The stimulating effects of science fiction books and films on the product-design creativity of middle school students

For this study, we compared the stimulating effects of science fiction books and films on the design creativity of eighth grade middle school students. Four classes totaling 137 students participated in the study. We compared the design creativity of 2 learning groups: one group read science fiction books, whereas the other watched science fiction films. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design, using a creativity assessment packet as a pretest and a product-design creativity scale as a posttest. An analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) showed that (1) the effective use of science fiction films stimulated students' design creativity more than did science fiction reading; (2) planning suitable activities based on students' visual cognitive styles was effective in improving students' design creativity; and (3) because of differences in cognitive style, not all students could apply their ideas when solving problems. Therefore, teachers needed to offer guidance and help students during hands-on learning activities.