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Divergent thinking and academic performance of students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder characteristics in engineering
Author(s) -
Taylor Christa L.,
Esmaili Zaghi Arash,
Kaufman James C.,
Reis Sally M.,
Renzulli Joseph S.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of engineering education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.896
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 2168-9830
pISSN - 1069-4730
DOI - 10.1002/jee.20310
Subject(s) - creativity , aptitude , divergent thinking , psychology , convergent thinking , academic achievement , creative thinking , torrance tests of creative thinking , attention deficit hyperactivity disorder , engineering education , mathematics education , developmental psychology , social psychology , clinical psychology , engineering , mechanical engineering
Abstract Background Creativity is increasingly recognized as an important skill for success in the field of engineering, but most traditional, post‐secondary engineering education programs do not reward creative efforts. Failing to recognize creativity or creative efforts can have particularly negative effects for those students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), who may exhibit enhanced divergent thinking ability yet struggle in the traditional educational environment. Purpose/Hypothesis This study was conducted to investigate how ADHD characteristics, academic aptitude, and one important component of creativity (divergent thinking) contribute to academic performance in engineering programs and how traditional markers of academic performance and ADHD characteristics predict divergent thinking. Design/Method Undergraduate engineering students ( n = 60) completed measures of ADHD symptoms and divergent thinking. Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores and grade point average (GPA) were collected from university records, and hypotheses were tested using a series of multivariate regression models. Results Verbal SAT scores were the only positive predictor of overall GPA and engineering GPA. ADHD characteristics did not significantly predict overall GPA but negatively predicted engineering GPA. ADHD characteristics were the only positive predictor of divergent thinking ability. Conclusions ADHD characteristics negatively predict academic performance (i.e., GPA) in engineering programs but are more predictive of divergent thinking ability than traditional markers of academic performance.