Teacher and student relationships for improvements in creativity

This study examined changes in creativity among undergraduate students at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College. The study focused on the interactions between the students and their teacher within the context of the coursework material. The student-teacher relationship was designed within the framework of a college classroom environment, specifically: (a) the level of Professorial Concern (PC) and (b) the climate of Affiliation (AF) as measured by student responses.; The study was conducted among 36 undergraduate students from the Human and Organizational Development department during the Spring 2001 semester for the HOD-1200 course entitled Understanding Organizations. Each student was asked to produce a creative nametag at the beginning of the semester and then again, at the end of the semester. Additionally, all of the students were divided into groups of six members each to work on team projects throughout the course of the semester.; Analysis of variance showed a significant change (i.e., increase) in student creativity from pretest to posttest measures. This change was considered reliable when using the Pearson r to measure the ratings of the 21 creativity judges (5 expert/16 peer). The two quantitative scales measuring the classroom environment, Professorial Concern (PC) and Affiliation (AF), produced a significant increase in creativity from pretest to posttest. There was also significant increase demonstrated in creativity change based on the beginning (pretest) level of creativity; the lower the starting level, the more increase that was experienced. There was no significant change based on gender or group influence.; The qualitative portion of the study produced some interesting results. Comments suggested that attitudes and abilities changed during the semester as a result of the classroom atmosphere and the relationship to other students as well as the teacher. The major issue, however, is that without a control group, it is difficult to establish a direct correlation to particular factors contributing to that change in creativity. Future research on this topic will necessitate the isolation of the specific elements of the teacher influence that have been hypothesized to facilitate increases in student creativity.