Examining the creative potential of engineering students

Abstract

Application of special examining tools during studying at university enables engineering students as well as their teachers to assess the level of the students’ creative potential development. A comprehensive creative potential defines abilities of an engineer to solve problems using innovative approaches. Over four hundred students from five Ukrainian agrarian universities were tested by means of a specially designed instrument. The tool was an integrated test which included a number of questions from well-known tests for examination of mechanical intelligence, spatial thinking, convergent thinking as well as memory. It was predicted that the testing results would reveal four possible levels of the creative potential development: starter, basic, intermediate and advanced. A significant part of the students showed basic and intermediate levels. The figures were different among the students from different academic years. Thus these results provide a relevant indication of the levels of the creative potential development for engineering students at different stages of their education. With this examination tool both teachers and students are able to diagnose and improve the students’ creative potential level.