Creative Thinking Patterns in Student's Scientific Works

Purpose: This study aimed to explain creative thinking patterns, including imaginative thinking, divergent thinking, and lateral thinking of students in scientific work. The scientific work studied was in the form of the Student Creativity Program at Malang State University, Indonesia. Research Methods: This study used a qualitative approach with content analysis method. The data were in the form of sentences, sentence groups, paragraphs, paragraph clusters, and whole text. The data source of this research was the writing of student scientific work. The data were collected through surveys, documentation studies, and interviews. The process of data analysis was grouped into three stages, namely data reduction, data presentation, and conclusion drawing. Findings: The findings of this study indicated that (1) the pattern of imaginative thinking in student scientific work appeared in the diversity of ideas based on experience and use of metaphorical language. Ideas were born through simple propositions in paragraph form. (2) Divergent thinking patterns in student scientific work could be seen from the diversity of ideas and techniques for problem solving. Criteria for markers of divergent thinking patterns were characterized by originality, flexibility or elaboration. (3) Lateral thinking patterns in student scientific work could be seen from the use of a variety of unique ideas according to the complexity of problem solving. Implications for Research and Practice: Based on the results of the study, it can be concluded that creative thinking patterns of students in scientific work showed the use of various forms of ideas in accordance with the complexity of problem solving. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of the importance of using creative thinking patterns in scientific writing. However, for further research it is recommended that we examine creative thinking patterns with different levels of objects so that the findings of this study appear more widely in various levels.