Creativity and Critical Thinking in Learning Mathematics Among Saudi Students; Comparison between Freshmen and Seniors

Abstract

Creative thinking and creativity give important roles in learning mathematics for mathematics students. This study aims to investigate the levels of creativity and critical thinking in learning mathematics among Saudi undergraduate students. The study employed a fully quantitative research design to collect the data from 84 undergraduate students from public universities. The participants were divided into two groups freshmen and seniors. The data were collected in form of a written test. SPSS 23.0 software was used to analyse the data inferentially and descriptively. The findings showed that freshmen students have a higher level of creativity and seniors have a higher level of critical thinking. However, t-test analyses showed there is no significant difference between freshmen and seniors. Also, the results showed that freshmen students have a higher level of creativity than critical thinking while seniors have a higher level of critical thinking than creativity. This research contributes significantly to the limited studies of enhancing students’ ability in learning mathematics. The findings shed new light on how creativity and critical thinking can be better promoted in mathematics education.