Effects of history of mathematics-based CPS instruction on fifth-grade students’ creative thinking and disposition

This study examined the effects of a history of mathematics-based Creative Problem Solving (CPS) lesson on fifth-grade students' mathematical creative thinking and creative attitude.The CPS lesson incorporating the history of mathematics was designed to immerse students in historical problem situations, allowing them to use mathematicians' ideas as clues to extend their inquiries through divergent thinking and to reconverge them into mathematical concepts.To this end, Clairaut's lments de gomtrie (1741/2023) was utilized as a historical source, and a seven-session lesson was implemented in the unit 'Perimeter and Area of Polygons' .The results of the pre-and post-tests with two creative thinking items and the CAS-K (Creative Attitude Scale for Korean elementary students) showed significant improvement in creativity (p=0.010,p<0.001) and in creative attitude (p=0.025).In particular, lower-and middle-achieving students showed significant improvement on Item 1, whereas all groups improved significantly on Item 2, with especially pronounced gains among middle-and higher-achieving students.These results indicate that a history-based CPS lesson can foster creative development across diverse proficiency levels.Affectively, students reported not only enhanced creative attitudes but also the joy of doing mathematics and a sense of discovery.These findings suggest that the history of mathematics serves not merely as a motivational tool but as a means of engaging students in creative mathematical inquiry enriched by affective experiences such as the joy of discovery and the feeling of achievement.