L'vova S.V., Arakelyan K.A. Developing Creative and Thinking Abilities of Elementary School Student Using LEGO Engineering

Abstract: The article investigates the impact of LEGO engineering as part of additional education on the development of elementary school students's abilities. The authors present the results of studying second-grade students' creative and visual-spatial abilities. In their article the authors describe the additional education LEGO program that has been tested at a Moscow general education institution over the period of time since 2015 till 2016. The authors provide the results of the summative and formative assessment and analyze data obtained in the course of the research. The authors prove their educational program to be efficient. Thus, the authors have prepared their own educational LEGO construction program to be used in the sphere of additional education and out-of-school activities. To define the levels of creative and visual-spatial abilities the authors have used the following methods: Ellis Torrance's Creative Thinking Test and Raven Progressive Matrices. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that LEGO construcion lessons are an understudied topic in terms of additional education and out-of-school activities. Based on the results of the research and after testing the additional education program the authors have defined positive dynamics demonstrated by children who attended lessons. LEGO construction lessons allowed to develop creative thinking and visual-spatial thinking abilities faster compared to children who had not attended lessons. Learning was always accompanied with play activity in class and lessons allowed children to obtain additional skills and knowledge not related to formal education, to develop thinking abilities and to grow personally. 

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