Romina M. J. Proctor

Measuring cognitive and dispositional characteristics of creativity in elementary students

Abstract: This article describes the theoretical underpinning and development of a measurement instrument that provides teachers with a tool to observe the personal creativity characteristics of individual students. The instrument 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 520 Year 6 and Year 7 students. Factor analysis using maximum likelihood extraction with an oblimin rotation revealed a single factor with an eigenvalue greater than 1 and accounting for 63% of the variance. All 9 items on this factor loaded at .72 or greater. The results indicated that the Creativity Checklist has very high internal consistency and is a reliable measurement instrument (a = .93).

Measuring Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Curriculum Integration

Abstract There is currently a trend toward the development of methodologies to measure Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum integration and its resultant impact on student learning outcomes. Simplistic, negative correlations between numbers of classroom computers and standardized literacy and numeracy test results provide headlines for the media but do little to illuminate the full impact of ICT on teaching and learning. However, attempts at more sophisticated analyses are not problem free and raise issues of methodology and definition. From a review of the recent international and Australian research on the definition and measurement of ICT curriculum integration, this paper describes the development and initial validation of a new ICT curriculum integration measurement instrument conceptualized from the Productive Pedagogies framework (Education Queensland, 2000). This instrument is envisaged as one of a suite of methodologies for validly and reliably measuring ICT curriculum integration in classrooms.

Elementary School Students' Learner Self-Concept, Academic Self-Concepts and Approaches to Learning.

The present study investigated the relationships between academic selfconcepts, learner self-concept, and approaches to learning in elementary school students. A sample of 580 Australian Grade 6 and 7 school students with a mean age of 10.7 years participated in the study. Weak negative correlations between learner self-concepts and surface approaches to learning were identified. In contrast, deep approaches for both boys and girls showed the highest positive correlations with school self-concept and learning self-concept. Only slight variations in these figures were found between boys and girls.