Mathematical Creativity in Solving Non-Routine Problems
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Keywords
flexibility, fluency, mathematical creativity, and originality
Abstract
The study used the descriptive design to explore the students' mathematical creativity in terms of fluency, flexibility and originality in solving six non-routine problems. Thirty (30) participants chosen using stratified sampling from 123 Grade 10 students, were asked to solve six nonroutine problems. In each of the three sessions, two problems were answered by them, after which they were asked to write a journal about their experiences in solving a problem and then they were interviewed. Solutions of the participants which succeeded by an interview that were interpreted using validated rubrics described their mathematical creativity in terms of fluency, flexibility and originality. Results show that students may be described as “moderately creative” in all three components fluency, flexibility, originality. Likewise, the over-all level of mathematical creativity in solving nonroutine problems is moderately creative. Consequently, the researchers derived pedagogical implications to improve the mathematical creativity of students.
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