On the role of creativity in the application-oriented university students’ engagement and success

Abstract

In today's education, student success still is one of the central objectives pursued by different higher education institutions, including the Application-oriented colleges or universities. Reports show that these schools make a great contribution to social and economic development and they are influenced by the forces driving change in the various sectors, including education, industries, and society. Literature shows that engagement has an essential role for students' achievement. Indeed, there is a consensus that student engagement is one of the key contributors to reinforcing learning and retention. To learners enrolled in these universities, creativity is of paramount importance, as well. More specifically, given that students are seen as the main contributors to societal development, universities have been seeking to foster creativity among individuals by establishing creativity-nurturing programs. As creativity is significant in education these days, the present study attempts to consider the conception of creativity and its role in how it can assist in cultivating student engagement and success in Application-oriented Colleges. Accordingly, some educational implications are offered for educators, learners, and syllabus designers.

1. Introduction

Application-oriented education, or vocational education, as being called, has been the subject of growing research given its important role in the provision of unique human resources; particularly, it trains the people who are good candidates for contributing to the development and prosperity of society. Application-oriented education is aimed at developing and training technical knowledge and career-related skills; therefore, such schools play a crucial role in developing the chance of engagement and financial balance [1]. For example, these students can be employed in the industrial sector where the acquisition of job-related competencies can help them to advance their work and improve the industry. As a result, one cannot separate application-oriented education from the educational system [2]. Broadly, application-oriented education is concerned with making people more competent to cooperate with professions that it differs from the general conception of education, which is equally important, though people are not prepared to be qualified to do the work [3]. That's why the majority of countries attach enormous importance to application-oriented education as it can provide their required competent workforce. Indeed, application-oriented education is tailored to the needs of individuals who either look for employment immediately following their graduation or choose to further their studies by attending graduate schools. Yet, these schools grapple with some challenges, including students' engagement and success [4].

All stakeholders in the domain of education, including learners, teachers, and families, among others, believe that academic success is one of the key concerns. Learners seek to be academically successful so that they can demonstrate to their parents that their efforts and investment have paid off [5]. Student success in this domain is essentially dependent on both proficiency tests, which gauge their learning capabilities, as well as a group of academic abilities [6,7]. There is consensus that a learner's success plays an essential role in leading them through college stages to the attainment of the final degree or certificate. Indeed, student success is a multi-faceted concept, which includes students' involvement in all educational processes (i.e., high school graduation, admission to university and college, persisting academic studies, and earning a degree). It is also concerned with the quality and content of learning, as well as the resulting consequences and outcomes, such as skills and knowledge obtained as a result of attending college. Last but not least, a student's success has to do with constructive educational knowledge (e.g., student engagement or satisfaction) [8,9]. In their broad definition of student success [10], refer to academic attainment, participation in academically purposeful activities, contentment, the attainment of desired knowledge, a set of skills/subskills and competencies, perseverance, the accomplishment of educational objectives, and student performance after college life. These aspects influence the way in which student success is measured and how strategies are used to enhance performance.

Indeed, engagement is seen as a positive psychometric construct in the context of education as it can potentially yield different outcomes, including academic success, the accomplishment of goals, and increased motivation among learners [[11], [12], [13], [14], [15]]. Today, student engagement is a widely recognized construct that has proved to impact educational achievement and learning in higher education; moreover, it is seen as a general “metaconstruct” that seeks to consider different studies aimed at shedding light on the factors contributing to student success [16]. Application-oriented education refers to a type of education that makes it possible for working students to take part in engaging learning courses. These courses are aimed at enhancing their occupational competencies. Furthermore, vocational tracking decreases the chances for learners to get exposed to structured academic courses; therefore, this reduces the opportunities for vocationally tracked students to seek post-secondary education [17]. Following the Finnish Act on Vocational Education in 2017, this type of education is aimed at enhancing students' various skills, including their professional skills/subskills and the skills needed for their careers. Additionally, teachers need to equip students with the knowledge and skills required for students’ personal development and engagement in education. In the same vein [18], asserts that student engagement enables learners to acquire the skills and knowledge they need to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.

