The Effects of Bono's Six Hats Technique on Student's Critical Thinking and Creativity

Critical thinking, critical disposition and creativity skills are regarded to be as important output of any educational system. The rapid changes of today's world in all aspects of life, information explosion and lack of thinking skills e.g. critical thinking and creativity in students to cope with future problems have emphasized the crucial of these skills. This study intended to help students to develop their mental skills by de Bono’s six thinking hats technique. This technique covers every topics and problems from different points and dimensions. Six colorful hats e.g. positive, negative, affection, creative, impartial, and control specifies six points of view. Pre–post, test control group design was applied to gain these aims. California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) - Farsi Version- and Abedi’s Creativity test were used to examine the effects. Since the groups were intact (school classes), Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for total scores of scales and their subscales were carried out after the intervention. The results show significant difference (higher) of disposition in experimental group, but no significant difference in creativity among the groups. The direct instruction of thinking skills by six thinking hats technique can boost student's critical thinking disposition, but not creativity.