ORIGINAL RESEARCH

published: 05 January 2022

doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763948

Design My Music Instrument: A

Project-Based Science, Technology,
Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics
Program on The Development of
Creativity
Li Cheng 1,2, Meiling Wang 2, Yanru Chen 2, Weihua Niu 3*, Mengfei Hong 4 and Yuhong Zhu 5
1
Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 2 Developmental and Educational Research Center for
Children's Creativity, FE, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China, 3 Department of Psychology, Pace University, New York,
NY, United States, 4 Hangzhou Caihe No.2 Primary School Education Group, Zhejiang, China, 5 Department of Physics,
Hangzhou Normal University, Zhejiang, China

Creativity is an essential factor in ensuring the sustainable development of a society.

Improving students’ creativity has gained much attention in education, especially in
Edited by:
Min-Hsien Lee, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education. In a quasi-
National Taiwan Normal University, experimental design, this study examines the effectiveness of a project-based STEAM
Taiwan
program on the development of creativity in Chinese elementary school science education.
Reviewed by:
Hsu-Chan Kuo, We selected two fourth-graders classes. One received a project-based STEAM program
National Cheng Kung University, (the experimental group, n = 33), and the other received a conventional science teaching
Taiwan
(the control group, n = 33) over 6 weeks. Students’ creativity was assessed before and
Sílvio Manuel da Rocha Brito,
Instituto Politécnico de Tomar (IPT), after the intervention using a multi-method approach, including a test of divergent thinking,
Portugal a story completion through the Consensus Assessment Technique (CAT), a creative self-
*Correspondence: efficacy (CSE) measure, and a group-based creative project. Moreover, all students
Weihua Niu
wniu@pace.edu received a test of their science knowledge after the intervention. The results showed that
compared with the control group, the creativity of the experimental group students
Specialty section: improved significantly for 6 weeks at both individual and group level, even though their
This article was submitted to
Educational Psychology, knowledge in science were comparable. This result confirmed the effectiveness of a
a section of the journal project-based STEAM educational program improving elementary school students’
Frontiers in Psychology
creativity. Implications are discussed.
Received: 24 August 2021
Accepted: 27 October 2021 Keywords: STEAM curriculum, project-based learning, creativity, learning by doing, multi-method approach
Published: 05 January 2022

Citation:
Cheng L, Wang M, Chen Y, Niu W, INTRODUCTION
Hong M and Zhu Y (2022) Design My
Music Instrument: A Project-Based
Creativity has become an increasingly important factor in ensuring the sustainable development
Science, Technology, Engineering,
Arts, and Mathematics Program on
of a society and is one of the essential skills in the 21st century. The definition of creativity
The Development of Creativity. has been evolved. Guilford (1950) referred to creativity as one of many aspects of intelligence
Front. Psychol. 12:763948. and believed it included two thinking processes: divergent and convergent thinking. To Gilford,
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.763948 divergent thinking stimulates individuals to generate new ideas and make creative products

