The Relationship Between the Originality of Essays and Variables in the Problem-Discovery Process: A Study of Creative and Noncreative Middle School Students

The study was conducted to determine whether there is a relationship between problem-discovery and the assessed originality of the written product, and to determine whether problem-finding behavior is observable in student writers. This relationship was examined at two stages: the problem-formulation and problem-solution stages. Two groups of middle school writers, a high creative group and a low creative group, participated in the study. Results indicated a relationship between problem-finding and the originality of the product. The creative group scores were higher, though not always significantly, than the noncreative group scores in a direction one would predict based on correlational research done with artists. The way a student approaches a writing problem is directly related to the originality of the product.