Factors affecting the performance of Students, a

teacher perspective

Researcher Roll No

Saima Parveen IBNAHUSS221104036

Ifra Khalid IBNAHUSS221104020
Supervisor Dr.Adeel Ahmed

B.ED (1.5 Year)

Session 2022-2024

Thesis is Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the

degree of B.ED (1.5 Year)

Ibn-e-Sina Education College Yazman

Department of Educational Training
The Islamia University of Bahawalpur
 Factors Affecting the performance of Students, a teacher
perspective

By

Saima Parveen

Ifra Khalid

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the

Requirements for the degree of

Bachelor of Education

Dr.Adeel Ahmed External Examiner

Chairman, Department of Education Dean, Faculty of Education

 Al-Quran

"Oh! Prophet says! If oceans are converted into ink to write qualities of my creator,
then whole oceans would consume in writing before his qualities come to an end. And
even if we produce the like of ink would be insufficient"
 DEDICATED TO:

Almighty Allah,

Holy prophet (PBUH)

TO MY

Beloved, Family, friends, and fellows

&

My respected Supervisor

Dr.Adeel Ahmed
 Abstract

The production of creative scientists and engineers has been a major goal of modern
societies pursuing technological advance. The university social environment is
believed to be an aspect amenable to change in order to achieve the stated goals of
higher education. This study investigated, first, whether the creative attitudes of
secondary school students in science were associated with exposure to various school
environments and student subcultures in four schools: and second, the variability of
student’s creative attitudes and the related social environments between two
secondary schools. A mail survey yielded completed questionnaires from 398 students
in four schools. The schools of three instruments were adapted from their English
originals: College and school Environment and Experience Questionnaire, University
Student Subculture Scale, and Creative Motivation Scale. Statistical procedures
included Pearson correlation, multiple regression, T-test, F-test, Chi-square, and
ANOVA. The study found school environments and student subcultures in general are
significantly associated with the creative attitudes of the secondary students, although
the proportions of explained variance are not high. Two individual variables in
university environments (Open-minded and Social Emphases and Student Activities
and Relationships) and three individual variables in student subcultures
(Independence, Intellectuality, and Innovation) demonstrate significant relationships
with creative attitudes.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Chapter 01: Introduction..........................................................................................................................................1

2. Chapter 02: Literature Revie.......................................................................................9

Importance of creative attitudes....................................................................................11

Impact on school environment......................................................................................14

Threats to internal validity...........................................................................................19

Research Limitations...................................................................................................22

Community views of creative attitude.........................................................................24

Summary.....................................................................................................................25

3. Chapter 03: Procedures..........................................................................................................................................27

Population and sample................................................................................................27

Instrumentation...........................................................................................................28

Definitions of terms…................................................................................................28

Statistical hypothesis…...............................................................................................29

Treatment of data........................................................................................................29

4. Chapter 04: Analysis of data..................................................................................................................................31

Introduction.................................................................................................................31

Results…......................................................................................................................31

5. Chapter 05: Summary, conclusion and recommendations.....................................................................................37

Procedure.........................................................................................................................37

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...37 Future

recommendations…........................................................................................................38

References…...................................................................................................................40
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Frequancy of grade point average for all students.........................................12

Table 2: Frequency of grade point average of all the students involved

in activities…...........…………………………………………………14

Table 3: Frequency of grade point average of all the students not involved in
activities…..........15

Table 4: t-
test….............................................................................................................................1
6
 Chapter 1

Introduction

Creativity has throughout history engaged the interest of thoughtful people;

scientific methods have not been focused on this topic to any great extent until

recently. There was only a trickle of research reports on originality and creativeness in

the scientific literature for six or seven decades preceding 1950 (Taylor and Barron,

1975,

p. xii). As Csikszentmihalyi (1988, p.325) said, "it is customary to date the renewal of

interest in creativity among psychologists to Guilford's Presidential address to the

American Psychological Association (APA) more than four decades ago" (Guilford,

1950).

Modem society is characterized by rapid change and technological advance.

Perhaps never in the history of mankind have so many changes occurred

simultaneously and with such acceleration over so broad a spectrum of man's affairs.

Changes witnessed during the recent past are seen to represent an even greater

acceleration compared to those of previous decades (Raina, 1989, p.43).

Toffler (1981) was interested in studying the effects of these social and

cultural changes on various psychological, sociological and educational aspects. He

explained the rapidly changing world as a sequence of "three waves" of civilization.

The first wave related to the invention of agriculture. The second wave was the

Industrial revolution, and the third wave is the emergence of" the electronic age,

/electronic cottages/ the electronic world". This third wave has affected the whole

world; particularly the emergence of computers has penetrated everyone's life to a

remarkable degree.

Mitchell (1993) explains the major global changes which will continue into the

21 st century. He describes the "accelerating rate of change on a global scale",

pointing
to the rate of change of human invention, the speed of generation of new knowledge,

human population growth and the evolution and speed of human transportation (see

the graphical pictures in Fryer, 1996, p.6-7, fig. 1. 1 and 1.2). He argues that the

explosion of new knowledge is now so great that most of the things those young

children are currently learning will be obsolete by the time they grow up. We have

never been in this situation before.