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

novel. In contrast, convergent thinking is conducive to the abilities. Among them, the approach of Science, Technology,
individual’s idea of adapting to the environment and increasing Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education provides
the applicability of new products. Later, Torrance (1963) proposed a comprehensive and practical method to develop creativity
creativity as creative problem-solving, and creative thinking and has gained worldwide popularity.
was viewed as a particular method or form to solve problems.
Toward the end of the 20th century, there is a consensus to
the definition of creativity among creativity researches that STEM and STEAM Education
creativity is a person’s ability to produce something that is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
deemed as novel and appropriate by experts of a field (Amabile, originated in the United States, emphasizing interdisciplinary
1996; Csikszentmihalyi, 1997; Lubart, 1999; Kaufman and integration of the above four disciplines to address real-life
Beghetto, 2009). problems or projects. With the rapid development of STEM
Many theories have been proposed to explore the nature education, the call for increasing humanities and art education
and contributing factors for creativity via different approaches, in society is getting stronger and stronger. In 2006, STEM
such as psychometric, cognitive, developmental, and social added art and formed STEAM education, which emphasized
approaches. Most scholars took the confluence approach in the cultivation of all-around development people with creativity
which creativity is viewed as an ability to be influenced by and innovation spirit for future inventors and creators (Connor
multi-factors. Besides examining different elements that et al., 2015). STEAM education emphasizes the essential role
contribute to the development of creativity, some scholars focus of individual students in learning to stimulate individual curiosity
on exploring creativity at different levels. Many scholars took and effectively promote students to go deep into scientific inquiry.
a dichotomies view and concentrate on examining creativity Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics
at either eminent level, such as studying creative genius and education takes the student as the center and cultivates students’
their work (e.g., Simonton, 1994), or ordinary level such as ability to solve problems and innovate. In the teaching process,
everyday creativity (e.g., Torrance, 1969). These studies typically teachers tell students how to do it and guide students to
referred to creativity as Big-C or little-C (Richards, 1990; experience the process of solving practical problems and improve
Kaufman and Beghetto, 2009). In advancing this approach, students’ creativity level in exploration (Zhao and Lu, 2016).
Kaufman and Beghetto (2009) proposed a new model, which There are four standard teaching methods in STEM or
they called the Four-C model of creativity. According to this STEAM education: problem-based learning, inquiry-based
model, creativity can be manifested in four different levels, learning, design-based learning, and project-based learning
namely, the Big-C, referring to the creative genius who brought (PBL). Among them, the role of PBL in STEM/STEAM education
a significant breakthrough in a field, the Pro-C, referring to has been widely concerned. PBL is an approach for students
the type of creativity that is important to an area but not at to construct knowledge through teamwork and problem-solving
the level of a substantial breakthrough. The third level of using various scientific methods (Krajcik et al., 1999). This
creativity is called little-c, also referred to as everyday creativity; approach pays special attention to students’ awareness of “learning
the type of creativity exhibited by ordinary people, yet the by doing.” Mustafa et al. (2016) made a meta-analysis of STEM
level of creativity is still needed to be recognized by experts in the first decade of the 21st century. They found that PBL
in a given field. Lastly, there is a type of creativity that is was the learning model with the most significant number of
only significant to individuals without fully been recognized integrated STEM curriculum. The meta-analysis results also
by others. Kaufman and Beghetto called it mini-c. revealed that an integrative approach could be expanded for
Some scholars have suggested using a multi-method approach students’ development in motivation, interest, achievement,
to capture creativity (Cropley, 2000). The multi-approach of performance, attitude, and perception if the integrated STEM
studying creativity at a multilevel indicates that no single is implemented at the school and higher education levels.
method can fully capture creativity. In other words, creativity
has to be measured via a multi-method approach. The most STEAM/STEM Education and Creativity
common measurements to creativity include divergent thinking, Many studies have examined the relationship between STEAM/
such as the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT), product- STEM education and creativity and found a positive association
orientated measure via consensus assessment technique (CAT), between the two using elementary school to college participants.
various self-report measurements on creative personality, Some studies focused on STEM-related learning in higher
activities, thinking styles, and creative self-efficacy (CSE), as education and examined how STEAM/STEM education influences
well as ratings from others, such as teachers, parents, experts, creativity in higher education. For example, Kuo et al. (2018)
and peers. These methods measure the level of little-c and mini-c. applied a STEM Interdisciplinary PBL approach to teaching
Another critical question in creativity is how to nurture 45 university students to develop a human-computer interaction
creativity. It is especially important in education (Scott et al., (HCI) system to solve real-world problems.
2004; Sannomiya and Yamaguchi, 2016). One approach to Several studies explored how STEM education could affect
fostering creativity is by promoting intrinsic motivation (Amabile, student creativity before college. For example, using a single
1988, 1996). Another approach is through innovative teaching group pre-and post-test design, Lou et al. (2017) examined
(Baer, 1996). Many studies have been conducted to actively how a STEM-PBL teaching program affects creativity among
explore effective educational models to improve students’ creative ninth graders. Their results supported the program’s effectiveness

