Factors Fostering Students’ Creativity at Capiz State University: Input to Teaching Strategies

Abstract

The tide of technological and economic change is sweeping every corner of the world and is getting bigger and faster every day. If the Philippines aims to keep pace with these changes, it must be able to cultivate creativity among its would-be entrepreneurs and labor force. This difficult task is the very purpose academic institutions exist. Part of their mission is to inculcate creativity among students. As such, academic institutions must provide a climate which will allow the students to take risks and not being afraid to commit mistakes and fail in the process. Instructional, research, and extension activities must be geared towards the development of the personality traits and attitude of creative individuals. The present study attempts to investigate the commonly cited factors that foster students’ creativity in an academic organization. The students’ responses in the questionnaire were analyzed to determine the degree of contribution of the factors in fostering their creativity. The factors are: (1) self-confidence; (2) risk taking; (3) use of the abstract; (4) use of systematic analysis; (5) task achievement; and (6) physical environment. The results of this study suggest that the respondents perceive physical environment as the most influential factor that fosters their creativity. The least significant factor identified is the use of the abstract. A significant difference was found in perceptions of the factors that foster creativity when respondents are grouped based on their current general weighted average.