Linking Making and Creating: The Role of Emotional and Cognitive Engagement in Maker Education

Abstract

Learning through making enhances the learning experience and effectively develops learners’ creativity. In this regard, maker education has been extensively incorporated into school education as a vital learning environment. However, less is known about how making advances students’ creativity in maker education. Therefore, this study aimed to explore relationships among making, tinkering, and creating. A total of 372 middle school students enrolled in maker courses through the 2021–2022 school year were surveyed. They completed a questionnaire concerning learning engagement, individual creativity, collective creativity, and learning motivation. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypotheses proposed in this study. The results revealed significant relationships among learning engagement, individual creativity, and collective creativity. Specifically, behavioral engagement positively predicted emotional and cognitive engagement. Moreover, both emotional and cognitive engagement positively related to collective creativity, while only the effect of cognitive engagement on individual creativity was observed. The direct effects of behavioral engagement on individual and collective creativity were not significant. Furthermore, emotional and cognitive engagement mediated the association between behavioral engagement and collective creativity, while only cognitive engagement played a mediating role between behavioral engagement and individual creativity. In addition, the moderating analysis showed that learning motivation moderated the association between behavioral engagement and emotional engagement in school-maker education. Some implications for integrating maker education into school education and cultivating students’ creativity were discussed.