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

in promoting students’ creative personalities, such as method. They found that Scratch-based STEAM education had
adventurousness, curiosity, imagination, and accepting challenges. a positive effect on the improvement of creativity.
Similarly, Ozkan and Topsakal (2021) conducted a quasi- Siew and Ambo (2018) had two classes of fifth-grade students,
experiment to compare two different teaching approaches on one received PBL-STEM learning, and the other received a
students’ learning outcomes. In one session, two seventh-grade conventional teaching format. The only difference between the
classes learned about the concept of “power” in physics. The two classes is that the experimental class encouraged students
instructor did not directly teach the idea in the experimental to self-explore but used a more traditional approach. They
class and asked the students to brainstorm possible solutions. used the Scientific Creativity Test (SCT) to assess scientific
The role the teacher played in the experimental class was creativity. The results show that the students’ creativity in the
scaffolding and facilitator. Students were encouraged to study experimental group has been improved more than those from
the phenomenon and came up with their answers. The results the control group.
demonstrated compared to the control class, students from To sum up, cumulative evidence has demonstrated a positive
the STEAM class showed a significant improvement in their influence of STEAM/STEM education on creativity. We want
creative thinking, measured via both verbal and nonverbal to highlight three essential elements in these educational
forms of the TTCT. In comparison, the teacher in the control programs: cooperative learning among students, teacher guidance
class taught the concept directly following the traditional model. and support, and PBL. We also observed some limitations of
Students from the control class were recipients of knowledge these studies. First, the measurement for creativity was primarily
rather than explorers of problems. based on a narrow definition of divergent thinking, and as a
Some studies conducted direct observation and interviews result, scores on TTCT were the only indicator for creativity.
with students and teachers to examine the benefit of STAEM As discussed earlier, creativity is a multilevel and multi-facet
education on creativity. For example, He et al. (2019) studied concept, one measurement cannot fully capture the essence
how a STAEM teaching model positively influenced middle of creativity. Second, although STEAM/STEM education adopted
school students’ creativity. Unlike previous studies, students in an integrated approach across different subject areas, most
this study were asked to make an art project, pottery, through studies focused on just one or two subject areas, such as
self-exploration and teacher’s scaffolding. In addition, to have technology or science. Third, many studies adopted a single-
experts evaluate students’ creative products, teachers were also group pre/post experimental design and did not have a control
interviewed and asked to assess students’ creations in originality group, which cannot rule out the influence of many confounding
and appropriateness. variables. Lastly, we noticed that some studies have adopted
Case studies provide more in-depth information about how the PBL approach and have students completed a final project
and why STEAM education is beneficial to students’ creativity. as part of the learning curriculum. Unfortunately, the final
In a quasi-experiment, Hathcock et al. (2015) randomly assigned product was rarely used as an indicator of creativity. We believe
eight ninth-graders into two groups: the treatment and control the final projects often involved creative thinking and should
groups. They asked them to design a buoy that could hold be assessed to examine creativity.
as many golf balls as possible using any materials provided.
The teacher adopted an inquiry-based approach in the treatment
group, asking questions about their buoys to encourage students Current Investigation
to think and discuss more ideas with their partners and peers. Based on the results of previous studies, we propose a new
In the control group, students were given strategies to solve PBL study, in which we integrated five subject areas of STEAM
the program. The study found that students from the experimental via a fourth-grade science class. The five subject areas include
group outperformed on measures of creativity than those from science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.
the control group. They also interviewed their teachers and The purpose of this study is to compare a new PBL
concluded that teachers’ guidance and encouragement play a STEAM educational program to a conventional science
vital role. Teachers’ guidance and support can effectively facilitate educational program to see the effectiveness of their learning
students’ creativity than simply asking students to self-explore outcome. We also compared their creativity at both individual
ways to form innovative products. Moreover, a cooperative and team levels. We took a multi-method approach to assess
learning model also promotes communication among students, students’ creativity, including an assessment of divergent
thus promoting the solution of problems. Both teachers’ support thinking, a project-orientated measure via the CAT, and a
and students’ cooperation are essential elements of STEAM measurement of CSE. Additionally, we assess students’ creativity
and STEM education. at the group level by having experts evaluate the final
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics group product.
education at the elementary school level also effectively promotes We chose two classes and randomly selected one as the
students’ learning outcomes, including creativity. For example, experimental group and the other as the control group. The
Oh et al. (2013) developed a STEAM Education Program in two classes are comparable in their academic preparation.
a sixth grades science class and tested its influence on students’ We started the study at the beginning of a fall semester, which
creativity. This study adopted a Scratch-based STEAM education they began a new unit in a science class. The same instructor
program for an experimental class of Korean students, whereas taught the two groups at the same time, with the same objective.
students from the control class adopted the traditional learning Additionally, we gave the two groups the same creativity

