Pretest and Posttest Data on Creativity Skills Development Using Plickers Cards Among Female Elementary School Learners

Creativity skills remain underdeveloped among female learners in Ghanaian primary schools, partly due to a reliance on traditional teaching methods. We examined whether gamification, implemented through Plickers cards in Creative Arts lessons, enhances creativity and academic performance relative to conventional approaches. Thirty female learners from Basic 4–6 participated in a one-group pretest–post-test design for 12 weeks of training. The quantitative results showed substantial improvements in both creativity and performance, with post-test scores increasing by 32% (t(29) = –9.35, p < .001). Regression analysis confirmed a positive relationship between creativity and academic outcomes (R² = 0.161, p = .028). Qualitative findings revealed that learners perceived gamification as motivating, engaging, and conducive to idea generation and problem-solving, although technical difficulties, unclear rules, and time constraints were reported as barriers to its use. We provide evidence that gamification fosters creativity while improving academic outcomes and demonstrate that overlooking implementation challenges risks limiting its effectiveness. Finally, we show that gamification can be a viable strategy for addressing gender gaps in creativity training by embedding interactive game-based elements into early childhood education.

加纳小学的女性学习者的创造力技能仍发展不足，其部分成因在于对传统教学方法的依赖。本研究探究了相较于传统教学方式，在创意艺术（Creative Arts）课堂中通过Plickers卡片（Plickers cards）实施的游戏化（gamification）是否能够提升学习者的创造力与学业表现。来自基础四年级至六年级的30名女性学习者参与了为期12周的单组前测-后测训练实验。定量研究结果显示，学习者的创造力与学业表现均得到显著提升，后测分数较前测提升了32%（t(29) = -9.35，p < 0.001）。回归分析证实，创造力与学业成果之间存在显著正相关关系（R²=0.161，p=0.028）。质性研究结果表明，尽管有学习者反馈技术故障、规则不明以及时间限制等使用障碍，但他们普遍认为游戏化具有激励性、参与性，且有助于创意生成与问题解决。本研究证实，游戏化既可培育创造力，又能改善学业表现；同时表明，忽视实施挑战会限制其应用效果。最后，本研究证明，通过在幼儿教育中融入交互式游戏化元素，游戏化可作为解决创造力培训中性别差距问题的可行策略。