Making it Matters: Makerspaces’ Impact on Creativity in an Elementary School Media Center

This mixed-methods action research study investigated the impact of makerspaces on student creativity. Seventy fifth-grade students were exposed to makerspaces for 12 weeks. Quantitative data were collected using two assessment instruments. Prior to the experience, the students were given a preassessment of their creative potential using the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). After 12 weeks, students were given a postassessment using a different form. A paired sample t test was used to analyze the pre and posttest results. In addition, teachers were asked to evaluate student creativity by completing the creativity portion of the Scales for Rating the Behavior Characteristics of Superior Students (SRBCSS). Qualitative data were collected from an open-ended questionnaire completed by the teachers. The questionnaire was used to determine the teacher perceptions of student experiences with makerspaces related to creativity. The results of the pre- and post-TTCT were analyzed. The t test showed a significant gain in the mean score for the target group with the exclusion of one outlier score. The results of the Pearson’s R analysis compared student TTCT posttests with teacher rankings of individual students on the SRBCSS. The analysis showed a positive correlation. An open-ended questionnaire was completed by the teachers and coded for themes. The data were coded using Tesch’s Eight Steps for coding information. The coding resulted in three themes related to creativity in makerspaces: communication, engagement, and motivation. The data allowed the researcher to determine if makerspaces in an elementary school media center had a positive influence on student creative growth