2. Students Learning Effectively through Creative Resource Classes and Creativity in the Classroom Ashanti Banks Ashford University Professor Miller EDU 671 Fundamentals of Educational Research

3. Area of Focus Identify a student’s increased comprehension of a lesson, ability to create new and advanced ideas and concepts, and to identify their enhancement in critical thinking skills through the use of creative extracurricular activities and creativity incorporated in the lessons.

4. Research Questions What effect will the implementation of creativity in the lessons have on the students understanding of the current curriculum? What are some ways educators can foster creativity in our classrooms? What effect will the implementation of creative resource classes have on students who are constantly boggled down with work, test, and standardized test preparation?

5. Action Plan The timeline for my research will be approximately one academic school year Determine if creativity will help students to comprehend the lessons better Collect data to determine whether the implementation of creativity in the elementary classroom is needed or not. Observe the students and evaluate how they respond to creative lessons and obtain information through questionnaires given to students to see what teaching method works best for them and keeps them engaged.

6. Innovation/Intervention Teacher selected to teach creative learning will receive training and attend workshops the summer before the academic school year After the completion of the trainings and workshops, the teacher and administration will begin making changes to the curriculum and lesson plans. Host a Parents Night during summer break so the teacher can give the parents an overview of what they gathered from the trainings and workshops. The parents will also be able to learn more about what kind of lessons take place in a creative learning environment. Once the students arrive at school, the students will be taught a week long unit based on the old method of teaching and given a quiz following the conclusion of the unit. Students will be taught that same unit with a creative spin on how the lesson is delivered and will be given the same quiz. Based on the results, this assessment will be a small example of how the rest of the academic year will be.

7. Data Collection Tools Qualitative data will be collected through the grade book to measure whether or not teaching creatively had an effect on student performance. Also privileged active observation which will allow me to observe the children during a time when the actual teacher is not directly responsible for teaching a lesson and see how they interact with their peers and how they handle particular situations. Quantitative data will be collected through formal student interviews and questionnaires following each completed unit/lesson. This will allow me to get each participants honest opinion about how creativity is effecting them academically.

8. Ethical Considerations To ensure that all parents, staff, and administration have prior knowledge of my research To obtain proper consent from parents/guardians to allow students to participate To ensure that all data collected is always kept confidential To ensure that all students are taught equally in a proper learning environment

9. Related Literature http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30- things-you-can-do-to-promote-creativity-in-your- classroom http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30- things-you-can-do-to-promote-creativity-in-your- classroom Clifford, Miriam Ashford Library

10. References http://www.google.com http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30- things-you-can-do-to-promote-creativity-in-your- classroomhttp://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/features/30- things-you-can-do-to-promote-creativity-in-your- classroom http://www.web2teachingtools.com/importance-of- creativity.html