Angie L. Miller

Parenting Style, Perfectionism, and Creativity in High-Ability and High-Achieving Young Adults

The current study explores the potential relationships among perceived parenting style, perfectionism, and creativity in a high-ability and high-achieving young adult population. Using data from 323 honors college students at a Midwestern university, bivariate correlations suggested positive relationships between (a) permissive parenting style and creativity and (b) authoritarian parenting style and socially prescribed perfectionism. Furthermore, negative relationships were also found between authoritarian parenting style and creativity. These relationships were further investigated using a path model that included control variables for gender and parent education level. Findings suggest statistically significant relationships between creativity and gender, authoritarian parenting and socially prescribed perfectionism, authoritarian parenting and creativity, and permissive parenting and creativity.

A Self-Report Measure of Cognitive Processes Associated with Creativity

This study sought to explore creative cognitive processes and the similarities and differences in how descriptions of these processes group together in various self-report subscales. Based on empirical evidence from numerous studies involving the cognitive components of creativity training, the Cognitive Processes Associated with Creativity (CPAC) scale was developed to efficiently and directly address the processes of brainstorming, metaphorical and analogical thinking, perspective-taking, imagery, incubation, and flow. An online administered pilot study (n = 226) and laboratory follow-up study (n = 120) collected responses to the newly created CPAC scale and a variety of other creativity measures. Overall, the results provide preliminary evidence for the psychometric qualities of the CPAC scale. Specifically, the data from both studies support the construct validity and divergent validity, with mixed evidence for concurrent validity.

The Influence of Personality, Parenting Styles, and Perfectionism on Performance Goal Orientation in High Ability Students.

The current study explores relationships among gender, perceived parenting style, the personality traits of conscientiousness and neuroticism, perfectionism, and achievement goal orientation in a high ability and high achieving young adult population. Using data from Honors College students at a Midwestern university, a path model suggests that neuroticism and conscientiousness are positively related to self-oriented perfectionism, whereas neuroticism and authoritarian parenting style are positively related to socially prescribed perfectionism. In addition, both self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism are positively related to performance goal orientation. However, personality traits and parenting style did not have significant relationships with performance goal orientation in the model. Potential reasons for these findings, along with educational implications and suggestions for future research, are discussed.

The Influence of Institutional Experiences on the Development of Creative Thinking in Arts Alumni.

Previous research has suggested that several different aspects of one’s environment can impact creativity. Using data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), this study explored whether satisfaction with aspects of the institutional experience contributed to the perceived development of creative thinking in arts alumni, and whether there are differences in these patterns between undergraduate and graduate alumni across a variety of academic majors. The results of several regression analyses indicated a greater number of significant predictors for creative thinking in undergraduate alumni when compared to graduate alumni. The two strongest, most consistent predictors across all models were satisfaction with their freedom and encouragement to take risks and instructors in classrooms, labs, and studios. Differences across majors are also discussed.

Do High-Achieving Students Benefit From Honors College Participation? A Look at Student Engagement for First-Year Students and Seniors:

This study investigates findings from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), comparing various aspects of student engagement between honors college and general education students. Responses from 1,339 honors college students and 7,191 general education students across 15 different universities suggest a positive impact for honors college participation on reflective and integrative learning, use of learning strategies, collaborative learning, diverse discussions, student–faculty interaction, and quality of interactions for first-year students, even when controlling for student and institutional characteristics. For senior students, honors college participation was related to more frequent student–faculty interaction. Potential experiential and curricular reasons for these differences are discussed, along with implications for educators, researchers, parents, and students.

Assessing Alumni Success: Income Is NOT the Only Outcome!.

Institutions may be interested in using alumni career success as evidence of institutional effectiveness, but the current study suggests that using income as the sole outcome may not be entirely capturing the occupational experience of graduates. Utilising data from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis indicated that there are two distinct components of job satisfaction for arts graduates: intrinsic satisfaction and extrinsic satisfaction. The results of ordinary least squares regression analyses for these two factors provide some relationships concerning demographic and occupational characteristics with these two areas of satisfaction. In considering overall job satisfaction, intrinsic satisfaction may play a larger role in how alumni perceive their career outcomes and success.

Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement

As the popularity of online education continues to rise, many colleges and universities are interested in how to best deliver course content for online learners. This study explores the ways in which taking courses through an online medium impacts student engagement, utilizing data from the National Survey of Student Engagement. Data was analyzed using a series of ordinary least squares regression models, also controlling for relevant student and institutional characteristics. The results indicated numerous significant relationships between taking online courses and student engagement for both first-year students and seniors. Those students taking greater numbers of online courses were more likely to engage in quantitative reasoning. However, they were less likely to engage in collaborative learning, student-faculty interactions, and discussions with diverse others, compared to their more traditional classroom counterparts. The students with greater numbers of online courses also reported less exposure to effective teaching practices and lower quality of interactions. The relationship between these engagement indicators and the percentage of classes taken online suggests that an online environment might benefit certain types of engagement, but may also be somewhat of a deterrent to others. Institutions should consider these findings when designing online course content, and encourage faculty to contemplate ways of encouraging student engagement across a variety of delivery types.

Exploring differences in creativity across academic majors for high-ability college students

ABSTRACT Many current theories and models include creativity as a component of giftedness, conceptualizing the construct in numerous ways that complement giftedness. Variations in creativity have also been studied among different academic disciplines, suggesting that although there may be higher levels of creativity for some, major choice is a complex concept. The current study explores differences in several aspects of creativity based on academic major for a high-ability young adult population. Using data from 399 Honors College students at a Midwestern university in the United States, a MANOVA and series of 1-way ANOVAs suggest significant differences by academic major for creative engagement, creative cognitive style, and fantasy, but not for tolerance or spontaneity. The pattern of results generally indicates higher creativity among arts and humanities majors, compared with other disciplines such as education and pre-professional training, although these fields can also benefit from creative input. Potential curricular and experiential reasons for these differences are discussed, along with some implications for educational programming and interventions.