EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE IMPACT OF INNOVATIVE TEACHING PREPARATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CREATIVITY IN PRIMARY MATHEMATICS TEACHING

Abstract

Teaching mathematics in the early grades with innovative and problem-based tasks stimulates students' creativity, motivation and interest in learning. The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of innovative teaching methods on the development of creativity in younger school-age students. The research was conducted in the third grade of primary school with 128 students during 30 experimental lessons. The experimental program fully followed the current mathematics curriculum and included 30 experimental lessons. The teaching areas used for the purposes of this research are: Addition and subtraction of numbers up to 100, Multiplication and division of numbers up to 100 and Measurement and measurement. The experimental program included teaching units, aligned with the current curriculum. The teaching units were designed to encourage the development of creativity and application of teaching content through a variety of problem-solving tasks. The tasks on the final tests were structured according to the content of the teaching units from the three teaching areas listed above. Each lesson was implemented by presenting an unusual contextual-research situation that was stimulating in the creative solution of complex mathematical problems (an interesting story with an interesting message), textually relevant scenes from children's films. Students independently solved prepared program-relevant complex mathematical problems. Students were systematically monitored and provided with teacher support when solving problems in conditions of increased curiosity and an emotionally pleasant atmosphere. The structure of the experimental program is based on theoretical foundations and experimental findings. When choosing and constructing a problem-based mathematical task in mathematics, the experimenter respected previous studies on problem-based and research-based teaching, and especially on the requirements that each such task has a hidden unknown that the student should discover through the inventive application of previous thematically relevant mathematical knowledge and through intensive cognitive and creative activity.The results show that the use of problem-based tasks in teaching significantly stimulates creativity, flexibility of thinking and motivation of students for learning mathematics. The results of the experimental program indicate its potential as a practical support for teachers in stimulating creative thinking in younger school-age students.