Master
OA Policy
English

Does digital fabrication foster students’ creativity? A systematic literature review

Master program titleMaster of Science in Learning and Teaching Technologies (MALTT)
Defense date2023
Abstract

This research addresses the impact of digital fabrication on creativity in educational settings. A renewed attention to integrating creativity into educational programs has surfaced in the last two decades and creativity is nowadays considered one of the most important skills of the 21st century. Scholars have yet to agree on a single definition of creativity. However, many acknowledge that it can be taught, learned and fostered. Literature has shown that environments that support students’ creativity are those where learning activities involve the making of artefacts. Although digital fabrication in education has become very popular in recent years, little is known about its effects on students’ creativity. This systematic literature review synthesised empirical research on digital fabrication as a means to foster creativity in educational settings. A survey of published research in the last 10 years identified 15 empirical studies that met the inclusion criteria. The corpus was analysed with the goal of investigating whether digital fabrication fosters students’ creativity and in which contexts the interventions were performed. The findings reveal that most of the research has been quantitative and conducted in the Engineering domain, prominently on STEAM or STEM education. Creative process, person, and product have been the primary focus of research and none of the studies focused on the influence of the environment on students’ creativity. Researchers have addressed creativity mainly through the prism of three definitions: as implying novelty and usefulness of the outcome, as a form of divergent thinking, or as a form of problem-solving. Digital fabrication has helped stimulate one or more creativity characteristics related to these definitions. The most significant results were the stimulation of participants’ originality, their willingness to explore, and the opportunity they were given to generate ideas, experiment, and create. None of the studies, however, thoroughly investigated how digital fabrication and makerspaces activities had contributed to this result.

Citation (ISO format)
MARRAFFINO, Rosaria. Does digital fabrication foster students’ creativity? A systematic literature review. Master, 2023.
Main files (1)
Master thesis
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
  • PID : unige:169273
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Technical informations

Creation04/05/2023 18:50:08
First validation01/06/2023 14:17:20
Update time01/06/2023 14:17:20
Status update01/06/2023 14:17:20
Last indexation01/11/2024 06:14:28
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