In Pakistan, research on creativity has focused on the construction of tests of

creativity and correlational studies of creativity with self-concept, intelligence,

personality etc. There have been no studies considering the effects of schooling on

creativity, teachers' perceptions of creativity or how they could promote it. This

research focused on teachers' views of creativity and their classroom practices, and on

students' performance on Tests of Creative Thinking by Baqer Mehdi, their attitude

towards curriculum subjects, their occupational choices, and their experiences at

school.

Creativity brings innovation in human thought process. Creativity is important

standard of successful teaching and learning. Edwards (2003) compared “learning and

creativity to two sides of the same coin, and both represent vital issues in education.”

Lubart (2008) suggests that “creative thinking can stimulate people’s learning process

as a mechanism of knowledge construction.” Originality of idea is considered central

trait of creativity (Cropley, 2004). Novelty of ideas and actions or goods that is central

for creativity needs to be accepted by society in its wider norms (Rudowicz, 2003).

Ideas based on innovative thinking are relatively new for people and sometime

takes time for the acceptance from wider socio-cultural background (Sternberg, 2006).

Good education, liberty for thinking and acceptance of innovative expressions

motivate and instigate the people to think creatively (Mangal, 2002). Findings of the

research
indicates the positive effects of creative thinking on learning of individuals (Sharma

& Chandra, 2003; Schacter, Thum, & Zifkin 2006; Palaniappan 2008). Educationists

suggests that teaching for creativity is essential for all level of education. Teaching for

creativity make the learning more meaningful. (Brundrett, 2007; Shaheen, 2010;

Antonietti, Colombo, & Pizzingrilli, 2011; Griffiths, 2014;) Curriculum of all levels is

primarily responsible to address the component of creative thinking (Davies et al,

2013; Richardson & Mishra, 2018). Initial years of child’s life are critical to develop

and shape them for future life. Primary level schooling provides children the joy of

learning and discovery, problem solving, creative writing, being creative in art and

music, maturing socially and emotionally and developing their self-confidence as

learners.

Asian countries are blamed to ignore the nourishment of creative abilities in

their people. They are usually blind flowers and prefer to depend on others. In order

to come out from this dependency of develop countries, Asian people need to become

creative and productive (Sinlarat, 2002). Citizens can educate to nourish their creative

abilities. Structuring education to work for the nourishment of creative abilities is the

need of hour. (Boden, 2004).

Most social structures, including political systems, have evolved slowly over

the centuries, but many of them are no longer appropriate to the modem world. People

will need to be both flexible and resourceful if they are to adjust to the "rapid

multidimensional transformation of social, political, economic, demographic and

cultural aspects of life" and increasing globalization CAyman, 1993 cited in Fryer,

1996, p.5). Creative people will be a valuable resource in the rapid process of change,

and especially of technological change, which has gripped our world in recent years.

The systems which shape even day-to- day life is becoming so complex that the

presence of highly able thinkers, capable of dealing comfortably both with modem
technology and also with breathtakingly complex interactions between natural and

manmade systems, is rapidly becoming a prerequisite for the maintenance of a way of

life which is fit for human beings C McLeod and Cropley, 1989, p.12).

The world is changing so fast that past "truths" often mislead instead of help.

No longer is it easy to apply past truths to the problems of the present and the future.

Today's world "calls for new approaches to experience, both in acquiring it and in

using what we already have" (Stevens, 1963, p. 56). As Botkin, Elmandja, & Malitza

(1979) have said, "humankind must learn to make new and useful adaptations to the

emerging challenges in our global environment". They emphasize that "innovative

learning is a necessary means of preparing individuals and societies to act in concert

in new situations, especially those that have been, and continue to be, created by

humanity itself' (p.12). It is obviously impossible to prepare today's school children to

cope with all the demands they will encounter in their lives (Torrance, 1965, p.12).

In this view of the future, traditional responses to the demand for education

that are essentially quantitative and knowledge-based are no longer appropriate. It is

not enough to supply each child early in life with a store of knowledge to be drawn on

from then on. Everyone must be equipped to seize learning opportunities throughout

life, both to broaden her or his knowledge, skills and attitudes, and to adapt to a

changing, complex and inter-dependent world (UNESCO, 1996, p.85). If it is to

succeed in its tasks, education must be organised around four fundamental types of

learning which, throughout a person's life, will be the pillars of knowledge: learning

to know, that is acquiring the instruments of understanding; learning to do, so as to be

able to act creatively on one's environment; learning to live together, so as to

participate and co- operate with other people in all human activities; and learning to

be, an essential progression which proceeds from the previous three. Of course, these

four paths of
knowledge all form a whole, because there are many points of contact, intersection

and exchange among them (p.86).

Fryer (1996, p.5) suggests that "to cope with the demands of the future, people

will have to be quick - thinking, flexible and imaginative. They will need to be

competent in producing effective solutions to unfamiliar problems, in unclear

situations. If creativity development were to have the same status in education as it

does in the corporate setting, then children would be in a much better position to cope

with these kinds of challenges".

 Chapter 2

Literature Review

Introduction

2.1 Creativity in Education

Basic education is an indispensable 'passport to life' that will enable people to

choose what they do, to share in building the collective future and to continue to learn

(UNESCO, 1996, p.118). 'The time to learn is now the whole lifetime, not just during

the period of childhood and youth' (UNECSO, 1998, p.16). As Silberman (1973) said

"education should prepare people not just to earn a living but to live a life- a creative,

humane, and sensitive life. This means that the schools must provide a liberal,

humanizing education" (p.114).

