Creativity and Gifted Students

Creativity and Gifted Students Introduction Creativity refers to the ability of a person to bring something ‘new’ or simply one that did not exist before into being. It can also be defined as finding new applications for ideas or things that previously existed. New in this case is used relatively to refer to new ideas as is in the experience of the person.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Creativity and Gifted Students specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The process of creativity can be divided into two main processes, that is, coming up with the original idea and then acting on the original idea to produce it into a reality. A gifted person is one who shows remarkably extraordinary performance in doing something compared to other people of the same age and experience. Inventories for measuring giftedness The giftedness of a person is considered measurable and can be evaluated by administering the subject customized tests and then analyzi ng the results. A lot of research, in the past, has been carried out on the topic of giftedness as a result; different people have discovered numerous tests that are used to determine the giftedness of a person. Gifted children are identified and enrolled into programs for gifted people where they are nurtured into better people. These tests have been applied over time to determine which students are eligible for enrollment into the gifted programs. Some of the tests used include; The Cognitive Abilities Test that is used to measure a person’s mental ability, the Iowa Test of Basic skills together with the Iowa Test of Education Development both used to measure the subject’s achievement and Children’s Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory are used to measure the subject’s level of motivation. Tests for creativity of a person should also be used in determining eligibility into gifted programs (Kim, 2009, p.7). The capacity of creativity of a person is me asured by The Group Inventory for finding Creative Talent and the Torrance test of Creative Thinking, which was named after its inventor Dr. E. Paul Torrance, a leading researcher in the field of creativity who developed it in 1966.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to Dr. Torrance, creativity can be summarized as a continuous process of realizing problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge, missing elements, disharmonies; identifying the difficulty and its solutions by making guesses, formulating hypotheses, testing, changing and retesting them where necessary and then eventually communicating the result. Tests for creativity should be used in evaluation of eligible students for gifted programs because they help determine the potential of the subject in creative tendencies (Davis, 1986, p. 63). There are many dimensions of creativity, and it is important that the corr ect test is chosen to determine each dimension of creativity. Therefore, different sets of tests to measure creativity should be used in choosing children for gifted programs depending on the focus of the program. The creative capacity measuring tests contain a wealth of information on them which can help reveal the divergent thinking and the fluency of the subject. When a person engages in creative tendencies, they are mostly framed by many factors including their background, their culture and discipline and most importantly, his or her own description of creativity, and therefore, administrators of tests that measure a child’s eligibility for enrollment into a gifted program should take this into consideration when doing so (Kim, 2009, p.11). The tests should rhyme well with the subject’s culture disposition and discipline because the environment of the subjects also not only the talents the person possesses influences their abilities. It is for the best interests th at the creative measurement tests be not the only ways used to identify creativity in individuals and eligibility or be the only instrument on which the decision is made. There should be several tests to pick out legitimately individuals for gifted programs.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Creativity and Gifted Students specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the results of tests for evaluating eligibility of children in gifted programs enrollment should not be compared against each other. Each culture and society has their own definitions of excellence and the kinds of intelligence that it values. These factors should also be taken into consideration when administering creativity tests. This means that tests for divergent thinking, motivation, inventories in interest, attitude and personality and judgment of products should be administered when deciding which child will be accepted into a gifted program and which one will not. Most tests of giftedness rely mostly on the verbal prowess or the amount and vastness of information the subject possesses which is why creative tests should be adopted as a good addition to those tests. Creativity tests provide of the other side of the subject’s abilities that are separate from the vast knowledge and talents hence scrapping off biasness. Also, opinions from other experts in the relevant fields and disciplines should be employed to ensure the success of the process of identifying eligible children for gifted programs. Creativity tests, for example, the Torrance test of Creative Thinking are very easy to administer, and they do not require much time. They have a few cautions to observe and considering the extensive research on this field that has been going on, they are highly effective. They are fair in terms of gender, culture and socioeconomic disparities, and they should be adjoined with other tests to determine which students are enrolled i n gifted programs.Advertising Looking for essay on education? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More References Davis, G. A. (1986). Creativity is forever (2nd ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt Pub. Co.. Kim, K. (2009). Can we trust creativity tests? A review of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT)†. Creativity Research Journal. 18(1), 3-14.