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

measures before and after the intervention. The only difference Story Completion
between the two groups is the teaching approach, detailed in We gave students a word prompt and asked students to
the Materials and Methods section. complete a story based on a prompt word, which was “keyhole”
There are two major hypotheses. First, we hypothesize (in the pre-test) or “robot” (in the post-test). Using postgraduate
a multi-approach measurement of creativity can effectively students to serve as expert judges for creativity has been
capture creativity; therefore, there is a consistency among used extensively in creativity literature (Kaufman et al., 2008).
all measurements of creativity. The scores on these Using the CAT (Amabile, 1982), three graduate students with
measurements positively correlated to each other. Second, at least 1 year of experience studying creativity served as
we hypothesize that students from the experimental group expert judges. They each independently rated all stories based
improve more than those from the control group on creativity on their subjective criteria, providing a rating on originality,
after the intervention. using a seven-point scale, with a “1” representing least original
and “7” representing most original. The inter-rater reliability
of the experts was above 0.85. We calculated the average
MATERIALS AND METHODS scores of the three experts’ ratings to represent a student’s
originality on this task.
Participants
Participants were 68 fourth graders (40 male, 28 female) from The Idea Evaluation Self-Efficacy Measure
two natural classes in a southern city, China. The two classes It was developed by Steele et al. (2018) to measure CSE by
were comparable in terms of student academic preparation having participants rate the level of confidence toward their
and students’ performance in science education. Among the abilities to evaluate new ideas using a five-point Likert scale.
68 participants, two students did not complete the measurement A sample item is, “When evaluating new ideas, I can quickly
of creativity and were excluded from the sample. For 6 weeks, and accurately determine if it will be successful.” The survey
one of the two classes was randomly selected as the experimental has established an acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.76).
group (n = 33, 12 female) to receive a PBL STEAM program.
In contrast, the other class was selected as the control group Creative Products
(n = 33, 14 female), in which students received a traditional Throughout the 6-week intervention, students worked in groups
science class at the same time. A female science teacher served of four members and were asked to create a blueprint for a
as the instructor for both classes. musical instrument, construct the instrument, and then perform
a piece of music using the instrument. Two specific creative
Measurements products were evaluated: the blueprint and the performance
All students received creativity measurements before and of the musical instrument (a video clip). Similar to the procedure
after the 6-week classes. During the intervention, students for assessing the story completion tasks, we invited three
worked in groups of four members to produce a musical graduate students to independently rate the products on
instrument, which was rated twice by experts for creativity, originality and appropriateness. They were asked to use a
one at an earlier design and the other when the product is seven-point scale, with a “1” representing least original (or
completed In addition, they also completed a test on scientific appropriate) and “7” representing most original (or appropriate).
achievement after the intervention. The measurements include Each group of participants obtained two originality and two
the following. appropriateness scores, one for the blueprint, and the other
for the final product. The inter-rater reliability of the three
Creativity Measurements experts was above 0.80. We calculated the average scores of
We used a multi-method approach to examine student creativity the three judges to represent originality and appropriateness
dynamically at both individual and team levels. It includes a scores at the team level.
test of divergent thinking, a story completion using the consensus
assessment technology, and a self-report on self-efficacy. In Scientific Achievement Test
addition, we asked the students from the two classes to complete Under the current educational environment in China, many
a creative product in teams. Details for each assessment are teachers are hesitant to carry out STEAM education because
introduced as the following: they are worried that STEAM education will negatively affect
students’ learning and academic achievements. To investigate
Test of Divergent Thinking whether STEAM education will affect students’ academic
Based on Guilford’s divergent thinking theory, the test asked achievements, we also require all students to complete the
participants to generate as many unusual uses for an ordinary scientific achievement test in the school district.
object as possible such as “paperclip” (in pre-test) and “match”
(in post-test) as contents of tests. We only calculate the fluency Experimental Design, Curriculum, and
score on this task, the number of different ideas a person Teaching Approach
generated in a specific time. Two graduate students counted The study adopted a quasi-experiment with a pre-test/post-test.
independently, and their agreement was above 0.90. There were two groups, the experimental group, and the control