Education is not a preparation for later life; it is an aspect of life itself (p.115).

If one of the long-term purposes of education is to prepare children to take their places

in our fast-changing society, they will need open, flexible minds and the ability to

combine information in new ways (Iverson, 1982, p.694). As Chadha (1990) said, "we

will certainly need a different kind of thinking process to be able to live in the world

which changes at a much faster pace and with greater complexity" (p.85). "The

climate of future-focused schooling is especially important because of the need to

motivate children to make a sustained effort both to attain a better world of tomorrow

and to create a realistic place for themselves in such a world" (Toffler, 1974, p.192).

If education is about educating people for the workplace, then creative skills

and creative thinkers are much needed (Beetlestone, 1998, p.143). In many countries

in the 1990s there is a growing sense that education is the key to the future, and that

the challenges and jobs of tomorrow will require an education of better quality than

that which most students receive today (World Education Report, 1998, p.48).
2.1.1 Why creative thinking is essential?

Creative expression is essential for leading a happy life. Since the dawn of

civilization, man has experienced the greatest pleasure and bliss by adopting creative

values in his life. In addition the future of our civilization depends upon the quality of

the creative imagination of the next generation (Torrance, 1962b, p.33).

According to Torrance in teaching all students should be provided with

opportunities for creative expression, so that they are turned into contented, balanced

and happy citizens. Torrance (1965, p.1 0) outlines that "creative thinking is indeed a

powerful force. It has given us the alphabet, printing, radio, television, computers,

spacecraft, great art, architecture, music, and literature. It has given us our great

advances in scientific discovery and medicine. It has also given us war, plunder,

crime, and the smashed atom". Creativity is essentially a human phenomenon. It is a

process in man which helps him to achieve dignity and meaning in life. As Bruner

(1962) argues, the 'creative act may bring man to a new dignity' (p.2), Toynbee (1964)

considers creativity as man's greatest asset. He points out that "to give a fair chance to

potential creativity is a matter of life and death for any society. The creative power

planted in a minority of mankind has to do duty for all the marvellous physical assets

that are built into every specimen of Man's non-human, fellow creatures"(pA). It is

essential that "the nation should become concerned about all of its potential human

resources, especially aware of the waste and loss of such resources in each person"

(Taylor, 1978, p.39). It has been observed by manpower specialists that countries may

not be able to sustain economic growth unless all the reserves of the talent in the

population are actively sought out and developed through educational channels

(Raina, 1985).
2.1.2 Why Is the School Environment Essential for Creative Development?

In the areas of expression, problem-solving, invention, and faster and more

effective learning, creative development schools focused on cultivating creativity in

children generate long-term success for life. The seemingly contradictory signals

about creativity that instructors give may have adaptive value. Creativity is the

component of cultural development that creates innovation. Novelty is balancing by

preservation in any evolutionary process.

Creativity is a style of thinking, not an activity. It appears inextricably linked

to everything we do when considering how many activities in life require us to think

differently about an existing notion.

Creativity enormously affects the scientific progress and commercial life of

the nations. Taylor (1964, p.2) realised that "creative acts affect enormously not only

scientific progress, but society in general. Those nations who learn best how to

identify, develop, and encourage the creative potential in their people may find

themselves in very advantageous positions". Floistad (J 993,p.206) argues that the

overall purpose of creativity is to improve the quality of life in the society, local or

global, in which it operates. As Mcleod and Cropley (1989, p.12) said, if society fails

to make the most of this one human asset, or if, worse still, it perversely sets itself to

stifle it, man is throwing away his birthright of being lord of creation and is

condemning himself to be, instead, the least effective species on the face of this

planet" (p.4). If society is not only to survive but to continue to enjoy a high quality of

life, vast resources of giftedness need to be mobilized in the arts, in Social Sciences,

in Philosophy, etc.
 Even if our creative development produces no ‘results,’ it is still a helpful

learning method. Engaging in creative task-solving is engaging and interesting,

resulting in an energetic atmosphere that forces us to concentrate on the work at hand.

You’ll know from personal experience that creatively engaging with knowledge is

considerably more enjoyable than penning lines and lines of text in a notepad.

2.1.3 How to Encourage Creative Development in the School?

It is up to you, as the teacher, to infuse some creative development into your school

setting as the facilitator of your pupils’ learning. Here are 7 strategies to help your

pupils enhance their creativity.

1. Recognize and promote the creative atmosphere.

If you don’t cultivate a general climate of creativity, it won’t be easy to create a

creative school. As your student’s guide to creativity, you have the opportunity to

nurture it through encouragement, prizes, and the use of organized ways to scaffold

abilities. When promoting creative conversation, don’t only moderate or mediate;

educate your students on how to incorporate these abilities into their discussions by

having them put

the following questions into their workbooks or sticking them to the wall in poster

form. Alternatively, enjoy the many hobbies of carpentry, home bread baking, and

other open- ended tasks that complement a different skill set.

