effect of 4MAT training on teachers' attitudes towards student behaviors associated with creativity

The purpose of this study was to determine if 4MAT training had an impact on teachers' attitudes towards students' behaviors associated with creativity. Specifically, this study analyzed the relationship between the dependent variable of attitude toward creativity, and the independent variables of levels of training, grade level, years of teaching experience, and subject area. A sample of 459 subjects consisted of an experimental (N = 310) and control group (N = 149). The experimental group received either Fundamental 4MAT training or both Fundamental and Intermediate training, while the control group received no intervention. The Ideal Child Checklist (ICC), developed by Torrance (1975), was used as a pre- and posttest measure to determine change in attitude following treatment. Responses on the ICC were tallied to create a single score on the instrument. Statistical methods used to analyze the data consisted of (a) a t-test to compare 4MAT with controls by calculating the difference between pre- and posttest scores, (b) a one-way analysis of covariance to compare level of training, and (c) a two-way analysis of covariance to compare levels of training with independent demographic variables. Five hypotheses were developed to determine if 4MAT training had an impact on attitudes and the aforementioned variables. All hypotheses were tested at the.05 level of significance. Based on the findings of this study, none of the demographic variables had a significant relationship to change in attitude towards creativity, beyond what could normally be expected by chance. However, the 4MAT group had a statistically significant higher attitude score than the control group, t(147) = 6.29, p <.001, and there was a statistically significant difference between groups for control and levels of training, F(2, 307) = 35.46, p <.001.