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

group. The same teacher taught the two groups based on the are calculating the project cost and measuring the length of
same science curriculum in Zhejiang Province. Students from the string accurately. Each subject has specific objectives for
the two groups had the same learning objective: understanding students, while all program sessions focus on reaching the
the sciences of music and sound. In 6 weeks, students learned final goal: to make ukuleles as groups and play them. The
about different subject areas relating to music and sound. These program includes six sessions, which are described below.
areas are (1) physics, learning about the mechanism of vibration Session 1 involved an introduction of the Ukulele, knowing
and sound waves; (2) engineering, understanding how to the history, structure of the Ukulele, and learning about the
construct objects with different pitches of sound; (3) mathematics, vocal principle of the Ukulele. Moreover, the students were
measuring in pitch, volume, tempo, and rhythm; (4) music, asked to disassemble the Ukulele to understand the system
appreciating tunes, pitches, tempo, and rhythm; and (5) art, and principles of the Ukulele and comparing different materials
drawing a design for an instrument. As a part of the class to choose the most suitable one as the strings. And create a
evaluation, students worked in groups to design and construct real scene for them, telling them that they need to design
a musical instrument, which they would play at the end of and make Ukulele for the factory.
the study unit. In Session 2, students were to design a ukulele and draw
The two groups differed in teaching approaches. In the the blueprint through group cooperation. Session 3 allowed
experimental group, the teacher adopted a PBL based STEAM students to have opportunities to make the Ukulele according
program. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the teacher taught to the schematic diagram. Through discussion, the teacher
the knowledge of the five subjective areas in an integrated leads students to think about the possible problems through
fashion, assisting students to complete a music instrument. the making process.
Therefore, the course was project-based and student-orientated. In Session 4, students were to decorate the Ukulele. The
Students were asked to work in groups to engage in hands-on teacher and members of the groups can evaluate the quality
learning from the beginning to design and construct a musical of the products and team cooperation through the program.
instrument. They were encouraged to self-explore and problems- In Session 5, students made a four-string ukulele in groups
solve using various knowledge (i.e., science, technology, and marked the syllables. After that, they were asked to play
engineering, arts, and mathematics). the Ukulele they made and discuss the advantages and
On the contrary, the teacher used a conventional teaching disadvantages of the products and make progress in them.
approach to teach the same content in the control group. Students’ products, including blueprints and performance
Different from the experimental class, the teacher adopted the of musical instruments, were collected to evaluate students’
traditional science teaching approach when delivering the same creativity during the STEAM program. In Session 6, students
content across five different subject areas to the control class. indicate the price of the product and explain the product.
The primary teaching mode was lecturing, and only toward After that, both the teacher and students evaluate the creative
the end did the teacher ask students working in groups to product and assess the participating situation throughout the
incorporate the knowledge learned in previous lectures to make whole project. Teachers also presented a review of all lessons
a musical instrument. and asked students to make improvements to their Ukulele.

The Curriculum of Experimental Group The Curriculum of Control Group

In the experimental group, students received a project-based In the control group, students received regular science classes
STEAM program to create a ukulele. Students were asked to with objectives on mastering sound and core concepts and
integrate knowledge from different subject areas in STEAM were evaluated by homework, class performance, and tests.
and work to produce their creative products. The teacher used a standardized textbook as the primary
The program included six different sessions based on the resource for the science class. The class also includes six sessions.
principle contents of the Chinese national standard of science In Session 1, students were asked to describe the sound
education. The teaching objective was to make a ukulele and around them and introduce the principle of making sounds.
to play a piece of music. There are five objectives in learning In Session 2, the teacher using different materials to help
about science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. students understand how the sound travels. Session 3 allowed
The scientific aim is to have students understand the sound students to know about the auditory sense through models.
principle, recognize a ukulele’s vocal principle, and observe, In Sessions 4 and 5, students learned about the relationship
compare, and analyze the ukuleles made of different materials. between amplitude and loudness, the vibration frequency, and
The technical goals are using networks to collect useful sound level separately. In Session 6, students were asked to
information, using various tools to make the Ukulele, designing make instruments in groups.
the Ukulele according to requirements, and drawing a diagram
to make it visible and operable. The engineered objectives are Intervention Process
selecting appropriate materials to make a ukulele, producing Before conducting the study, we obtained approval from an
a ukulele according to blueprint, testing, and adjusting during ethical review committee at the host university in Beijing and
and after the production process, and evaluating others’ designed a letter from the collaborative school (a public school in
products, and making suggestions. The art objectives are to southern China) to meet the ethnic standard. The school has
design and decorate the Ukulele. The mathematical objectives allowed the intervention program to integrate into the existing

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

academic curricula as a part of their educational reform in measurements for individual creativity: the divergent thinking
science education. Both students and their parents received a task, the story completion task, and the CSE measurement.
welcome letter explaining the purpose and procedure of the The results showed that all three individual creativity scores
study. Parents’ consent and student assent were obtained. (fluency, originality, and CSE) are moderately correlated (rs
The study took place in 8 weeks in the fall semester of 2020. are 0.47, 0.22, and 0.13, respectively). Principle Analysis supported
The first and the last week were to assess students’ outcomes. a one-factor model, explaining 52.65% of the total variance.
The 6 weeks in the middle were used for intervention, in which All three variables loaded on the factor at above 0.5, suggesting
students received a 45-min class each week. A female teacher although the three measurements may capture different aspects
with a bachelor’s degree in science education and 2 years of of creativity, they are also consistent in capturing one
science teaching experience taught both groups. Details of the principal component.
program and different teaching approaches are listed in Table 1.
Compared with the control group, the experimental group The Impact of Teaching Methods on
has the following characteristics: Firstly, emphasis on Creativity
multidisciplinary integration, requiring students to apply
Domain-Specific Knowledge Through Test of
knowledge to solve problems interdisciplinary; Secondly, teachers
Academic Achievement
have adopted the PBL teaching method, highlighting the concept
The school district provides academic tests for all students
of “learning by doing” in the teaching process, guiding students
who participate in new knowledge about “sound” 6 weeks. An
to explore with the goal of product production, and giving
independent-sample t-test was applied to examine the difference
appropriate support to students when exploring; Thirdly, students
between the two groups on their academic achievement. The
solve problems through group cooperation in each lesson.
results showed no difference between the two groups (t = −1.16,
However, the control group did not emphasize subject integration;
p > 0.05).
teachers did not adopt the PBL teaching method; students
These results reflect the fact that students from both groups
learn scientific knowledge in the first five sessions and were
have accomplished the unit objective in the fourth-grade science
asked to work together to produce a product in the last session.
education, which is to understand the science of music and sound.