2. Allow space for visual reflection.

Reflective exercises allow students to take in knowledge more thoroughly,

which improves their creative and contextual comprehension of the material. When

meditative learning exercises are exhibited graphically in the school, they benefit the

students who share them and everyone in the class. One illustration of this idea in

action is a board of mindset moments. Doing that will create a fantastic chance for

guided reflection by allowing students to pin their learnings or “changed attitudes” to

the board. Use a customized template to reflect some newly discovered concepts and

pin them to your wall utilizing this method.

3. Maintain a flexible school configuration.

Throughout the school year, your students will be working in various settings,

including group projects, solo exams, and group listening to presentations, among

other things. The key to keeping the creative juices flowing across different learning

environments is to keep your school layout flexible and reorganizable.

4. Introduce novel educational resources.

Textbooks and tried-and-true lesson plans are lovely but adding more unique learning

resources (and becoming creative yourself!) may encourage your pupils to think

outside the box and connect more deeply with the subject. Introduce students to a new

or exciting subject. Introducing your pupils to something they’re not typically

exposed to will elevate their thinking and allow them to build connections across

different fields.
They’ll be able to draw parallels in ways that may never have occurred before because

of their preconceived ideas about the area, concept, or stimulus.

5. Encourage conversation and hands-on learning.

Students can express new ideas, think critically, and share their thoughts by engaging

them deeper via hands-on learning and channeling essential dialogues. Learn to help

students work as a team. While it’s crucial to encourage independent learning and

thought, it’s also essential for students to communicate. This will help them navigate

their future career paths with multiple people on their projects or teams.

6. Don’t confine assignments to a single format.

Allowing students to pick the style of their projects helps them explore the work in

the manner they like. It makes them more naturally motivated to use their

imagination. Imagine that students were obliged to study social issues like caste and

race as part of a social studies curriculum. Rather than writing an essay, give students

various forms to examine the idea of racism and societal acceptability, such as a

presentation, documentary, or speech, allowing them to be more creative.

7. Motivating children through rewards and recognition.

Encouragement improves everyone’s performance, and the ultimate kind of

encouragement is a reward. Visually rewarding accomplishment in the school

encourages kids to continue performing excellent work while also instilling a feeling

of pride. It also teaches kids that there are no right or wrong solutions for creativity

and exploration. Make customized certifications that represent the specifics of the

achievement.

Conclusion
 As role models for students throughout their most formative years, teachers

have a significant impact on whether creativity is encouraged or suppressed in the

school environment. The school environment isn’t exclusively the duty of the

educational system. But it’s worth noting that nearly all kids have considerable

creative talents before enrolling in school. A good teacher’s job is to bring out the best

in students. It also contributes significantly to improved health, allowing them to

continue to progress academically and in the realm of creative development.

2.2 Creative persons

Some personality-oriented psychologists conceive creativity in terms of the

person. Considerations of the creative person typically fall into three general

categories:

(A) cognitive characteristics (B) personality and motivational qualities and (C) special

events or, experiences during one's development (Tardif & Sternberg, 1988). It is

generally acknowledged that people are creative within particular domains of

endeavor, even though those who are creative in different domains may share

common traits. Thus, one may be a creative biologist, but a very uncreative novelist,

or vice versa. Domain specificity is a major consideration when describing creative

persons (Sternberg, 1988; Walberg, 1988). It relates to other characteristics such as

using one's existing knowledge in the domain as a base to create new ideas, being

alert to novelty, and finding gaps in domain knowledge (Sternberg 1988;

Torrance,1966; Walberg, 1983). Although it is generally agreed that creative

individuals are creative within limited domains, various explanations have been

offered for why individuals differ in their propensities toward and abilities in their

domains of specialty.

While creativity is typically associated with curriculum areas such as the

visual and performing arts, it has a place in every school subject. This is true from the
earliest
years of high school, when students are laying the foundation of knowledge and skills

in their subject areas and discovering where their interests lie, to the latter years, when

students who develop a range of strategies to transfer, summaries and retrieve

information for assessments or exams are more likely to achieve higher grades. We

also know that a teacher’s use of a variety of pedagogical approaches in the classroom

can lead to better outcomes for their students. Teachers who demonstrate their own

creativity will motivate students to explore their own creative journey with more

confidence.

2.3 Promoting creativity in the school

There are two distinct approaches to creativity in the secondary school

classroom. Firstly, there is teaching with creativity. This refers to the pedagogic

approach used by teachers. Modelling creativity is a highly effective way to

demonstrate to students that it is possible for them. For example, you might choose to

run a lesson only using digital tools, or only analogue tools. You might manipulate the

physical environment. One highly effective method is to create a 360-degree

classroom in which whiteboards or paper are put on all four walls of the classroom,

and students are asked to write one question that they would like the group to explore

on each wall. This generates a more diverse group than would be the case with

students sitting in their normal pairings at desks. A further positive consequence of

manipulating the physical environment is that it has an impact on the social

environment. In the example above, it is quite common for pairings or groups of

students not previously observed in that class to emerge. Students working

independently at one of the four walls are more likely to engage in discussion,

feedback, and informal and formal peer-to-peer student

instruction. Students who may not feel comfortable asking a question in front of the

whole class may be more willing to ask questions when only one or two classmates

are within earshot.

