An analysis of the creativity of the students who assigned as gifted and the students who are not assigned as gifted in mathematics: A case study

Individuals are expected to be creative in order to respond to problems, expectations and needs that they face as the world develops and changes. Educational institutions have the most significant responsibility to grow creative individuals. The creativity has an important role in mathematics since mathematics is related to daily life and requires skills such as analytical and critical thinking to find solutions for the problems. Gifted students in particular are expected to play an important role in keeping pace with the scientific and technological developments and they are also expected to carry on their countries' progress in the International arena. Thus, as in other children, the creativity is one of the most important skills to be sought in the gifted children. However, seeking creativity (domain-specific creativity in particular) in students is generally neglected in the literature. This study aims to analyze the creativity of the students who assigned as gifted and the students who are not assigned as gifted in mathematics through the indicators of creativity (fluency, flexibility, and originality). For this study, a qualitative research design was used and 12 students in two groups were included as participants. First group consisted of 6 students from the Science and Art Centers of Trabzon, Ordu and Amasya. Second group also consisted 6 students from public secondary schools in Trabzon. In each groups, 3 students were at seventh grade, and 3 were in eighth grade. The data were collected through clinical interviews with the students. The interviews regarded on the solutions the students developed for two activities of model eliciting and problem posing. The interviews were carried out 4 times with each student for 4 weeks, once a week for 2 weeks for each activity. The students were given activities and asked to work on these activities before the interviews. Thus, the solutions that the students developed were deeply discussed in the clinical interviews without commenting on their correctness or falseness. The data were respectively analyzed for each activity. The activity of model eliciting was analyzed using a theoretical framework developed by Amaral and Carreira (2013). The activity of problem posing was analyzed using a theoretical framework developed by the researcher based on Amaral and Carreira's (2013) study. The solutions that each student developed for each activity were analyzed using the fluency, flexibility, and originality as indicators of creativity. The result of study showed that the activities were effective to reveal the both students' mathematical creativity groups, but it was found that problem posing activity was more effective to reveal the difference between gifted and non gifted students' mathematical creativity. It was also found that there is no significant difference between students assigned as gifted and the students who are not assigned, in terms of fluency. However, according to the results the most of gifted students think more flexible and original in problem posing than their non gifted peers. Based on the results, it is suggested that problem posing should be more used in both the identification of gifted students and the tests developed for investigating students' mathematical creativity. Because originality and flexibility is more effective in revealing the difference between gifted and non gifted studens, each of the indicators can be weighted differently for calculating students' final scores of mathematical creativity.