Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis
Purpose: This study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent years, the debate among researchers has persisted regarding the impact of various educational technologies, includin...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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Emerald Publishing
2025
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119371/ |
| _version_ | 1848868327462535168 |
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| author | Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab Ahrari, Seyedali Abdullah, Haslinda Abdullah, Rusli Moosivand, Mahboobeh |
| author_facet | Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab Ahrari, Seyedali Abdullah, Haslinda Abdullah, Rusli Moosivand, Mahboobeh |
| author_sort | Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Purpose: This study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent years, the debate among researchers has persisted regarding the impact of various educational technologies, including interactive learning environments, digital instruction and platforms, and educational games and robotics, on students' creative thinking in diverse educational settings due to inconsistent findings. Design/methodology/approach: This study, conducting a meta-analysis by synthesizing 35 relevant empirical studies with 2,776 participants, aims to investigate the association between educational technology interventions and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and its subscales (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration). Findings: No evident publication bias was found. From a general perspective, the results demonstrate a moderate level of influence of educational technology on the overall TTCT scale, with high heterogeneity attributed to the adopted instruments, mixed methods and target outcomes. Additionally, the results indicate that only three of the TTCT subscales (fluency, flexibility and originality) are influenced by educational technologies. Among the interventions, interactive learning environments yielded medium to the largest mean effect size. Furthermore, moderator analyses suggest that the effects of interventions on two subscales of TTCT (flexibility and originality) are moderated by school types, research design and the duration of intervention. The conclusion drawn is that interventions promoting students' creative thinking in different educational settings are efficacious. Originality/value: Despite the low homogeneity of the results, which might have influenced the findings, the large fail-safe N suggests that these findings are robust. The study examined potential causes of heterogeneity and emphasized the importance of further research in this area. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:50:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-119371 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T14:50:38Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publisher | Emerald Publishing |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-1193712025-10-29T07:47:10Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119371/ Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab Ahrari, Seyedali Abdullah, Haslinda Abdullah, Rusli Moosivand, Mahboobeh Purpose: This study aims to meta-analytically investigate the impact of educational technology interventions on the development of creative thinking in educational settings. In recent years, the debate among researchers has persisted regarding the impact of various educational technologies, including interactive learning environments, digital instruction and platforms, and educational games and robotics, on students' creative thinking in diverse educational settings due to inconsistent findings. Design/methodology/approach: This study, conducting a meta-analysis by synthesizing 35 relevant empirical studies with 2,776 participants, aims to investigate the association between educational technology interventions and the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) and its subscales (fluency, flexibility, originality and elaboration). Findings: No evident publication bias was found. From a general perspective, the results demonstrate a moderate level of influence of educational technology on the overall TTCT scale, with high heterogeneity attributed to the adopted instruments, mixed methods and target outcomes. Additionally, the results indicate that only three of the TTCT subscales (fluency, flexibility and originality) are influenced by educational technologies. Among the interventions, interactive learning environments yielded medium to the largest mean effect size. Furthermore, moderator analyses suggest that the effects of interventions on two subscales of TTCT (flexibility and originality) are moderated by school types, research design and the duration of intervention. The conclusion drawn is that interventions promoting students' creative thinking in different educational settings are efficacious. Originality/value: Despite the low homogeneity of the results, which might have influenced the findings, the large fail-safe N suggests that these findings are robust. The study examined potential causes of heterogeneity and emphasized the importance of further research in this area. Emerald Publishing 2025 Article PeerReviewed Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab and Ahrari, Seyedali and Abdullah, Haslinda and Abdullah, Rusli and Moosivand, Mahboobeh (2025) Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 22 (2). art. no. undefined. pp. 235-265. ISSN 1741-5659; eISSN: 1758-8510 https://www.emerald.com/itse/article/22/2/235/1274788/Effects-of-educational-technology-intervention-on 10.1108/itse-11-2023-0224 |
| spellingShingle | Zaremohzzabieh, Zeinab Ahrari, Seyedali Abdullah, Haslinda Abdullah, Rusli Moosivand, Mahboobeh Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title | Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title_full | Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title_fullStr | Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title_short | Effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| title_sort | effects of educational technology intervention on creative thinking in educational settings: a meta-analysis |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119371/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119371/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/119371/ |