Students’ Creative Process in Mathematics: Insights from Eye-Tracking-Stimulated Recall Interview on Students’ Work on Multiple Solution Tasks

Abstract

Students’ creative process in mathematics is increasingly gaining significance in mathematics education research. Researchers often use Multiple Solution Tasks (MSTs) to foster and evaluate students’ mathematical creativity. Yet, research so far predominantly had a product-view and focused on solutions rather than the process leading to creative insights. The question remains unclear how students’ process solving MSTs looks like—and if existing models to describe (creative) problem solving can capture this process adequately. This article presents an explorative, qualitative case study, which investigates the creative process of a school student, David. Using eye-tracking technology and a stimulated recall interview, we trace David’s creative process. Our findings indicate what phases his creative process in the MST involves, how new ideas emerge, and in particular where illumination is situated in this process. Our case study illustrates that neither existing models on the creative process, nor on problem solving capture David’s creative process fully, indicating the need to partially rethink students’ creative process in MSTs.