Designing Spaces for Creativity and Divergent Thinking: Pre-Service Teachers Creating Stop Motion Animation on Tablets

Abstract

In recent years, tablets have been shown to serve as incredible teaching tools in classrooms around the world. In mathematics education, divergent thinking, creativity, and play may play a key role in formation of adaptive thinking and math achievement. This qualitative, participatory action research investigated the use of an instructional model that provided minimal instruction in the use of tablets to create stop motion animation movies. This study focused on the themes and patterns that emerged as pre-service teachers integrate a design thinking philosophy as they explore creativity and divergent thinking through the creation of stop motion animation movies. This study employed a participatory action research design that examined the use of an instructional approach informed by design thinking that utilized tablets to enable pre-service teachers to create stop motion animation movies and examine pedagogical implications of creativity, divergent and convergent thinking.