RESULTS Impact of STEAM Education on Individual

Creativity
Creativity Across Different Measurements Figure 1 showed that after a 6-week intervention, students
We adopted a Pearson correlation analysis to examine the first from the experimental group improved significantly on overall
hypothesis regarding the consistency across all three ratings of creativity across different tasks (fluency score on

TABLE 1 | Main contents of sessions in the experimental group and the control group.

Sessions Contents Subjects

Experimental Control Experimental Control

Pre-test Divergent thinking, story completion, and self-efficacy

Session1 Sound creation, Sound perception, and Sound creation and Sound perception, Sciences Sciences
Instruments Art
Session2 Instrument design Transmission of sound Sciences, Sciences
Technology Engineering
Art
Session3 Material selection, Instrument creation know about the auditory sense through Sciences, Technology Engineering Sciences
models Art
Mathematics
Session4 Sound volume, Sound pitch, and instrument- relationship between amplitude and Sciences, Technology Engineering Sciences
music modification loudness, the vibration frequency, and
Session5 Instrument and Sound sound level separately Sciences and Engineering
instrument play
Session6 Instrument appearance, Instrument price, and Instrument’s creation Sciences, Sciences
Instrument’s instruction Technology Engineering Art Technology
Mathematics Engineering
Art
Mathematics
Post-test Divergent thinking, story completion, and self-efficacy

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

FIGURE 1 | The improvement of individual creativity in the experimental group and the control group.

divergent thinking test, originality score on story completion, TABLE 2 | The statistical results of ANCOVA.
and CSE). In contrast, the control group showed no improvement.
To examine the effectiveness of the STEAM program in Variables df MSE F p ηp2
the improvement of students’ creativity, a 2 (Group: Experimental
Group 1 0.093 0.015 0.902 0.000
vs. Control) × 3 (creativity: fluency, originality, and CSE) × 2 Time 1 0.842 0.277 0.601 0.004
(time: before vs. after) mixed design ANCOVA was conducted Time × Group 1 10.009 3.286+ 0.075 0.050
with “group” as a between-subject variable, and “creativity” Academic 1 15.385 15.385 0.119 0.038
and “time” as within-subject variables, and the academic Achievement

achievement as covariate variable. p < 0.1.

+

The results showed a marginally significant interaction between

time and group [F(1,64) = 3.286, p = 0.075, ηp2 = 0.050]; this result
supported the second hypothesis that students from the more than those from the control group on creativity after
experimental group improved more on creativity than those the intervention.
from the control group (Table 2). Figures 2, 3 further illustrate the difference between the
two groups in terms of blueprint and final product (the
Impact of STEAM Education on Creative Projects performance of the musical instrument).
(Team-Level) From the above figures, the differences in blueprints between
To examine the effects of the intervention on team-level creativity the two groups may not be noticeable in terms of originality
over intervention, we conducted two multilevel nested model (see Figures 3A,B). However, the final products from the
analyses, one for each of the two difference scores, namely, experimental group showed more novelty in both material selection
the difference between blueprints and final products on team and production delivery (Figure 3C) than those from the control
originality and team appropriateness. For each analysis, two group (Figure 3D). We should also mention that we recorded
independent variables were selected, which were (1) changes students’ performance and found that the quality of the sound
in individual originality (i.e., differences in expert ratings on generated by the instruments from the experiment group closely
story completion between pre-and post-test) and (2) group resembled the actual instrument than those from the control group.
(i.e., experimental vs. control). The results showed a significant Two primary reasons might be attributable to the overall
main effect for the group on team originality (t = 3.573, p < 0.05), advanced performance on creativity from the experimental
which indicated that the experimental group improved (mean group than the control group. First, when teaching the
difference = 0.99) more than the control group (mean experimental group, the teacher consciously applied an
difference = −1.29). Moreover, we also found a significant main interdisciplinary approach and encouraged students to use
effect for time (t = −2.306, p < 0.05). The changes of individual the approach to solve problems. This approach allowed
originality from time 1 (mean = 3.04, SD = 0.89) to time 2 students to think holistically and engaged in more divergent
(mean = 3.75, SD = 1.25) from the experiment group had a thinking. In contrast, when teaching in the control group,
significant impact on team originality; however, no such effect the teacher primarily adopted a dedicative approach to
was found in the control group. delivering basic knowledge of the science of music and
The results support our second major hypothesis, which sound. As a result, she provided students with less opportunity
states that students from the experimental group improved to self-explore.

