This might be largely due to the highly structured curriculum and mathematical textbooks that leave little room for these opportunities and may constrain creative practices that the teachers feel able and willing to engage in (Dobbins, 2009 Kolovou, 2011). However, in educational practice, most teachers do not provide many opportunities for students to act creatively in mathematics (Gravemeijer, 2007 Kolovou, 2011) and visual arts (Bresler, 1999 Elfland, 1976). This requires creative and flexible thinking (Schoevers et al., 2019 Warner, Alcock, Coppolo, & Davis, 2003), which is also considered important in other disciplines in elementary education, such as visual arts (Sawyer, 2014). Students cannot simply apply a strategy, but have to recall, use, and combine facts, skills, procedures, and ideas in a new and meaningful way to solve the problem. An example is when students have to create a paper model of a 12-sided dice. Non-routine problem solving is important in elementary school mathematics (Kolovou, 2011). Regarding students’ understanding and explanation of geometrical phenomena and geometrical creative thinking, all students improved, but no differences between the groups were found, which implies that on these aspects the MACE program was as effective as the comparison group that received a more traditional form of geometry education. Results showed that students who received the MACE lesson series improved more than students who received regular geometry lessons only in geometrical aspects perceived in a visual artwork. A geometrical ability, creativity, and vocabulary test and a visual arts assignment were used in a pre- and post-measurements to test the effects of the MACE program. One group of teachers taught the lesson series and followed a professional development program ( n = 36), one group of teachers only taught the lesson series ( n = 36), and a comparison group taught a series of traditional geometry lessons from mathematical textbooks ( n = 43). A quasi-experimental study was conducted in which three groups of teachers and their classes were investigated. ![]() ![]() The program consisted of a lesson series for fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in which geometry and visual arts were integrated, alongside with a professional development program for teachers. This study evaluates the effects of the Mathematics, Arts, and Creativity in Education (MACE) program on students’ ability in geometry and visual arts in the upper grades of elementary school.
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