Test of scientific creativity animations for children: Development and validity study

Creativity assessments currently in use are often are not engaging for young children. The current study employed a novel method, animations, for measuring children's scientific creativity. A new test of scientific creativity for K2 students, titled TOSCAC (Test of Scientific Creativity Animations for Children) was developed based on the theory of Scientific Creativity as Dual Search. Test items included short animated stories. Children watched the animations and then were asked to generate hypotheses and redesign experiments to satisfy hypotheses. The animated test was individually administered to 801 students. Exploratory factor analyses yielded a two-factor structure which accounted for 71 % of variance. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the factor structure, showing an excellent fit. Children's scores on the TOSCAC was significantly correlated with their scores on the SAGES 2. Higher-grade children scored significantly higher that lower-grade students on the TOSCAC. Internal consistency coefficients ranged from .79 to .88. The interscorer reliability ranged from .92 to .99. The study provides evidence for the use of the TOSCAC in assessments of children's scientific creativity.