The Role of Metacognitive Components in Creative Thinking

Design and validation of a self-assessment questionnaire of basic thinking skills

BACKGROUND

Since assessment of basic thinking skills is crucial in identifying an individual's cognitive capacities and comprehending their strengths and weaknesses, developing a suitable evaluating instrument holds significant importance in scheduling the training of basic thinking skills. This study aims to develop and subsequently validate a self-assessment questionnaire of basic thinking skills for medical sciences students.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present study of designing and psychometrically testing the self-assessment questionnaire of basic thinking skills among medical sciences students was conducted between 2022 and 2023 at Isfahan University. For the validity review, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was employed. The adequacy of sample size was checked with the KMO index and Bartlett's test of sphericity. To perform EFA, principal factor analysis with Varimax rotation was performed. To obtain evidence of reliability, the internal consistency of the questionnaire was examined using Cronbach's alpha. The instrument stability was assessed through test-retest and intra-cluster correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis.

RESULTS

The KMO (Keyser-Meyer-Elkin) sampling index was 780, and Bartlett's sphericity test (BT) was also significant (P = .000). In analyzing the main components and checking the value, the first five components had an eigenvalue above one. The highest percentage of the total variance (67.64%) was explained by the first five factors, while the remaining variance (33.35%) was explained by the remaining 14 factors. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for 19 items of the final questionnaire was 0.83. Intra-cluster correlation index (ICC) for overall self-assessment of thinking skills (ICC = 0.77), self-assessment of basic thinking skills (ICC = 0.80), self-assessment of lateral thinking (ICC = 0.78), and the necessity of teaching thinking skills (ICC = 0.74)) were all above 0.7 (P < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

This study offers the first self-assessment questionnaire for basic thinking skills of medical sciences students which can be employed as a valid and reliable instrument for self-assessment of thinking skills and gaining insight into their training experiences. While the psychometrics of this questionnaire were based on the data from medical students, this questionnaire applies to students across various academic disciplines and is not limited to medical fields.

Effect of simulation-based zoom learning on clinical decision-making among undergraduate nursing students and experiences of students and instructors: A mixed methods study

Aim

To determine the effect of simulation-based Zoom learning (SBZL) on perceived capabilities and clinical decision-making skills among undergraduate nursing students and to explore experiences of the instructors and students participating in SBZL.

Background

Nursing is a practice profession and students acquire clinical decision-making skills in clinical settings. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted conventional clinical learning activities. In this study, the outcomes of implementing SBZL in an undergraduate programme to support students' clinical learning were examined.

Design

A mixed methods design was employed.

Methods

This study recruited 195 final-year students to participate in the SBZL programme, which was developed based on the NLN Jeffries Simulation Theory to guide its design, implementation and evaluation. Case scenarios were developed and simulated through Zoom. Students' perceived capabilities, perceptions of the learning environment and clinical decision-making skills were assessed before and after SBZL. A historical control group of 226 previous final year students who had received a clinical practicum was included for comparison. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 instructors and 19 students to explore their experiences of participating in SBZL.

Results

A total of 102 students completed the post-SBZL questionnaire. An increase in perceived creative thinking (mean difference = 0.24, p < 0.001) was observed post-SBZL. After SBZL, the perceptions of the learning environment were significantly improved. However, the SBZL group demonstrated lower perceived problem-solving capability than the control group (mean difference = 0.14, p = 0.007). Clinical decision-making was significantly improved in the SBZL group than in the control group (p < 0.001). Both the instructors and students reported positive experiences with SBZL, and highlighted challenges and factors for improving its implementation.

Conclusions

SBZL showed improvement in perceived creative thinking, perceptions of the learning environment and clinical decision-making. This innovative teaching and learning method can be valuable for nursing education in various regions to prepare students for real-life roles.

Tweetable abstract

Simulation-based Zoom learning is better than traditional teaching in improving clinical decision-making skills among undergraduate nursing students.

Embodied metacognition as strengthened functional connection between neural correlates of metacognition and dance in dancers: exploring creativity implications

Introduction

Dance education fosters embodied metacognition, enhancing student's creativity. This study examines the crucial role of functional connectivity (FC) between the neural correlates of metacognition (NCM) and dance (NCD) as the neurological foundation for dancers' embodied metacognition. The investigation also explores whether these consolidated FCs inform the general creativity in dancers.

