Determining the relationship between thinking styles and creativity of science teacher candidates

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the relation of thinking styles and creativity, and also what extent thinking styles of science teacher candidates predict the scores they take from the sub-dimensions of creativity test. In accordance with this purpose, correlational survey method was used. Three hundred thirty seven teacher candidates who were stuyding in the Department of Primary Science Teaching of Amasya University in 2014-2015 academic years comprised the study group. One hundred seventy eight of 337 teacher candidates could be reached through purposive sampling method used in quantitative researches. Instruments used in this study are the Turkish version of Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking developed by Aslan (2001) and the Turkish version of Sternberg-Wagner Thinking Styles Inventory developed by Buluş (2006). Participants' genders and grade levels were also included in the study through the Personal Information Form that was developed by the researcher. Grade point averages of participants were obtained from Department of Student Affairs with their permission. In the direction of general purpose and sub-problems of the study; descriptive analysis, multivariate analysis of variances, Pearson correlation analysis and regression analysis were performed. Statistical results were reported with their effect sizes in order to give information how meaningful they are in practical terms. With respect to the findings of the research, females performed significantly better than males on two of the creativity measures, verbal flexibility and figural elaboration. There was a significant difference between males and females in favor of males on local and conservative thinking styles. Verbal flexibility scores of first-year teacher candidates were significantly higher than third-year ones. In terms of verbal originality creativity sub-dimension, means scores of second grade students were significantly higher than third grade ones. Similarly, second grade ones' scores of resistance to premature closure dimension were significantly higher than third grade ones. Global and conservative thinking styles scores of second grade teacher candidates were significantly higher than the first-year ones. Meanwhile, second grade ones had significantly higher grades about conservative thinking style as against to third grade teacher candidates. As a result of analyses made to determine what extent thinking styles predict the scores obtained from the sub-dimensions of creativity test, it has been found that when individuals' liberal thinking style scores increased, verbal fluency and verbal flexibility scores also increased. It can also be seen that participants' abstractness of titles scores increased when their anarchic thinking style scores went up, but their elaboration scores that belongs to figural creativity test descreased when they had higher scores on conservative thinking style. Finally, verbal originality scores obtained from creativity test increased when participants' liberal thinking style level rose, but grade point average did not seem to appear as a significant predictor in this analysis.