A STUDY OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND ACHIEVEMENT OF STUDENTS IN MATHEMATICS

Creativity has been proposed as one of the major component to be included in the education of the 21st century (Mann, 2005). The creativity in mathematics has been accepted as the insurance for the growth of the field of mathematics. Some theoreticians and teachers have believed that only creative mathematics can be successful at contributing to the growth of the field of mathematics. But as the students progress through the educational ladder their interest in mathematics diminishes. Yet there is an ever increasing need within the workforce for individuals who possess talent in mathematics. The literature suggests that mathematical talent is most often measured by the speed and accuracy of a student’s computation with little emphasis on problem solving and pattern finding and no opportunities for students to work on rich mathematical tasks that require divergent thinking. As a result children’s natural curiosity and enthusiasm for mathematics reduces and only solution to it is to keep students interested and engaged in mathematics by recognizing and valuing their mathematical creativity. Moreover, generally it is believed that the students who are good academically are more creative as compared to those who are not good academically. So, the investigator got interested to find out the relationship between mathematical creativity and achievement.