Methods

The research involved 29 dancers and 28 non-dancer controls. The study examined resting-state connections of the NCM through seed-based FC analysis. Correlation analyses were employed to investigate the connections between the targeted NCM-NCD FCs, initiated from the a priori NCM seed, and general creativity.

Results

Dancers demonstrated heightened FC between NCM and NCD compared to non-dancer controls. The targeted regions included the putamen, globus pallidus, posterior cerebellum, and anterior insula of NCD. The dancers exhibited higher originality scores. In dancers, the enhanced FC showed a negative correlation with originality and a positive correlation with flexibility. Conversely, the controls exhibited no significant correlations.

Discussion

Extended dance training enhances the NCM-NCD connection signifying embodied metacognition. This interconnectedness may serve as the neural predisposition for fostering general creativity performance in dancers. Dancers with heightened levels of originality could leverage the relatively weaker NCM-NCD FCs to facilitate better integration and coordination of creative cognitive processes. Our findings suggest that the consolidated functional connections as sculpted by domain-specific training may inform general creativity.

Effectiveness of internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training on executive functions among college students with borderline personality traits: a non-randomized controlled trial

Given the enormous influence of emotions on cognitive processes, individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD) suffer from marked deficits in higher-order thinking abilities. Considering the prevalence of BPD among college students, this study aimed to investigate the changes in perceived executive functioning among college students with traits/presence of BPD undergoing internet-delivered dialectical behavior therapy skills training (DBT-ST) that included the mindfulness and emotion regulation modules. An internet-delivered version of DBT-ST was opted for, as technological advancements in the present era promote the use of online platforms for psychotherapy. This non-randomized controlled trial consisted of 36 college students with traits/presence of BPD. The intervention group attended 13 sessions of DBT-ST, and the control group attended 13 sessions of behavioral activation. Perceived executive functioning was assessed using the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions for Adults. A 2-way repeated measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the treatment impact on the outcome variable. Results showed that the DBT-ST group had larger improvements in their abilities to initiate, plan, and organize current and future-oriented task demands and to organize their everyday environment, compared to the control group. Both, the DBT-ST group and the control group demonstrated improvements in emotional control, working memory, and their abilities to shift and task monitor. Findings suggest that the internet-delivered version of DBT-ST, consisting of the mindfulness and emotion regulation modules, can foster notable improvements in executive functions among college students with traits/presence of BPD. Improved executive functioning is one of the several multifaceted outcomes of dialectical behavior therapy.

A systematic framework of creative metacognition

Creative cognition does not just involve cognitive processes in direct service of the main task objective (e.g., idea generation), but also metacognitive processes that monitor and regulate cognition adaptively (e.g., evaluation of ideas and task performance, or development and selection of task strategies). Although metacognition is vital for creative performance, relevant work is sparse, which may be partly due to persistent ambiguities in the theoretical conceptualization of creative metacognition. Therefore, this article proposes a systematic framework of creative metacognition (CMC), which builds on recent advancements in metacognition theory and extends them to meet the specifics of creative cognition. The CMC framework consists of two dynamic components-monitoring and control-and a more static component of metacognitive knowledge, each subsuming metacognitive processes applying to the level of task, performance, and responses. We describe the presumed function of these metacognitive components in the creative process, present evidence in support of each, and discuss their association with related constructs, such as creative self-beliefs. We further highlight the dynamic interplay of metacognitive processes across task performance and identify promising avenues for future research.

Individuals with High Metacognitive Ability Are Better at Divergent and Convergent Thinking

Is metacognitive ability a predictor of creative performance? Previous studies have produced conflicting findings. To clarify whether this relationship exists, the current study used eye tracking techniques and vocal thinking reports to explore creativity differences in individuals with different levels of metacognitive ability. One hundred and twelve participants completed the Metacognitive Ability scale, and were divided into two groups (with thirty participants in each group) based on their metacognition scores (the highest and lowest 27% of metacognitive ability scores). Then, participants in both groups completed two creative thinking tasks (AUT and CCRAT) while their eye behaviors were recorded by eye tracking. The results showed that participants with high metacognitive ability were better at divergent thinking, as evidenced by greater fixation and saccade counts, as well as smaller saccade amplitudes in the AUT task. In addition, Bayesian analyses provide anecdotal evidence that participants with high metacognitive ability tended to be better at convergent thinking. Furthermore, eye tracking results demonstrated that they exhibited longer fixation duration and more fixation count on the materials in the CCRAT task. These findings reflect an important role of metacognition in creative thinking, especially in divergent thinking.

