Creativity Development With Problem-Based Digital Making and Block-Based Programming for Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics Learning in Middle School Contexts

Abstract

Creativity, one of the cornerstones of students’ 21st-century skills, is regarded as an important learning outcome of science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education. Meanwhile, problem-based digital making (DM), which combines the child-friendly programming activities of DM with problem-solving elements, is an emerging instructional design to facilitate STEAM learning. This qualitative case study examines the implementation of a problem-based DM instructional program that used the block-based programming tool Scratch to cultivate the participants’ creativity. Fifty-four middle school students (aged 10–14 years) in Hong Kong participated in the program, which totaled 10 contact hours over five consecutive weeks. Through triangulating students’ DM artifacts, video recordings, field notes, and interviews, the researchers characterized the students’ creative expression, examined the role of problem-based DM in encouraging creative work, and investigated the use of Scratch for mediating student creativity. The results showed that problem-based DM activities fostered students’ creative expressions in the dimensions of novelty, utility, aesthetics, and authenticity. While Scratch mediated the way the students presented their solutions, it had limitations that hindered the students’ digital artifact construction. The findings provide theoretical insights for framing creativity and offer practical implications for the implementation of problem-based DM in K–12 contexts.

Not just for decoration: How the arts complement science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning.

“…We determined that the experimental group, which drew more inspiration from various art strategies, was marginally better able to develop original ideas for their work. This is consistent with the results of several previous studies (Cheng et al, 2022; Chung et al, 2022; Weng et al, 2023). Compared to the limited team-level products (approximately eight products) in Cheng et al’s (2022) study, which was previously stated, we collected 50 individual products.…”

“…Several studies have incorporated arts into STEM courses and examined their effects on student performance (Arce et al, 2022; Chen et al, 2022; Cheng et al, 2022; Erol et al, 2023; Fernández-Morante et al, 2022; Ju et al, 2022; Khamhaengpol et al, 2022; Timotheou & Ioannou, 2021; Weng et al, 2023). In these studies, the arts were not merely used as decoration; rather, they were presented through strategies, including arts/esthetic, contextual understanding, creativity, and combinations of these.…”

“…Incorporating these art strategies with STEM learning, this study developed 7-week STEAM courses in two schools with a nonrandomized control-group pretest–posttest design and examined their effects on students’ learning performance. According to Cheng et al (2022), Chung et al (2022), and Weng et al (2023), those who receive courses with more art strategies (i.e., the experimental group) would be able to generate more creative STEAM products (Hypothesis 1). Studies have shown that the arts stimulate learners’ motivation to learn STEM content (Arce et al, 2022; Khamhaengpol et al, 2022; Mun, 2022).…”

“…The abbreviation “A” in STEAM is not merely a decoration; it serves various meanings (Clapp & Jimenez, 2016; Liu et al, 2021). Numerous studies have incorporated art meanings into STEM courses through strategies such as arts/esthetic (Cheng et al, 2022), contextual understanding (Fernández-Morante et al, 2022), creativity (Timotheou & Ioannou, 2021), or a combination of these (Weng et al, 2023). However, most studies either primarily focused on learners’ creativity, which they measured through tests and graded using a Likert scale, or followed a one-group pretest–posttest design, which may have been influenced by maturation and testing effects.…”

Effect of Web-Based Collaborative Learning Method with Scratch on Critical Thinking Skills of 5th Grade Students

“…In the literature, it is seen that there are studies investigating the effect of Scratch on computational thinking in courses such as computer science and mathematics (Dickson, Kotsopoulos, & Harris, 2022;Gadanidis, Hughes, Minniti, & White, 2017;Oluk & Korkmaz, 2016;Oluk, Korkmaz, & Oluk, 2018;Rodríguez-Martínez, González-Calero, & Sáez-López, 2020;Ma, Zhao, Wang, Wan, Cavanaugh, & Liu, 2021;Miller, 2019;Nouri et al, 2020). In online STEM courses, coding workshops and clubs, there are studies conducted with K-9 students where Scratch is used for teaching computer science abstraction, integration of mathematics-computer thinking, creativity or encouraging participatory culture (Israel & Lash, 2020;Statter & Armoni, 2020;Weng 2022a;Weng 2022b). There are studies focusing on how to use Scratch in numbers, polygons, divisibility, setting up equations and problem solving to teach and popularize mathematics (Benton, Hoyles, Kalas, & Noss, 2017;Calao Moreno-León, Correa, & Robles, 2015;Chiang & Qin, 2018;Dickson et al;Dohn, 2020;Israel & Lash, 2020;Rodríguez-Martínez et al, 2020).…”