsp;Leifeng Xiao ,&nbsp;Jian Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101988","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101988","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Creativity is a fundamental competency of the 21st century and its cultivation—particularly in science education—has attracted substantial interest. Indeed, enablers of creativity represent a dominant field in this regard. Based on “Confluence approaches”, the study chose 14,041 fourth graders from 309 primary schools from a city in the Central Region of China, all of which completed online questionnaires that looked into the individual enablers and social enablers of creativity in science. Results of the descriptive analysis of individual enablers showed that there was a decrease observed in students’ attitude toward science, interest in science, engagement in science learning, and career orientation toward science. While the LASSO and nomogram results indicated six common variables of social enablers including teachers’ concerns about students’ interests, individualized teaching, collaborative group teaching, the infrastructure of science, after-school service in science subjects, and parent engagement in daily life. These variables consistently emerged as pivotal when predicting the correlation between social and individual enablers of creativity in science. Teaching methods (individualized teaching, collaborative group teaching) were identified as the most influential social enablers on individual enablers of creativity in science. These findings provide valuable insight into what teachers, schools, and families should concentrate on to effectively support the expression and enhancement of student creativity in science.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101988"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145049428","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":"Differences in the collaborative knowledge construction process between high- and low-achievement groups in a collaborative concept mapping task: Evidence from multiple perspectives","authors":"Si Zhang,&nbsp;Zihan Yin","doi":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101984","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsc.2025.101984","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Collaborative learning is important for assisting students in knowledge understanding and knowledge co-construction. Many studies use concept maps, a visualized tool, to aid in this process. It is crucial to look into the ways that groups of three or more people construct knowledge and to combine implicit physiological data with explicit data. In this study, we combined content analysis, ordered network analysis (ONA), and hyperscanning technology based on electroencephalograms (EEG) to analyze the data of 28 triads of high- and low-achievement groups that participated in collaborative concept mapping tasks. The frequency statistics showed that the low-achievement groups have significantly higher monitoring and adapting behavior frequencies at the individual level in the regulation dimension than the high-achievement groups. The ONA results further illustrated the sequence of knowledge transfer based on the frequency analysis. The cognitive patterns of high-achievement groups showed a cycle that began at the group level of cognition, moved to the peer level of cognition, then to the group level of regulation, and ultimately returned to the group level of cognition. The low-achievement groups' cognitive patterns also exhibited directionality, moving from the group level of regulation to the individual level of cognition and to the group level of cognition. From the implicit perspective, the theta band and temporal-parietal regions showed greater inter-brain synchrony in the high-achievement groups. Low-achievement groups, on the other hand, had comparatively lower synchrony. Their consensus was only superficial and concentrated on ensuring that everyone participated through regulation and thought integration to finish the task. Our study's findings can help teachers and instructional designers develop tailored interventions based on differences in learners' cognitive patterns during collaborative concept mapping tasks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":47729,"journal":{"name":"Thinking Skills and Creativity","volume":"59 ","pages":"Article 101984"},"PeriodicalIF":4.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144926216","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}