Moderating Role of Creative Mindset in the Effect of Metacognitive Experience on Insight Problem Solving

Metacognitive experience, measured by processing fluency, contributes to divergent thinking performance; however, whether it exhibits varying effects on insight problem-solving remains unknown. Additionally, as individuals' interpretation of metacognitive experience is influenced by their creative mindset, whether creative mindset plays a role in the relationship between metacognitive experience and insight problem-solving is another issue. In Experiment 1, a Chinese logogriph task was used to investigate insight problem-solving performance. The font style of logogriphs (easy versus difficult) was used to alter the ease of processing. The results showed that individuals had lower performance accuracy for logogriphs presented in difficult font styles, suggesting the negative effect of metacognitive disfluency experience on logogriph solving. In Experiment 2, different creative mindsets (entity versus incremental) were activated in individuals via prime manipulation. Individuals with an incremental creative mindset had a significantly higher performance accuracy and longer reaction time for logogriphs presented in difficult font styles than individuals with an entity creative mindset, suggesting that an incremental creative mindset might counteract the negative effect of metacognitive disfluency experience on logogriphs solving. These findings suggest that metacognitive disfluency experience has a negative effect on insight problem-solving and that a creative mindset moderated this effect.

Functional brain activation patterns of creative metacognitive monitoring

Creative metacognitive monitoring represents the ability to accurately evaluate the quality of own ideas during idea generation. To the best of our knowledge, this study presents the first EEG investigation of creative metacognitive monitoring in the brain, using data, of 100 participants, who generated single, original uses of common objects (alternate uses task). After each response, participants subjectively rated the creative quality of their idea. Additionally, five independent external judges rated the creative quality of all ideas. The correspondence between the subjective and the external performance ratings served as a measure of monitoring accuracy. We applied a generalized linear mixed effects model to investigate effects of creative metacognitive monitoring and creative potential on EEG activity in the alpha band at idea and person level. Participants with both higher monitoring skills and higher creative potential showed stronger alpha power decreases at parietal/occipital sites during creative idea generation and evaluation. Interestingly, only more creative people with lower metacognitive monitoring skills showed the expected alpha power increases at parietal/occipital sites during both phases. Furthermore, metacognitive monitoring skills were associated with lower frontal and temporal/central alpha power during idea evaluation (compared to generation) at the person level. This pattern of findings seems to suggest that less internal attention, less memory load, and increased sensory processing are associated with more effective and accurate monitoring of the creative process. This study sheds first light on the brain mechanisms underlying the interplay of creative metacognitive monitoring skills and creative potential.

Mathematics Teachers’ Encouragement of Their Students’ Metacognitive Processes

Researchers have conducted little research into teachers’ practices to encourage their students’ metacognition. The present research attempted to address this issue quantitatively by suggesting a questionnaire that measured teachers’ encouragement of students’ planning, monitoring, regulating, and evaluating. We present the results of the validity and reliability of the questionnaire. In addition, using a one-sample t-test, the results of the research revealed “normal”, “good”, and “very good” levels of teachers’ encouragement of their students’ metacognitive practices. The present research utilized an independent-sample t-test to investigate the significance of the difference in teachers’ metacognitive practices due to gender and to academic qualification. The results indicated that the metacognitive practices for male and female teachers were significantly different in planning and regulating, while the differences were not significant in monitoring and evaluating. In addition, the research results indicated that the participating teachers’ practices related to students’ metacognitive processes did not differ significantly due to the teachers’ academic qualification. When utilizing a one-way ANOVA test to investigate the significance of the difference in teachers’ metacognitive practices due to years of experience, this difference was not significant for any of the factors of metacognitive practices.