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

FIGURE 2 | The improvement of team-level creativity in the experimental group and the control group.

Second, by using the PBL approach, students from the measurement to creativity can effectively capture creativity;
experimental group were involved in more hands-on activities therefore, there is a consistency among all measurements of
than the control group. The learning objective of creating a creativity. The scores on these measurements positively correlated
musical instrument was made clear from the very beginning. to each other). In addition, we also test whether there is
In contrast, students from the control group spent a significant consistency among the various introductions of creativity. Our
amount of time learning knowledge in different disciplines research measures and analyzes creativity from different angles
related to the production of the instrument. Yet, they only and levels, avoiding the one-sidedness of a one-dimensional
engaged in a hands-on learning experience toward the end of test and making our results more convincing.
the unit study. As a result, students from the experimental Our results showed no difference between the two groups
group seemed to have a higher level of intrinsic motivation, in tests of science achievement. Such a result reflects that
which might lead to more original products than the students from both groups have the same level of mastery in
control group. understanding the science of music and sound. It is important
to note that although students from the experimental group
spent less time learning specific topics in science education
DISCUSSION than the control group, they gained more time on hands-on
experience, which may help them gain a deeper understanding
In this study, we used a quasi-experimental pre-test/post-test of the concept. More importantly, through PBL, students from
design to explore the effectiveness of a project-based STEAM the experimental group may have a higher level of intrinsic
program in improving student creativity. After a 6-week motivation toward the science, and as a consequence, enhance
intervention, we measured the creativity level of the two groups their STEAM-related creativity. These results demonstrate the
of students by various methods to compare the effects of two primary benefit of STEAM education on student learning
different teaching methods. We found that diversified creativity outcomes may not depend on their academic achievement
measurement methods measure students’ creativity effectively. but creativity.
Students in the experimental group who received the PBL The fact that the creativity level of the experimental group
STEAM program improved creativity at both individual and is higher than that of the control group at both the individual
team levels. level and the group level verifies our second hypothesis, which
One significant feature of this study is to use a multi- states that students from the experimental group improved
method to measure students’ creativity. Compared with previous more than those from the control group creativity after the
studies, we measure students’ creativity at the individual level intervention. Our results are consistent with the research results
and reflect students’ creativity at two levels: the little-c and of Oh et al. (2013); Siew and Ambo (2018); and He et al. (2019).
the mini-c. At the same time, Pearson correlation results show One unique feature of this study is to measure team
that all the scores for measuring individual creativity are creativity in addition to individual creativity. Our results
positively correlated. And they can be loaded in one factor. regarding the significant improvement in team creativity from
That is to say, all the measures of creativity used in this study the experimental group provided additional evidence to the
are consistent. This verifies our first hypothesis (A multi-approach benefit of PBL based STEAM education in improving both

