Torrance Journal for Applied Creativity

Purpose of the Study
We thought the best answers as
to what it takes to be creative in children
might come from children themselves.
We have been following 60-80 children
each year for 12 years during Rocket to
Creativity (RTC), a week of experiences
designed to promote creative thinking
and problem solving. Through excerpts
from interviews, videos, and a photo
journal of the creative process during the
course of RTC, we present in this article
the perspectives of children on whether
or not creativity can be nurtured and
what fosters creative thinking.
The purpose of RTC is to give
children a chance to experience rich
opportunities, to use their imaginations
to solve problems, to explore authentic
topics, and to create novel products.
During the week of RTC, children are
engaged in problem or project-based
learning (PBL). In PBL, with the teacher
as a facilitator, students choose authentic
problems and work on solutions to those
problems. Students use the higher level
thinking tasks to analyze, synthesize,
evaluate, and create. In addition to being
engaged in PBL, the children are also
exposed to a wide range of strategies
for promoting creative thinking such as
brainstorming, SCAMPER, and creating
metaphors (Starko, 2014). Combining
PBL with creative thinking strategies has
resulted in some highly creative outcomes.
For example, RTC participants
designed a hovercraft, invented a device
for helping people with physical limitations,
solved the problem of the wooly
adelgid, and created animated cartoons.
We have been documenting
the creative process of children through
photos, videos, and interviews with RTC
participants. In past years, we interviewed
children about their experiences
during the week and how these experiences
compared with those they had
at school. Students’ comments about
RTC from previous years indicated the
value they saw in the creative process:
“I wish we could make more and learn
more by doing instead of just sitting at
a desk. More doing, more creativeness.
In RTC we don’t sit at a desk and we are
not lectured.” Another child commented
that school was “…like being locked up in
a cage and studying numbers.”
The purpose of the current
study was to document how children
perceive creativity.
Method
A qualitative case study approach
was used for the design of the
study. Merriam (2009) described the
appropriateness of utilizing a case study
framework when the researcher is intrinsically
interested in the case and hopes to
acquire a comprehensive understanding
of the phenomenon. Ary, Jacobs, Razavieh,
and Sorensen (2006) described the
greatest advantage of conducting a case
study as the potential for depth, defining
individuals within the context of their
environment.
Data Collection
Interviews. We conducted
semi-structured interviews (Glesne,
2011) with all 71 students in grades 1-8
who attended RTC. We conducted the
interviews throughout the course of the
week, but a majority took place on the
fourth day of camp after students had
been immersed in the creative process.
We recorded the interviews in classrooms
with individuals and groups of
students using iPads. Students were
asked six questions.
Table 1: Interview Questions
Observations. Throughout the
week, we closely monitored the progress
of each group. This provided an intimate
setting for noting details of the creative
process as students worked through the
project or problem-based learning experience.
Finally, we viewed each of the
final presentations where students often
described key moments of their personal
creative process.
Photo Analysis. In order to
document key creative moments, we used
iPads and iPhones to take pictures of the
students and teachers.
Participants and Setting
The program being studied is a
one week creativity camp which provides
a field experience for teachers working
toward teacher licensure in gifted education
at a regional state university in the
Southeastern United States. It provides
children ages 6-14 an opportunity to develop
their creative thinking and problem
solving skills. The participants in this
study included 71 students and 14 teachers.
In addition, 14 students enrolled
in an undergraduate psychology course
served as assistants to the teachers.
Data Analysis
We began the data analysis
process by reviewing the recorded interviews.
Next, we transcribed each interview
and used open-coding to record
1. Are you a creative person? Explain.
2. What does it take to be creative?
3. Can someone learn to be more creative? How?
4. Why is creativity important?
5. What have you learned about creativity from RTC?
6. Can you describe your creative process throughout the week?
• How did you come up with ideas?
• Did you have any ideas that did not work?
• How did you come up with solutions?
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