The relationship between creativity and programming skills among lower secondary school students

Abstract

This study addresses the limited emphasis on creativity in lower secondary programming classrooms, where instruction often relies on imitation-based coding practices. To address this issue, the Synectics instructional model was applied to enhance students’ creativity and programming skills. A quasi-experimental design was conducted with 60 students divided into experimental and control groups. Data were collected using creativity and programming skill assessments and analyzed using independent samples t-test and Pearson correlation. The results showed that the experimental group achieved significantly higher scores in creativity (M=9.91, SD=0.95) and programming skills (M=34.67, SD=1.83) than the control group (p<0.001). A strong positive correlation was found between creativity and programming skills (r=0.710, p<0.001). These findings indicate that creativity is a key factor in programming performance and that the Synectics model is effective in enhancing both creative thinking and technical skills. The study provides practical implications for improving programming education in 21st-century classrooms.