Age-Related Changes and Reorganization of Creativity and Intelligence Indices in Schoolchildren and University Students

Despite the lasting interest towards the relationship between intelligence and creativity, comparably less attention is paid to its age-related changes. Our paper considers the organization of fluid intelligence and psychometric indicators of creativity and is based on the experimental data obtained for children aged 11 (n = 99) and for young adults (n = 77). We used two figural and verbal tasks with and without time limit. We found that the age-related differences in creativity are dependent on the context and the type of testing. The young adults were different from the children, having higher indicators of verbal and figurative creativity, except for the originality of the drawings created within the Incomplete Figures test, and having considerably higher test results for fluid intelligence. These age-related differences, together with the discovered closer relationship between the creativity indicators in the young adults group compared to the children, might suggest insufficient contribution of the components of the executive control of information selection (inhibition, shifting, and updating), which had not fully formed in eleven-year-olds. The comparison of the various indicators of creativity suggests that the most complex task for the children was the composition of an original sentence by joining nouns from various semantic categories.

The Role of Metacognitive Strategy Monitoring and Control in the Relationship between Creative Mindsets and Divergent Thinking Performance

Previous research has shown that creative mindsets influence creativity. Compared with people with a fixed creative mindset, those with a growth creative mindset performed better in creative tasks. The underlying mechanism, however, is not completely understood. The present study has extended previous works to explore whether metacognitive strategy monitoring and control influence the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking performance. The thinking aloud method was used to summarize four strategies in a divergent thinking task (an alternative uses task, AUT) in a pilot study: memory retrieval, splitting, property-based, and general use strategies. In the formal study, the creative mindsets scale, AUT, self-strategic utility judgment (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy monitoring), and frequency of strategies usage (i.e., an index of metacognitive strategy control) were used to explore the relationships among creative mindsets, divergent thinking, and metacognitive strategy monitoring and control. The results indicated a positive correlation between a growth creative mindset and divergent thinking but a negative correlation between a fixed creative mindset and divergent thinking. More importantly, there were identified mediating roles of metacognitive monitoring and control of splitting and property-based strategies in the relationship between creative mindsets and divergent thinking. The findings reveal that creative mindsets are a critical predictor of divergent thinking, and metacognitive monitoring and control of abstract strategies mediate this association.

Systematic Literature Review on the Elements of Metacognition-Based Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) Teaching and Learning Modules

Contemporary educational approaches which enculturate higher order thinking skills (HOTSs) through teaching and learning have become the latest trend in teaching. Knowledge clarity, understanding mastery, and teaching readiness are the catalysts for successfully implementing HOTS elements in teaching. However, even though HOTS learning is inextricably linked to metacognitive skills, teachers frequently underutilize metacognitive skills as an effective method of teaching HOTSs. Therefore, teachers face difficulties regarding their skills in integrating HOTSs into their teaching. Numerous studies on HOTS teaching and learning modules to guide teachers in applying these have been conducted; however, only a few researchers have conducted systematic literature reviews on the same subject. This article aims to produce a systematic literature review on the elements of a metacognition-based HOTSs teaching and learning module. The systematic literature review (SLR) writing process was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis) framework. Using 2 databases, namely, Web of Sciences (WoS) and Scopus, 15 articles were extracted out of 252, from 2017 to 2021, with exclusion and inclusion criteria taken into consideration. Based on the study’s thematic analysis, 3 main themes were identified: (1) HOTS, (2) metacognitive, and (3) inquiry. This study suggests that these three elements should be included in the contribution element of metacognition-based HOTSs teaching modules in school. This study contributes knowledge and guidelines to the construction of metacognition-based HOTSs teaching modules in schools, teachers’ preparedness to plan, monitor, and evaluate students’ higher order thinking skills, and opportunities for students to learn through HOTSs learning elements, as suggested in metacognition-based HOTS teaching modules.

How Times of Crisis Serve as a Catalyst for Creative Action: An Agentic Perspective

The human experience is punctuated by times of crisis. Some crises are experienced at a personal level (e.g., the diagnosis of a life-threatening disease), organizational level (e.g., a business facing bankruptcy), and still others are experienced on a societal or global level (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic). Although crises can be deeply troubling and anxiety provoking, they can also serve as an important catalyst for creative action and innovative outcomes. This is because during times of crisis our typical forms of reasoning and action may no longer serve us. It is precisely during such times that new ways of thought, action and leadership are needed. A key question for researchers to consider is: Why and how times of crisis serve as an impetus for creative actions and outcomes? The purpose of this paper is to address this question. I open by briefly discussing the features of a crisis. I then introduce an empirically testable, process model that outlines various pathways, factors, and outcomes associated with different ways people and organizations respond during times of crisis. I close by briefly outlining future directions for creativity theory and research.