Creative Pedagogy

In the contemporary society, creative pedagogy has been perceived to enhance students to easily understand the ideas that the respective instructors aim to pass across. It is the educational influence that is subjected to the learner in an attempt to acquire a given study material and to achieve the desirable high efficiency in the learning environment. The pedagogical influence is usually provided on the basis of the centrifugal above-the-criticism activity whereby the learner is ultimately raised from an object of pedagogical influence to a supreme rank of creativity. I chose to critically evaluate Ai-Girl Tan's article, Nelly Ukpokodu article and Ng Aik Kwang article as they conform to the necessity of creative pedagogy. They provide clear methodology in their study and they are a mixture of qualitative and quantitative research design.

Title

In most of the research papers, the title conveys the message to the reader. Therefore, the content of the title should be informative, brief and clear for the reader to easily understand what the article is all about (Mauch, 2003).  The titles that are used in these three articles conform to the intention and need of the research paper. It clearly incorporates the various variables of the study. In essence, they are self-explanatory and the reader can effectively understand what the researcher wants to pass across after reading the title of the study.

Abstract

Generally, an abstract should be short and possess a good statement which critically describes the purpose of undertaking the study (Leahy, 2005). It should be able to provide a clear background, scope of the study, the results and the contents of the study. In addition, the abstract must provide relevancy of the work in regard to the societal needs (Mauch, 2003).  Tan's article have not specifically highlighted that the initial analysis of his work is an abstract. From the reader's views, it is clear that the elements that make a good abstract are available. It is embodied with clarity, precision and adequacy. It analyzes the objective of the study, provides the population sample to be used and the time frame that the study will take. In addition, the findings of the study are clearly stipulated. The abstract also shows the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research. As such, the methodology, research findings and clear conclusion on his views are provided (Tan, 2003).

 In the case of Ukpokodu article, the abstract also provides the statement of the problem which is the investigation of the teacher's reflective perspectives on pedagogies. It provides the methodology used and the data collection methods that the researcher used in coming up with the data illustrated in the study. The outline of the conclusion and Ukpokodu perspective towards the subject matter is also highlighted (Ukpokodu, 2008).  As such, the article conforms to the needs and requirements of a good abstract as earlier on described.

Ng Aik Kwang also provides a clear abstract of his work. He provides a short narrative of the literature review that various successful artists have used. The statement of the problem has been provided with much concern being on the methodology and the findings of the study. Unlike the other article writers, his abstract provides the data for the coefficient of correlation implying that he used quantitative research methodology when analyzing his data (Kwang, 2005).  Towards the end, he provides his views in relation to the findings arrived at on the Singaporean respondents. It is clear, therefore, that both the three articles provide an abstract where the reader can easily understand what is discussed in the study without going through the whole article.

Introduction

The introduction section provides an overview of the work to the readers (Mauch, 2003). Tan's provides a clear introduction which is relevant to the subject matter of his discussion. The flow of ideas from how we can enhance creativity to the benefits of child's creativity in the classroom is clear. The use of headings in the introductory part attracts the attention of the reader. He goes on to provide what the study is investigating; use of internet and SCAMPER in enhancing children's creative writing (Tan, 2003).  In addition, he highlights research questions that will guide him in his study; an implication that the article aims at bridging a gap imminent in the earlier studies.

Ukpokodu, on the other hand, provides a narrative on how the higher learning institutions have relied on the cyber information and many program coordinators in these institutions have gone along way in offering online courses to the students, doing online registration and teaching the students via internet (Ukpokodu, 2008). He argues that such a strategy will prevent the interactive nature of the students and hinders simulation activities and critical discussions in the classroom; effectively incorporated by creative pedagogy. In addition, the introductory part clearly illustrates the scope of the study and the target population that the sample data was acquired from.

Kwang provides a broad and clumsy introductory part which covers the whole idea of creativity and pedagogy. The introductory part clearly introduces the topic, provides a brief explanation on what the study will be about and serves as a motivator to the reader. The article's introduction incorporates the scope of the study and the general overview of the study to be undertaken (Kwang, 2005).  Kwang aimed at providing all the information in the introductory part which deemed to be ineffective as it creates ambiguity in his ideas.