2.4 Supporting the creative process: Problem solving

The element of creativity with which people are most familiar is the creative

process, also known as problem solving. This takes students from a question to idea

generation to idea selection and the presentation of proposed solutions. One way of

generating ideas is for students to write down everything they know about a particular

problem and then start to look for links that might demonstrate causality. This can

begin with a series of open-ended questions. This is a very useful method in subjects

such as science, where students are looking at reasons for chemical or biological

events. When learning about chemical reactions, students might be asked if all

substances freeze or boil at the same temperature. In biology, students might be asked

how many different types of animal reproduction they are aware of. Exploring the

sum knowledge of the group may lead to a more complete picture than students just

showing their individual understanding. For example, a Year 8 Geography class

exploring urban design in different countries was asked if they had been to any of the

countries being discussed. The insights given by the students who had visited cities in

a range of countries led to more creative ideas from the group when looking to solve

some of the problems of urban environments, such as over-population and waste

disposal. Another creative approach is to utilize a range of methods to record ideas as

they are generated – post-it notes and butchers’ paper may be useful in some

circumstances, or digital tools in others.

 The next part of the creative process is idea selection. Once again, there are a

number of methods to choose from. A quick and simple method is a vote. If using

post- it notes, students put the post-it notes into categories and then vote on which of

the ideas they believe have the greatest chance of successfully solving the problem.

Voting can be done openly or by means of a secret ballot using a digital tool such as

Kahoot. Another way to select ideas is for students to demonstrate their idea by the

process of prototyping. For instance, in physical education students might be asked to

redesign a game by changing a particular rule. Students could demonstrate how this

rule could make the game more enjoyable. Prototyping a range of rules over a

particular period of time will demonstrate to the students the impact that these

changes may make. In subjects such as commerce and business or the design subjects,

categorization is a good way to select the best ideas. For example, ideas could be

categorized by the most logical, the most cost-effective or the most original.

2.4.1 Attitudes and attributes

In addition to the process-based skills of idea generation and selection,

students also need to develop certain attitudes and attributes regarding creativity.

These include things such as intellectual curiosity, tolerance for ambiguity, and the

ability to look at things from multiple perspectives, as in the following example. In an

English class where most students had English as a second language, the teacher was

explaining the use of persuasive text in advertising (subject-based skills and content

should always be explicitly taught when introducing a creative competency). In terms

of teaching for creativity, two creative competencies were developed. The first was

the ability to look at things from a variety of perspectives when solving a problem

(which was, in this case, how best to use the persuasive language of advertising to sell

a product). The second was intercultural understanding, or how different cultures

explain concepts or
ideas. The teacher’s approach, combining subject-based competency with creative

competency, involved looking at how different cars were advertised in the countries

from which the students came, and what kind of language was used in each country to

sell a particular vehicle. By leveraging their prior knowledge, the students gained a

better understanding of persuasive language in English as well as building a deeper

cultural understanding among the students in the class.

Integrating a small creative component at the start of a lesson will help

students build their creative competencies over time and realise that they are a part of

developing knowledge and skills in any subject. Some examples include starting the

lesson with a question from the teacher, pre-selecting a student to ask a question,

asking students to swap notes from the previous day’s class to compare

understanding, and running a traffic light exercise, where students who understand a

particular concept sit in the ‘green zone’, those who aren’t sure sit in the ‘yellow

zone’ and those who do not understand sit in the ‘red zone’. Green-zone students then

explain the concept to red- zone students while the yellow-zone students observe.

Making students aware that the lesson may start differently each time will lead them

to become more cognitively engaged, as they will need to concentrate at a higher level

than if they merely sat down and opened their textbooks and laptops. Having an active

learning environment from the start of the lesson increases learning productivity and

promotes student metacognition about their learning and engagement.

2.5 Research Limitations

There is a range of factors that effect on the quality of performance of students

Waters & Marzano (2006). A series of variables are considered to identify the

affective factors regarding quality of academic success. The process to identify most

contributing variables in quality of academic performance is very complex and

challenging job. The students of public schools belong to different backgrounds

depending upon their demography. This diversity is much vast and complex as ever

before in Pakistani culture. Keeping in view all these discussions, this study is

conducted to examine the role of different factors on the students’ quality of academic

achievement at the secondary school level in Bahawalpur City of Pakistan.

 Chapter 3

Procedures

Purpose

One of the most common goals of the education systems throughout the world

refers to the development of a creative personality that could easily adapt to the fast

changes that the modern society undergoes to. As the creative attitudes lay the

foundation for any creative personality, the interest in the study of pupils’ creative

attitudes and in the means to influence them should occupy a significant place within

the contemporary research. In this educational context, this paper is centered on the

investigation of the link between the high-school students’ creative attitudes and their

teachers’ creative attitudes, attempting to stress that the latest might be a significant

influence factor of the first and that the creative education in school should start with

the teachers. The creative attitudes of both groups were measured using a creative

attitude scale and the statistic procedure used to verify the hypothesis was the Pearson

correlation. The results highlight the importance of the creative attitudes of the

teachers in shaping the creative attitudes of the students, which in fact have to be

exploited in order to achieve the educational goal, namely the creative personality.

