Bonotto, C. & Dal Santo L. On the Relationship Between Problem Posing, Problem Solving and Creativity in the Primary School

Problem posing is a form of creative activity that can operate within tasks involving semi-structured rich situations, using real-life artifacts and human interactions. Several researchers linked problem–posing skill with creativity, citing flexibility, fluency, and originality as creativity categories. However, the nature of this relationship still remains unclear. For this reason, the exploratory study presented here sought to begin to investigate the relationship between problem-posing activities (supported by problem-solving activity) and creativity. The study is part of an on-going research project based on teaching experiments consisting of a series of classroom activities in upper elementary school, using suitable artifacts and interactive teaching methods, in order to create a substantially modified teaching/learning environment. In addition, the study provides a method for analyzing the products of problem posing that teachers could use in the classroom to identify and assess both the activity of problem posing itself and the students’ creativity in mathematics.