Literature Review

In any research, the literature review is usually the longest and its objective is to explain what other studies conducted in the past have identified. By going through the studies of other people in a chosen area, a researcher is able to determine and present to readers a justification of conducting a research by showing what has not been explored in the past (Mauch, 2003). Therefore, by reviewing literature, one is able to identify gap in knowledge.

Tan did not provide any literature review to enhance support for his hypothesis and in the justification of the variables used in his study. The derivation of the hypothesis and the resaerch questions is unclear and one cannot effectively understand the gap that existed in the earlier studies that probed him to undertake his studies. The future studies on this topic needs to micorporate litearture review in their studies for the reader to know why he chose to have the underlying variables (Tan, 2003).

Ukpokodu, in his article, provides an analysis on the various researches that had been undertaken on the topic of creative pedagogy in higher leaning institutions. He analyses the discourse of multiculturalism that had been felt in the educational sector for the past three to four decades. In the process, he criticizes the extent of traditional approach that the students rely on and the effect it has on the learning and achievement gap. In the contextual background, Okpokodu provides his views on the creative pedagogy in classroom with much concern being on his educational experience (Ukpokodu, 2008). His focus is on the social justices, urban education among others. The article clearly highlights the relevant literature that is need by the reader in order to understand where the gap is between the research problem and the information provided by other researchers. It is clear that the study aims at bridging this gap.

Kwang's article is entirely based on the grounded theory but no specifications have been made on the earlier research findings that were undertaken by other researchers. As a result of this, the article provides a new stream of research. The basis of this is to avoid bias in developing concepts and ideas from data that is basically fit. In grounded theory researches, researchers collect data first before looking at available literature. When analysing the data, the grounded theory starts to take shape and researchers are able to review existing literature so as to relate previous findings to their theory (Kwang, 2005).  In this way researchers are able to determine how previous researches extend emerging theory. In summary, this article has not presented a literature review before data collection. However, when one looks at the discussion section, it is clear that the researchers compared their findings to existing research on the topic. 

Research Design and Method

Quantitative and qualitative methods are usually employed in social sciences research. The quantitative method is based on positivism which assumes scientific analysis to be based on universal laws and the main objective of this method is to measure the social world. Qualitative research on the other hand is holistic in nature. It is an interpretive method whose aim is to understand social life and its meaning in every situation (Creswell, 2009).

Tan uses quantitative research design. The reality, as seen in the study, is multiple and subjective. The researcher is independent and the facts replicated in the study are unbiased. The language that the researcher uses is formal and enhances the clarity of his ideas. The whole process of the research is deductive and generalises the ideas in an attempt to realize predictability, accurate explanation and in-depth understanding by the reader (Tan, 2003).

Ukpokodu relies on multiplicity and the subjective nature of the study imminent by its participants. The interaction between the researcher and the topic of the study clearly comes out thus; there is biasness in the approach of the study. The researchers used method like interviews in getting data (Ukpokodu, 2008).  The whole research process is inductive and for its reliability and accuracy of the findings, verification is done.  Generally, the research was a clear depiction of qualitative research design as it follows the procedural criterion of qualitative research.

Like Tan, Kwang employs a quantitative research design methodology. The research involved interviewing of creative practitioners and students. The quantitative analysis focuses majorly on measurements and as such the sample population was issued with questionnaires to fill. In the process, measurements were undertaken by the researcher (Kwang, 2005). However as the researcher does not directly interact with the respondents, there is no biasness in the findings.

Internal Validity and reliability

In an attempt to realize credibility and accuracy of the study, Tan confounds to random selection of the participants in an attempt to minimize biasness. Consistency in the use of the independent variables in the study is imminent and the behaviors that are perceived in the groups are expected to be the same without any alteration (Creswell, 2009). The article has high degree of the internal validity.

Ukpokodu article, being a qualitative research design, is characterized by the researcher's influences on the study work and uses varying degree of corroborating evidences in an attempt to acquire relevant and informative findings. The ease of interaction with the participants increases the degree of biasness which in turn causes a low degree of internal validity. No external audit trail is provided to enhance its validity (Ukpokodu, 2008).

Kwang uses varying instruments to couplet student's reflection on the creative pedagogy. The conclusion is accompanied by the relevant correlations and the statistical methods accompanying it ensure that high degree of internal validity is achieved (Kwang, 2005).  Like Tan's article, the researcher is independent and this ensures that there is no biasness.