3.1 Population and sampling

The research was conducted on a number of 274 subjects, from which 62 teachers and

212 high school students from all four forms of high-school (with ages ranging from

14 to 19 years old) and coming from 4 different high-schools. The creative attitudes

of both groups – students and teachers – were measured using a creative attitude

scale, developed by the Romanian psychologist Paul Popescu-Neveanu and adapted

by the Romanian researcher Mihaela Roco from University of Bucharest in

cooperation with
the Belgian researcher J. M. Jaspard from University of Louvain-La Neuve. The scale

contains 50 items consisting in statements that the subjects have to appreciate on a

scale from 1 to 5 according to the extent to which they fit the description of their own

personality. There are 15 different creative attitudes measured, each one having 3

items that correspond to it, plus a validity scale containing 5 items.

3.2 Instrumentation and data collection

All students of higher section at Govt. 46 DB girls’ high school were given an

information sheet at the end of September. All the students were asked to fill in the

survey paper and check all the activities in which they took part for the whole year.

The collected information was entered in the computer for evaluation. Grade point

average of all students was measured on a scale of 4.00. It was assumed that the

grades of all the students are comparable. Student’s identity was kept confidential by

assessing the results using their student identity number. All the data used for

evaluation was current till the final term.

3.3 Definition of terms

Following are the important terms used in this research:

Co-curricular activities

Co-curricular activities are such activities that happen outside the classroom

but strengthen or complement classroom curriculum in some way. They are ungraded

and do not provide any form of educational credit, but they do offer corresponding

learning of some form. Examples of co-curricular activities might involve literary

Society, student council, sports teams, debates, chess clubs, spelling bees, math clubs,

writing competitions, talent shows, mock trials, school newspapers, and drama

productions. All of these events take place outside the traditional classroom and

propose no grade, but they deliver additional and matching instruction and learning

for students.
Grade point average

GPA is a number that shows how good a student has scored in his courses on

average. It is intended to score (usually on a GPA scale between 1.0 and 4.0) during

his studies and express what his overall grades are. This is then used to evaluate

whether he meet the criteria and expectations established by the degree program.

Participation

Participation is the constant and instantaneous engagement of the minds of all

the learners with the content of the lesson. Participation increases the rate and degree

of learning. Examples include voting, volunteering, participating in group activities,

and community gardening. Some are individual activities that benefit society (e.g.,

voting) or group activities that benefit either the group members (e.g., recreational

soccer teams) or society (e.g., volunteer organizations).

3.4 Statistical hypothesis

The purpose of conducting this research was to observe the academic

performance of students who take part in co-curricular activities and those who do

not. It was to check if there was any difference between their grades and academic

performance.

This null hypothesis was an extension from the following question: There is no

connection between student’s participation in co-curricular activities and the

academic performance of students.

3.5 Treatment of data

It was intended to determine if there was a difference existed between the

grades of the students who participated in extracurricular activities and those who do

not participated. To evaluate the results criteria was defined for all the participated

and not participated. The student who participated was defined as a student who

participated
consistently for 1 year every week for 2 days in co-curricular activities. These

students were selected from higher section of govt. 46DB girls’ high school. The co-

curricular activities that were defined for the criteria were class officers, drama,

cheerleading and debate.

Co-curricular activities were taken as independent variable and grades of

students as dependent variable. Questionnaire method was used to collect the data.

No. of students, their I.D. and total grade was entered in Microsoft excel along with

their involvement or not involvement in any co-curricular activity. After collecting the

data, a statistical analysis was conducted to test the null hypothesis.

 Chapter 4

Data Analysis

4.1 Analysis of Data

This study investigated whether students in extracurricular activities had a

higher grade point average than students who did not participate in extracurricular

activities. Grade point average was obtained from cumulative records in the

registrar's office at govt. 46 DB girls high school. Participation was determined using

the Fall Senior Information Sheet. A total of 421 seniors were investigated in this

study. The study was designed to either accept or reject the null hypothesis. The

null hypothesis for this study was: there is no difference between the grade point

average of students involved in extracurricular activities and the grade point

average of students not involved in extracurricular activities. It is the goal of this

chapter to analyze the data and present an interpretation of the findings.

4.2 Results

The following results were obtained using the SPSS statistical analysis and

data management system. Data were enter 46 DB Girls High School 9 th Class

students using information from the school's computer data system.

Table 1 Is a frequency distribution of grade point averages of the 421 students

at 46 DB Girls High School. The average grade point average is 3.825. Nearly 24%

of the students have a grade point average between 3.50 and 3.99.
 Table 01
Frequency of Grade Point Average for All Students
Grade Point Student Sample Percentage

Average

0.00-0.049 19 4.51

0.50-0.99 1 0.24

1.00-1.49 55 13.06

1.50-1.99 1 0.24

2.00.2.49 77 18.29

2.50-2.99 72 17.10

3.00-3.49 17 4.04

3.50-3.99 101 23.99

4.00-4.49 78 18.53

Total 100 100.00

Mean = 3.825

Standard Deviation =0.7847

Table 2 is a frequency distribution of grade point average for 176 students

that participated in extra-curricular activities. The average grade point average for

this group was 3.201. Thirty-one percent of these students have grade point

averages between 3.00 and 3.49. Twenty-nine percent have a grade point average

between 3.50 and 3.99.