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

students from the experimental group were asked to work

A B
designing a ukulele and drawing a blueprint that later is
completed. The creation process of a ukulele involves the
knowledge of science, technology, engineering, and arts. With
direct guidance from the teacher, students were reinforced with
the concept of integration of various disciplines.
The second reason to explain why having the 6-week
intervention can be effective, using the PBL teaching method;
students were clear what the end product would be. Students
were consistently reinforced to use multidisciplinary knowledge
to solve the problems, with a great emphasis on “learning by
doing.” This feature allowed students to have more chances to
take self-explored learning. This stimulated students’ interest
and promoted their intrinsic motivation, subsequently
encouraging students’ creativity (Kuo et al., 2018). For example,
C D
students in the experimental group were more eager to express
their ideas and raised their hands to answer the questions
more often. And in the process of inquiry, students have been
given more specific guidance from the instructor. For example,
in making a Ukulele, if students encounter difficulties and
cannot make musical instruments sound, teachers will lead
and encourage students to find out the problems and provide
some ideas to solve them. Therefore, with teachers’ help and
encouragement, students were able to work more effectively
and creatively in creating the music instrument throughout
the invention process. This result supports a claim that explicit
motivation can also facilitate Chinese students’ creativity
(Kaufman and Niu, 2012). It is also consistent with findings
from a previous study in which Chinese students produce
more creative products under a more elaborated instruction
on how to be creative than a mere encouragement of creative
expression and a control condition without mentioning creativity
(Niu and Liu, 2009).
FIGURE 3 | Creative products (blueprint and the pictures of final products) Lastly, students in the experimental condition also began
from the experimental group and the control group. working in groups of four from the first week of intervention
to brainstorm ideas and collaborate in learning, which allowed
more collaboration among the team members. In contrast,
individual and team creativity while ensuring the quality of students in the control condition learned various contents by
knowledge learning. We suspected that the improvement of listening to teachers’ lectures and demonstrations. Although
the creativity level of the experimental group might be due students from the control group also had an opportunity to
to the following reasons. form a group and complete the same assignment as their
First, the teacher in the experimental condition adopted a counterparts in the experimental group, the group formation
multi-discipline and integrated approach to teaching science. took place in Session 6 of the intervention in the control
In the teaching process, the teacher encouraged students to condition, rather than in all sessions in the experimental
integrate knowledge across different disciplines to solve practical condition. Through the interaction among group members,
problems. Interdisciplinary or interdisciplinary knowledge can students in the experimental group were allowed to exchange
often provide learners with a variety of problem-solving methods, their ideas and communicate to gain deeper learning, which
broaden their thinking, and enable individuals to break through positively impacted their creativity. The previous research also
the stereotype caused by specific domain knowledge and solve showed that through the cooperation of different subjects,
problems creatively. This transcendence reflects the originality, students’ creativity could be improved after the STEAM program
fluency, and flexibility of thinking (Zhang and Gu, 2004). (Siew and Ambo, 2018), which is consistent with our study.
However, in the control condition, the teacher used a more
conventional approach, in which students learn different units
of science sequentially. For example, unlike teaching in the LIMITATION AND FUTURE RESEARCH
control condition, the teacher integrated different subjective
goals in the experimental condition, that every session included The study has some limitations. The first one is the task itself.
different goals from STEAM subjects. For example, in Session 2, Students only engage in one project during the intervention

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Cheng et al. Design my Music Instrument

period: the design and creation of a musical instrument. Future DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
studies should design STEAM programs that allowed students
to create different instruments and implement them to examine The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will
the effect. The second limitation is the presence of the be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
experimenter effect. We invited one teacher to teach both
experimental and control groups. Although the instructor
realized a comparison between the two groups, the instructor ETHICS STATEMENT
tried to exhibit the same level of enthusiasm. She may
unconsciously bring her own bias into the study. Because of The studies involving human participants were reviewed and
the easy implementation, the teacher used Ukulele as an example. approved by The Research Ethics Review Board at Beijing Normal
Future research should recruit two teachers with comparable University (ethical review number BNU202106100010). Written
teaching experience and styles to implement STEAM programs informed consent to participate in this study was provided by
and groups. the participants’ legal guardian/next of kin.
This study offers two important implications. First, our study
demonstrates that using a multi-method approach to measuring
creativity is a better way to capture student creativity in a AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
broad sense. This can also help educators see the level of
changes in creativity throughout the intervention to be more All authors contributed to the study. LC and WN:
aware of creativity as an essential learning outcome. Second, conceptualization, design, and methodology. LC, WN, MH,
an important observation from this study is that a PBL based and YZ: formal analysis and experimental operation. MW and
education not only can have a direct benefit to students, but YC: writing – original draft preparation. LC and WN: writing
it may also have a direct impact on teachers. Educators are – review and editing. LC: funding acquisition. LC and YZ:
more willing to encourage students to think divergently and resources. LC and WN: supervision. All authors contributed
express themselves more, positively influencing student creativity. to the article and approved the submitted version.
Previous studies have shown that creativity is not a trait that
educators are particularly interested in promoting (Zhang, 2009).
We believe the STEAM program like the one described in FUNDING
this study will long-term impact students’ learning outcomes,
especially promoting their creativity. This work was supported by the International Joint Research
Project of the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University
(ICER201904).
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, this study contributes to creative research by ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
using a multi-method approach to measure creativity. It also
demonstrates that a PBL and an integrative, multidisciplinary The authors specially thank Xiaoyu Chen and Qiushuang Gao,
approach in science education can improve students’ creativity, undergraduate students in Beijing Normal University, for rating
which provides practical insights in promoting creativity in the score of story completion and creative products, and thank
education in general. Mei Zheng for her assistance in data analysis.

He, L., Li, K., Zheng, Y., Li, H., Yan, C., Han, Y., et al. (2019). Research on
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