Effects of an Empirical Cognition Development Programme on the Creative Thinking of Preschool Children

Inquiry-based education as a means of teaching has not been sufficiently studied in the context of empirical cognition in children of lower ages. The currently enhanced space for preschool science education creates possibilities to verify the applicability of physical experiment in the empirical cognition of preschool children and its effect on the development of their creative thinking. The developed Empirical Cognition Development Programme was implemented in kindergarten conditions and empirically verified in a quasi-experimental design on a sample of 102 children (2 experimental groups N = 71; 1 control group N = 31). To capture the level of creative thinking and its changes in children, the Torrance Figural Test of Creative Thinking (Torrance, 1974; Jurčová, 1984) was used. Results of comparative analyses showed a statistically and practically significant increase in the level of the creative thinking factors studied (fluency, flexibility, originality) in one of the experimental groups in comparison with the control group. The article discusses the results and implications for educational practice in the conditions of preschool education.

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