THEORETICAL AND EMPIRICAL STUDIES OF "DISCUSSION" INDUCED CREATIVE/CRITICAL THINKING AND ABILITIES OF SELF-EXPRESSION

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We conducted studies theoretically and empirically on the following three topics : 1. Analysis of discussion phases and metacognitive expressions : We quantitatively and qualitatively investigated the effects of goals, arrangement of group members, and members' characteristics on the unfolding process and content of discussions and proposed a model for the unfolding process of discussions. This proposed model describes the reflective thinking activities that proceed zigzag in the three phases differently. Namely, during the first phase, reflective thinking activities take place in the zone of social collaboration structures ; in the second, they take place in the personal zone ; and, in the third, they take place by going between the above two zones ; and in each phase, metacognitive expressions play mediating functions. 2. Analysis of "Implicit rules" that inhibit creative discussions : Why can't children and students ask questions in classrooms more spontaneously? We assumed that one … More of the reasons is the existence of "bad" implicit rules that prevail deeply in classrooms. Based upon this assumption, we conducted a systematic survey study and statistically extracted the factors underlying "implicit rules." The findings suggest (1) that there are two types of implicit rules, ones specific to certain age groups and ones non-specific to age, (2) to what extent and how the teacher can interact with students so that the negative pressure of implicit rules could be alleviated or removed determine whether children and students ask questions spontaneously, whether creative discussions will be achieved where children actively examine and (re-)scrutinize problems, and whether their learning environment will be a more stimulating one which will help children develop positive attitudes toward learning collaboratively. 3. Learning environments that foster the abilities of self-expression and discussion skills : We assumed that the type of dialogues/conversations/discussions that take place among family members, among peers, and at school and their atmosphere where they take place foster children's attitudes and skills essential for expressing oneself spontaneously to, and engaging in creative discussions with, other people with different views and values. Based upon this assumption, we conducted quantitative and qualitative surveys and analyses to test our proposed causal models of how those factors determine actual discussion skills and creative thinking activities in children. Less