The Effectiveness of Teaching of Mathematical Creativity

Creative Thinking Skills (CTS) education is an integral part of the Education Reform in HK. Except a few, CTS education seldom infiltrates into the primary classrooms. In order to prepare the pupils to have these higher order thinking skills, CTS education must be brought into the primary classes. Years ago, after the external school reviews and mathematical focus inspection by the Quality Assurance and School-Based Support Division, it was found that in the researcher's school, little was done in nurturing in the CTS. The pupils' development in these skills was constrained. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of teaching of mathematical creativity.;The study target was six math teachers in primary 1 and primary 4 and the respective pupils. An evaluation framework was first developed, and then used to assess the Mathematical Creativity School-Based Curricula (MCSBC). The influence on the mathematical creativity of pupils was then re-assessed. The researcher also observed and interviewed the six teachers for their experience and the difficulty they had encountered in the project.;The results of the study showed that the Mathematical Creativity School-Based Curriculum Evaluation (MCSBCE) should have to include Intended Curriculum, Implemented Curriculum, Learned Curriculum, 19 assessments dimensions and 66 evaluation criteria. The SBCE showed there were quality variations in the Intended Curriculum, Implemented Curriculum and Learned Curriculum. The teachers were more satisfied with the Intended Curriculum. It was followed by the Implemented Curriculum and the Learned Curriculum. The study also showed the purpose of the SBCE was clear but the effectiveness was not marked in teaching. The evaluation also found that there was much room for improvements in the three curricula. The question of Intended Curriculum was lack of experience in the teachers. The Intended Curriculum did not systematically relate the learning of mathematics and creative problem solving. The teachers were weak in the theory of the creative-question-solving teaching mode. There was room for improvement. The Implemented Curriculum had characteristics of the school-based curriculum, with the teaching mode of creative questions solving. The limitations were lack of time and the wide diversity in the contents of the curricula. The Learned Curriculum showed the pupils perform poorly in solving creative questions. There was variation in the performance of the pupils.;The study proved the Designed Curriculum had positive effect on the mathematical creativity of the primary 1 and primary 4 pupils. The results were more evident in the fluency, flexibility of the primary 1 pupils but in the fluency, flexibility, sensitivity, elaboration originality of the primary 4 pupils. There was no positive effect on sensitivity, elaboration, originality of the primary 1 pupils. Apart from the extra workload, the teachers encountered various difficulties in enforcing the curricula and their evaluation. They lacked the professional knowledge of evaluation with difficulty in handling the various evaluation criteria. The teacher would have considered himself or herself a failure if the problems were not solved in time.;The study systemically inspects the quality of the MCSBC, enhancing the development and the improvement of the mathematical creativity. It's a useful reference for other schools.