A. AL-OWEIDI
In Jordan, the educational services had developed rapidly as
those services are not provided by the state only due to the
emergence of the private sector as a strong competitor in this
field.
And since there is an interest from parents to their children,
in order to sharpen their personality in the academic, personal
and creative aspects, many students had enrolled in private
schools in Jordan under the assumptions that private schools
provide services and activities better than public schools
(Al-Srour, 2005).
Thus, the current study seeks to investigate the creative
characteristics among creative students according to the type of
school (private, public).
Hoi Man Ip, Chi Hang Wu, Yim Cheng and Catherine
McBride-Chang (2005) conducted a study in China to explore
performances on three types of creativity tasks (real-world
problem, figural, and verbal; in 22 6th-grade students and 22
university students from Hong Kong. As compared to 6th-grade
students’ scores, university students’ scores (both quality and
quantity) were significantly higher on the real-world problem
and significantly lower on the figural task. On the verbal task,
the groups did not differ. Results are interpreted in terms of an
interaction between task structures and students’ knowledge
bases. Knowledge enhances one’s performance in knowledge-
rich creativity tasks, whereas functional fixedness may occur in
knowledge-lean tasks.
Lee & Seo (2006) conducted a study to examine elementary
teachers’ understanding of creativity, in particular those who
teach the gifted students. Forty-two elementary teachers were
surveyed with an open-ended questionnaire to identify their
understanding of creativity. Their answers were analyzed based
on cognitive, personal, and environmental components of crea-
tivity. Teachers who mentioned all three components were
recognized to have a balanced view. However, one third of the
teachers had a biased view, mentioning only 1 component.
Many had an intermediate view, mentioning 2 components.
Preference for the cognitive component, the disregard of the
personal component, and the partial understanding of the envi-
ronmental component were also discovered. To successfully
facilitate creativity in gifted education, teachers’ balanced view
is essential. Thus the personal component and the environ-
mental component should be emphasized to improve their un-
derstanding.
Burnett & Procter (2004) sought to develop measurement in-
strument that provides teachers with a tool to observe the per-
sonal creativity characteristics of individual students. The in-
strument was developed by compiling a list of characteristics
derived from the literature to be indicative of the personal
characteristics of creative people. The list was then reduced by
grouping like characteristics to 9 cognitive and dispositional
traits that were considered appropriate for elementary students.
The 9-item instrument was then administered in 24 classrooms
to 6 and Year 7 students. Factor analysis revealed an eigenvalue
greater than 1 and accounting for 63% of the variance. The
results indicated that the creativity checklist has very high in-
ternal consistency and is a reliable measurement instrument (α
= .93).
Furthermore, Prabhu, Sutton and Sauser, (2008) hypothe-
sized a conceptual model and tested the mediating and moder-
ating role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation respectively in
the relationship between three personality traits (openness to
experience, self-efficacy, and perseverance) and creativity. This
study, conducted in a university setting from (124) students
who did not finish study yet, the study administrated (What
Kind of Person Are You? KOPAY consisting of (50) items
designed to assess the individual’s behavior and (NEO-FFI)
scale to assess their openness for experience. The findings in-
dicated that the potential mediating role of intrinsic motivation
between creativity/openness to experience as intrinsic motive-
tion partially mediated this relationship. Self-efficacy was
closely related to creativity, with intrinsic motivation com-
pletely mediating this relationship. Extrinsic motivation moder-
ated the relationship between self-efficacy/creativity and per-
severance/creativity and had a negative association with crea-
tivity.
Oral (2006) conducted a study to investigate the aspects of
creativity among prospective teachers in Turkey. The study
sample consisted of (140) male and female students of Akdeniz
University, Faculty of Education. Regression analyses demon-
strated that although creativity dimensions (Fluency, Flexibility,
originality and elaboration) were not included in OSS in previ-
ous years, they are taken into consideration at moderate but
significant levels in recent years; however, it is not sufficient to
produce an educational reform for a creative, developed soci-
ety.
1) Additionally, Kim (2008) conducted a study entitled “Un-
derachievement and Creativity: Are Gifted Underachievers
Highly Creative?” To answer this question the researcher re-
views the available literature that suggests that the under
achievement of gifted students may be tied to their inherent and
unrecognized creativity. Apparently, many gifted students are
underachievers and up to 30% of high school dropouts may be
highly gifted. Finally, it reviews the studies and theories that
have shown that once underachievers are placed in an environ-
ment that fosters their needs, with motivation, mentors, under-
standing, freedom, and responsibility, they can become highly
productive.
2) In Malaysia, Habibollah, Rohani, Tengku, Jamaluddin and
Vijay (2010) conducted a study to examine if a relationship
exists between creativity and academic achievement and if the
relationship differs between males and females. The sample of
the study consisted of (153) male and female students (male =
105 and female = 48) completed creativity test. Cumulative
grade point average (CGPA) was used to select the participants.
Creativity was measured using the Khatena-Torrance Creative
Perception Inventory (KTCPI). Pearson Correlation analysis
indicated that aspects of creativity are related to academic
achievement. Moreover, the findings indicated that there are
differences between males and females on some domains as the
means of males performance on the innovation and artistry
domains were higher, while it was higher for females on envi-
ronmental sensitivity, intellectuality and independency do-
mains.
Moreover, Kim and Van Tassel (2010) aimed to examine
whether there is a relationship between creativity and behavior
problems among underachievers. Forty-one elementary and 89
high school students and 4 teachers in Korea participated in this
study. To achieve this aim three measures were used, those are,
(Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking-Figural, Runco Ideational
Behavior Scale [RIBS], and Scales for Rating the Behavioral
Characteristics of Superior Students-Revised Edition [SRBCSS-R]),
with their scores on a measure of behavior problems reported
by their teachers. The results indicated that, among under-
achievers, there is a relationship between behaveioral problems
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