 Table 2

Average of Students Involved in Activities

Grade point average Student Sample Percent

0.00-0.49 1 0.57

0.50-0.99 0 0

1.00-1.49 11 6.25

1.50-1.99 0 0

2.0-2.49 30 17.05

2.50.2.99 15 8.52

3.00-3.49 55 31.25

3.50-3.99 13 7.39

4.00-4.49 51 28.98

Total 176 100.00

Mean=3.201

Standard deviation=0.6346

Table 3 is a frequency distribution of grade point averages of 245 students

that were not involved in extra-curricular activities. The average grade point average

of this group is 2.556. Twenty-three percent of these students have a grade point

average between 2.00 and 2.49.

 Table 3

Frequency of Grade Point Average of Students Not Involved in

Activities
Grade Point Students Sample Percentage

Average

0.00-.0.49 18 7.35

0.50-0.99 1 0.41

1.00-1.49 48 19.59

1.50-1.99 1 0.41

2.00-2.49 57 23.27

2.50-2.99 44 17.96

3.00-3.49 5 2.04

3.50-3.99 25 10.20

4.00-4.49 46 18.78

Total 245 100.00

Mean =2.5556

Standard Deviation=0.7722

Analysis of frequency tables establishes a pattern of difference between

groups. The mean of 2.5556 which is the value of students not involved in

activities falls below the mean of 2.8254 which is all students in the sample.

The mean of 3.201 which represents students involved in activities is above the
mean of all students in the sample. The statistical analysis used to determine if

there is a significant difference between means was 'the t-test. Table 4 is a

summary

of data from the t-test.

Table 4

t-test
Variable of Cases Mean SD SE Mean

GPA

Yes involve 176 3.2011 0.635 0.048

No involve 245 2.5556 0.772 0.49

Variances t-value df 99% Sig.

Equal 9.10 419 0.0004999

Unequal 9.39 411.42 0.0004999

Three basic assumptions must be met when using the t-statistic.

The assumptions are:

1. The values in the sample must consist of independent observations.

2. The population sampled must resemble the normal curve.

3. The populations from which the samples were drawn must have

approximately the same variability.

The first assumption was satisfied by the criteria established for each group. It

is not possible to be a member of the involved group and a member of the

not involved group.

The law of large numbers states that the larger sample the more

probable that the sample mean will be close to the population mean. The
standard error of the mean for both samples was small. This also is an Indicator of a

normal distribution. The third assumption was satisfied by using the Levine Test

for Equality of variances. A value of p=.000 indicated that the variability

between sample means was not equal. The SPSS statistical analysis and data

management program calculated two t-tests based on the Levine Test. The

unequal variance values in table 4 were used for the final evaluation of the

null hypothesis.

The null hypothesis for this study was: There is no difference between

the grade point average of students involved in extra-curricular activities and

the grade point average of students not involved in extra-curricular activity.

Table 4 presents the findings of the difference between grade point averages of

students both involved in co-curricular activity and those not involved. A t- test

was computed to statistically determine if a difference exists. The t value for

the 421 members of the sample is 9.39. The probability of the t-test is

reported as less than ,000499. A significance level of .01 was established for this

study. Since the t-test value is less than the significance level of .0l, the

researcher concludes there is a significant difference between grade point

averages. The null hypothesis is rejected.

 Chapter 5

Summary, conclusion and recommendations

5.1 Purpose of the study

The main objective of this research was to inspect the grades of students who

got involved in co-curricular activities and those who did not take part in any

extracurricular activities. This research was established using class middle to high

classes’ data at govt. 46 DB girl’s high school.

5.2 Procedure

The procedure of research involved information sheet containing the

information of the participants and non-participants. This instrument contained the

data of 421 students of secondary classes from Govt. girls’ high school 46DB. The

data analysis was done using Microsoft excel.

This research was designed to answer the following question: If there was any

difference between the grade points of students who involved in the co-curricular

activities and those who did not involve in co- curricular activities?

The following study is done in the result of a question: There is no difference

between the grades of students whether they take part in co-curricular activities or not.

There is no influence on study of children whether they take part in extracurricular

activities or not.
5.3 Results

The results of the study highlight the importance of the creative attitudes of

the teachers in shaping the creative attitudes of the students, which in fact have to be

exploited in order to achieve the educational goal, namely the creative personality.

The results of the present study are emphasizing the words of Mahatma Gandhi, who

once said “You must be the change you want to see in the world!”, pointing out the

fact that teachers are a key element in the education process, despite the

transformations the human society went through and they can contribute up to a great

extent to fostering and shaping a creative and independent individual that not only

would be able to adapt to various environmental changes, but could also be able to

find solutions to social problems.

5.4 Recommendations for future

Following are the recommendations that can be kept in mind for future research about

this question:

1. Researcher should also try to find out the reason why the students did not

participate in extracurricular activities.

2. Conduct a research which includes all the other factors which influence the

academics other than the co-curricular activities.

3. It should be noted if there are any particular co-curricular activities that can

influence the children behavior more than the others.

4. Research might ascertain cooperative to define if extraction from activities

have an effect on study of the students who have high grades but do not take

part in extracurricular activities.

5. A study should be directed to determine if co-curricular activities during

elementary and junior high school have the same effect as involvement has on

academic accomplishment in high school.

