University of Twente Student Theses
Using Cognitive Training to Boost Innovative Thinking Skills for Higher Education Students
Karageorgiou, Olga (2024) Using Cognitive Training to Boost Innovative Thinking Skills for Higher Education Students.
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| Abstract: | In recent years, a stronger emphasis has been given to the development of innovative thinking skills. Those skills consist of the sub-skills of Divergent (DT) and Convergent Thinking (CT). Both DT and CT even though interconnected, follow contradicting thinking patterns, which poses a challenge to educators to teach them simultaneously. A possible solution for overcoming this challenge is using cognitive training, whereby the learners’ attention is focused on the cognitive processes followed when conducting an action. To test the hypothesis that cognitive training on innovative thinking skills could have an impact on DT and CT skills a quasi-experimental quantitative study was conducted. To test this hypothesis Mann-Whitney U tests were utilized to test the between-group comparison, and Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests for within-group comparisons. The results indicate no significant effect of cognitive training on CT and DT. However, it is possible that the strict CT requirements led the focus of the students towards a single solution fulfilling the requirements of the assignments, rather than true innovative outputs. This finding signifies the need for further investigation of the CT skills focus of most educational systems, and the impact that this focus might have on the innovative thinking skills of the students. Finally, the current study could serve as a pilot for understanding DT and CT skills development in educational settings. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 81 education, teaching |
| Programme: | Educational Science and Technology MSc (60023) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/103197 |
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