The Effects of STEAM-Based Learning Package for Enhancing the Historical Creative Thinking Ability of Chinese’ s Undergraduate Students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/rc-sdj.2025.11Keywords:
STEAM education, historical creative thinking, learning package, Chinese martial arts, undergraduate studentsAbstract
Background: Chinese martial arts (Guoshu), a vital aspect of China’s cultural heritage, faces declining interest among students due to traditional, teacher-centered instruction that limits creativity, motivation, and practical engagement. To address this issue, the present study aimed to develop a STEAM-based learning package that fosters student-centered, interdisciplinary learning experiences, integrates historical perspectives, and enhances creative thinking ability among Chinese undergraduate students in meaningful and sustainable ways.
Methods: Thirty-year martial arts students from Chengdu Sports University were recruited into the experiment using a single-group pretest-posttest design. The simple random sampling involved drawing 30 names from the experimental group. The research instruments included the learning package developed based on NASA's engineering design process. The historical creativity quality and ability assessment form was constructed as a pre- and post-scoring format was evaluated. The tools were assessed by two specialists in curriculum and instruction, one in educational measurement and evaluation, one in sports education, and one in Chinese martial arts history. The research and measurement were evaluated using comprehensive assessment criteria for fluency, flexibility, originality, and refinement. The data were analyzed using means, standard deviations, and paired t-tests.
Results: Expert evaluation confirmed the package's high quality (mean score=4.78/5.00). After implementation, students’ scores in all four dimensions—fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration—significantly improved (p<0.05). Post-test scores exceeded the 70% benchmark across all learning packages, indicating strong instructional effectiveness.
Conclusions: The STEAM-based learning package effectively enhanced students’ historical creative thinking ability, supporting the shift from passive, teacher-centered approaches to active, student-driven learning. The findings advocate for broader integration of STEAM principles in humanities education to promote interdisciplinary engagement, creativity, and historical understanding.
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