6. A repetition of this research should be prepared to decide if involvement in co-

curricular activity has an effect on factors such as attendance, discipline, self-

esteem, and I.Q. What effect does socioeconomic status have on participation?

Does dropping co-curricular activities affect these factors?

7. A study should be made of self-selection for extracurricular activities.

Determine what factors contribute to self-selection and analyze their effect on

academic achievement.

8. A study should be made comparing those who participate in extracurricular

activities and those who don't and the career paths and progress.
 References
Abramson, J. H. The Effects of Non-Competitive Situation on the Verbal and Figurai
Creativity of College Students. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation. Ann
Arbor, MI: Michigan State University, 1976.
Adams, G. R., and Fitch, S. A. Psychological Environments of University
Departments: Effects on College Students' Indentity Status and Ego Stage
Development. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 44, No. 6,
1983, pp. 1266- 1275.
Altman, I. Some Perspectives on the Study of Man-Environment Phenomena.
Representative Research in Social Psychology, Vol 41, 1973, pp. 109-126.
Amabile, T. M. Social Psychology of Creativity: A Consensual Assessment
Technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 43, No. 5,
1982, pp. 997- 1013.
Amabile, T. M. The Social Psychology of Creativity: A Componential
Conceptualization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , Vol. 45,
No. 2, 1983, pp. 357-376.
Anderson, H. H. Creativity and Education. College and University Bulletin , Vol. 13,
No. 14, 1961, pp. 1-4.
Anderson, H. H. On the Meaning of Creativity. Creativity at Home and in School , St.
Paul, Minnesota: Macalester Creativity Project, 1968, pp. 33-53.
Arieti, S. Creativity: The Magic Synthesis . New York: Basic Books, 1976.
Astin, A. W., and Holland, J. L. The Environmental Assessment Thchnique: A Way
to Measure College Environments. Journal of Educational Psychology , Vol.
52, 1961, pp. 308-316.
Astin, A. W. Further Validation of the Environmental Assessment Technique. Journal
of Educational Psychology , Vol. 54, 1963, pp. 217-226.
Astin, A. W. Effect of Different College Environments on the Vocational Choices of
High Aptitude Students. Journal of Counseling Psychology , Vol. 12, 1965,
pp. 28-34.
Astin, A. W. The College Environment. Washington, D. C.: American Council on
Education, 1968.
Astin, A. W. Preventing Students from Dropping out. San Francisco : Jossey-Bass,
1975.
Astin, A. W. Four Critical Years : Effects of College on Beliefs, Attitudes, and
Knowledge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1977.
Astin, A. W. and Panos, R. The Educational and Vocational Development of College
Students. Washington, D. C.: American Council on Education, 1969.
Barker, R. G., and Wright, H. F. Standing Patterns of Behavior. In R. G. Barker., and
associates (eds.), Habitats,
Environments and Human Behavior. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1978, pp. 24-28.
Bennett, N. Teaching Styles and Pupil Progress. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard
University
Press, 1976.
Berdie, R. F. College Expectations, Experiences and Perceptions. Journal of College
Student Personnel, Vol. 7, 1966, pp. 336-344.
Berdie, R. F. A University Is A Many-Faceted Thing. In K. A. Feldman (ed.) College
and Student , New York: Pergainon Press, 1972.
Bower, M. Nurturing Innovation in An Organization. In G. A. Steiner (ed.), The
Creative Organization , Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1965.
Bralley, J. A. Proceedings of Industrial Research Institute Study Group Meeting.
Research Management , Vol. 3, 1960, pp. 111-122.
Brown, D. R. Manipulation of the Environmental Press in a College Residence Hall.
Personnel and Guidance Journal , Vol. 46, 1968, pp. 555-560.
Brown, L. R. The Twenty-Ninth Day . New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1978.
Bullough, V., Bullough, B., and Mauro, M. History and Creativity: Research Problems
and Some Possible Solutions. The Journal of Creative Behavior , Vol. 15, No.
2, 1981, pp. 102-116.
Centra, J. and Rock, D. College Environments and Student Academic Achievement.
American Educational Research Journal , Vol. 8, 1971, pp. 623-634.
Chambers, T. An Empirical Study of Leadership and Management
Style of Head Staffs in College/University Residence
Halls. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 1976.
Chen, W. S. A Study of Creativity and Creative Personality. Bulletin of Graduate
Institute of Education, Taiwan Normal University . (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic
of China), Vol. 17, 1975.
Chia, F. M. An Experimental Research in the Development of Creativity. Bulletin of
Graduate Institute of Education, Taiwan Normal University , (Taipei, Taiwan,
Republic of China). Vol. 12, 1970.
Chia, F. M. An Experimental Research in the Development of Mathematical Creative
Ability. Bulletin of Graduate Institute of Education, Taiwan Normal
University
. (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China), Vol. 13, 1971.
Chia, F. M. Mathmatical Creative Ability and Its Correlates. Bulletin of Graduate
Institute of Education, Taiwan Normal University (Taipei, Taiwan, Republic
of China), Vol. 14, 1972.
Chia, F. M. Educational Style for the Gifted Junior High School Pupils. Bulletin of
Graduate Institute of Education, Taiwan Normal University , (Taipei, Taiwan,
Republic of China), Vol. 16, 1974.