Sample and setting

The sampling design that Tan uses in his study conforms to the cultural aspects in the society. He takes samples of primary school kids with major concern on gender equality. A sample of 60 students in a primary school is large enough to enhance precision in the determination of research findings (Tan, 2003). The sample was taken randomly which ensured that each of the individual in the primary school had a chance to be selected.

Ukpokodu analysis was not based on the sample selected from the large population but its focus was on the population that was undertaking online courses (Ukpokodu, 2008). This was because the size of the population was manageable. According to Mauch and Park (2003), the population sample can only be selected when the population is beyond manageable size. Having a total of 35 participants, the researcher was able to collect and analyse data effectively and within the stipulated time frame.

Kwang uses two different samples which incorporates the respondents form Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Singapore and Queensland University in Australia. The aim of such varying samples is to enhance accuracy and reliability of the results and findings of the study. The samples were majorly women and gender equality was not put into consideration when determining this sample sizes (Kwang, 2005).  Biasness is seen to have captivated when coming up with the sample size and future studies need to incorporate unbiased sample size in their studies.

Research ethics

In terms of research ethics, both the articles employ confidentiality. They protect the identity of the participants and they are assured that the information they provide would not be revealed to the third party who is not participating in the study. In addition, the articles conform to anonymity as the whole study does not reveal the names of the participants and when collecting the information, the respondents are not asked to reveal his or her name to the researcher (Tan, 2003).

The information provided in these articles is not against the society's whim as the participants are not required to provide information that may be deemed risky in the society. Consequently, the articles impose the principle of voluntary participation in collecting data where the participants are not coerced to participate in the research. For instance in Kwang article, respondents were selected randomly from the two universities and each of them was required to respond to the survey without any coercion.

Results and Findings

According to Tan's article, the results and findings of the study clearly answer the research questions and the objective of the study is achieved effectively. For instance, the results show that there was no sex difference between the male and female participants' creativity performance in writing (Tan, 2003). The results conform to the aims and intention of undertaking the study. In addition, participants using the internet had the highest mean unlike their counterparts who relied on SCAMPER and the control group. However, there was no significant difference emanating from the creativity-writing program.

Ukpokodu, on the other hand, showed five pedagogies that the students used in enhancing their learning of the online course work. The learners do these through the internet, videos, and reading of journal articles and texts. The students are given questions to find answers on certain topics in the study. This has made many students understand and have their own critical views on these subjects. Students were able to improve in their course work greatly as they got to know the opinion of their teachers on the subject (Ukpokodu, 2008).

Kwang results were also in handy with the research questions and the objectives of the study. It is critical that the sample scale was found to be reliable when coming up with the results of the study. The correlation between the independent and dependent variable clearly denotes the effectiveness of the study (Kwang, 2005).  

Discussion, limitations and Conclusion

The interpretation of the data collected is one phase that is very important to researchers (Creswell, 2009). In Tan's article, he provides that the participants scored higher for the creativity components than for the language proficiency components. He also analyses the limitations and the factors that may have influenced the realization of such results; participants not being native speakers and an opportunity to learn new technique, SCAMPER. In the recommendation, the researcher provides the need for future studies which includes looking into the positive learning environments and positive emotions that will enhance positive receptions of SCAMPER and other creative techniques (Tan, 2003).

Ukpokodu article clearly demonstrate that the use of pedagogies in learning institutions is effective as it enhances students to critically understand the subject matter; especially online students. It also brought to the knowledge of the researcher that the online courses can be very transformative (Ukpokodu, 2008). This is because of the response that came from the students of the changes they felt after the course. Most of the students learnt how to relate with one another and more about each other's opinion. Under recommendations, the article does not provide the specific area which needed further studies.

Kwang reliance on grounded theory study provided the results and findings for the study and after which the discussion part incorporated the literature review of the earlier studies that had been undertaken by other researchers (Kwang, 2005). The discussion highlighted the limitations that the study faced and the further studies that needed to be conducted on value and creativity which are considered the essential domains of life.

Conclusions

Based on the analysis conducted above, it is clear that creative pedagogy needs to be incorporated into the learning institutions to enhance creativity and critical thinking. Students will benefit immensely if the creative teaching techniques are explicitly incorporated on their learning programs. As such, students will be able to development as independent, active and intentional learners in the society.