المستخلص: |
Problem solving, as one of the critical thinking skills, and creativity are two twenty first century skills that require higher-order level of thinking and that pose a challenge for teachers to integrate in their teaching practices. The purpose of the current study was to inspect the effectiveness of riddles in fostering problem-solving skills in geography classes. Moreover, it aimed to study the impact of using Windows Microsoft Moviemaker (WMM) on students’ creativity in EFL classes. The research study followed the quasi experimental and the one-group posttest experimental designs, and it employed the mixed method. The participants in the study were 37 Lebanese students enrolled in the first secondary class, and 24 Lebanese EFL students enrolled in the second secondary class. Data were collected using two Geography achievement tests, a rubric for assessing creativity, and a content analysis checklist. Quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, paired t-tests and independent t-tests using the SPSS program, and qualitative data were analyzed by a committee of three professional teachers. The research findings revealed that there was a significant difference in mean scores of the geography achievement tests between the control group and the experimental group. Also, they indicated the development of EFL students’ creative skills when the WMM was used. This verified the research hypotheses that using riddles boosts students’ problem solving skills in geography and that employing the WMM in projects promotes EFL students’ creativity. Based on these findings, the two researchers recommended using riddles in geography classes as a means to develop the learners’ problem solving skills and employing WMM as a tool to devise projects in order to foster EFL learners’ creativity.
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