DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST

In dealing with standardized tests, including TOEFL test, there is a common propensity for test-takers to adopt convergent thinking which is a cognitive process in retrieving a pre-existing answers using concepts, knowledge, and understandings. On the contrary, the use of divergent thinking in stand...

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Main Authors: Nyak Mutia Ismail, Moriyanti Moriyanti, Dara Yusnida
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Faculty of Teacher Training and Education in collaboration with School of Postgraduate Studies 2019-09-01
Series:Indonesian Journal of Learning and Instruction
Online Access:http://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IJLI/article/view/1979
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author Nyak Mutia Ismail
Moriyanti Moriyanti
Dara Yusnida
author_facet Nyak Mutia Ismail
Moriyanti Moriyanti
Dara Yusnida
author_sort Nyak Mutia Ismail
collection DOAJ
description In dealing with standardized tests, including TOEFL test, there is a common propensity for test-takers to adopt convergent thinking which is a cognitive process in retrieving a pre-existing answers using concepts, knowledge, and understandings. On the contrary, the use of divergent thinking in standardized tests is scarce because the test-takers do not create new knowledge or ideas during the test. This study sought whether higher divergent thinking ability could affect TOEFL score. A case study was employed to gather the data from 143 respondents (divided into two groups: each 73 and 70 students) whom of which were 3rd year Economics students at Syiah Kuala University. Guilford’s Alternative Uses Test was used as the instrument where the students should name the functions of a stone in 5 minutes. The total of 538 responses from group A and 366 from group B were obtained from this test. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics in terms of its originality. The results showed that the group whose ability in divergent thinking is higher could achieve average score reaching 523, while those with less ability in employing divergent thinking could only attained 477 in average. The findings imply that in teaching TOEFL preparation or other standardized tests, divergent teaching technique needs to be employed as the instructors should expands students’ thinking by not only limiting it to Question-Answer technique.
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spelling doaj-art-7c29006ed08645f7a694ed5dc3ba0f7e2024-12-20T21:21:14ZengFaculty of Teacher Training and Education in collaboration with School of Postgraduate StudiesIndonesian Journal of Learning and Instruction2614-82502614-56772019-09-012210.25134/ijli.v2i2.19791418DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TESTNyak Mutia Ismail0Moriyanti Moriyanti1Dara Yusnida2Syiah Kuala UniversityIskandarmuda UniversityIskandarmuda UniversityIn dealing with standardized tests, including TOEFL test, there is a common propensity for test-takers to adopt convergent thinking which is a cognitive process in retrieving a pre-existing answers using concepts, knowledge, and understandings. On the contrary, the use of divergent thinking in standardized tests is scarce because the test-takers do not create new knowledge or ideas during the test. This study sought whether higher divergent thinking ability could affect TOEFL score. A case study was employed to gather the data from 143 respondents (divided into two groups: each 73 and 70 students) whom of which were 3rd year Economics students at Syiah Kuala University. Guilford’s Alternative Uses Test was used as the instrument where the students should name the functions of a stone in 5 minutes. The total of 538 responses from group A and 366 from group B were obtained from this test. The data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics in terms of its originality. The results showed that the group whose ability in divergent thinking is higher could achieve average score reaching 523, while those with less ability in employing divergent thinking could only attained 477 in average. The findings imply that in teaching TOEFL preparation or other standardized tests, divergent teaching technique needs to be employed as the instructors should expands students’ thinking by not only limiting it to Question-Answer technique.http://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IJLI/article/view/1979
spellingShingle Nyak Mutia Ismail
Moriyanti Moriyanti
Dara Yusnida
DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
Indonesian Journal of Learning and Instruction
title DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
title_full DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
title_fullStr DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
title_full_unstemmed DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
title_short DIVERGENT THINKING IN A STANDARDIZED TEST
title_sort divergent thinking in a standardized test
url http://journal.uniku.ac.id/index.php/IJLI/article/view/1979
work_keys_str_mv AT nyakmutiaismail divergentthinkinginastandardizedtest
AT moriyantimoriyanti divergentthinkinginastandardizedtest
AT darayusnida divergentthinkinginastandardizedtest