This article addresses the use of Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs) as a (curricular) tool to develop mathematical creativity and identify students who are creatively gifted in mathematics. The thesis of this article is that by using MEAs, gifted educators can: (a) provide students with opportunities to develop creative and applied mathematical thinking; and (b) analyze students’ mathematical thinking when engaged in creative mathematical tasks, aiding in the identification of those students who are especially talented in domain-specific, mathematical creativity. The authors’ conclude that MEAs have potential for both developing and identifying creatively gifted mathematicians in the middle grades.
Chamberlin et al. (Tue,) studied this question.