Student engagement plays a crucial role in the academic domain [19]. This construct, which dates back seven decades ago, is defined as the extent to which a student pays attention to the learning tasks and is involved personally in interactions with peers and teachers [20]. It is argued that student engagement has a contributing role in the student's successful performance, contributing to the development of personality and lifelong learning. Indeed, personality development is viewed as a continuously evolving phenomenon that impacts an individual's education and career choices in life [21]. As a phenomenon that cannot lend itself to direct observation, student engagement paves the way for learning and academic success [22]. Indeed, students' engagement has proved to be a useful predictor of academic success so a higher level of engagement in academic activities provides them with a good chance of success [23]. Learners' attention to assignments and learning task implies that teaching has been effective, leading to the learners' effective engagement in the learning process. An engaged student invests time and energy in the learning task, performing eagerly and attentively during the learning process. This is because he/she attributes values to the subject and the completion of such tasks. Such students would keep on learning even in the face of challenges and difficulties as they construe a personal value by doing these assignments [24].

Given the relationship between engagement and students' successful academic performance and learning [15,25], growing attention has been paid to enhancing student engagement. Investigations seek to examine students' engagement concerning various instructional methods. Moreover, application-oriented education is expected to contribute to national development, and creativity in this context plays an important role in the student's future success given that it is also seen as a requirement or element of Technical-vocational education. Indeed, innovation is among the variables contributing to successful performance, better products, and services in this context [26]. Indeed, consistent with some researchers, creativity is one of the essential traits of students enrolled in higher education [27,28] and has come to be seen as one of the essential skills in 21st-century education [29,30]. Accordingly [31], asserts that student creativity must be enhanced given that creative students think out of the box, finding innovative solutions to problems. Psychologically, creativity has an important role as it serves as a framework whereby researchers can describe an individual, as well as the specific differences between individuals. These differences should be taken into account because one can use them as a predictor of future behavior such as academic success [32].

Investigations conducted on the role of creativity in education indicate the significant contribution made by it to student engagement and learning. In the same vein [33], assert that best learning occurs when students are deeply engaged in learning tasks and going beyond learning only abstract ideas. In such situations, they are highly curious and ask questions, trying to discover new ideas [34]. emphasizes the contribution made by “thoughtful playfulness” and “game-based learning” to improving creativity, maintaining that effective learning emanates from trial and error, which should be included in the curriculum [33]. As pointed out by Ref. [35], equipping learners with creativity can facilitate their engagement. Indeed, creativity has to do with freedom and the power of choice in line with one's interests and context. This freedom fosters the learners' autonomy, which is assessed by measuring the learners' perceived locus of control. The learners' control and choice of learning direction would facilitate their engagement in learning tasks, which is also known as motivation to learn [35]. As engagement is described by Ref. [35] as a behavior that is indicative of the individual's motivation; therefore, there is a close relationship between engagement and creativity. It is argued that the inclusion of creativity in teaching and learning activities leads to an increase in student engagement. It is also maintained that creativity provides the learners with scope and opportunities to enter engagement, which leads to student success [9,32,36].

There has been a growing interest on the part of education researchers and psychologists to shed light on the possible relationship between creativity and students' success in various areas [32,37,38]. The findings show that success is positively correlated with creativity; however, the strength of this correlation varies in different studies. For example, researchers have investigated the correlation between undergraduate students' creativity and their academic achievement, whereas no study has been carried out on the relationship between creativity and application-oriented university students' success. Furthermore, although many recent studies [[39], [40], [41]] have been carried out on student engagement and creativity, there are inadequate studies on the role of creativity in application-oriented education. All in all, it is important to examine the vocational students' creativity given that policymakers and educational authorities need to take administrative measures (e.g., regarding curriculum and educational investment) based on the latest research findings [2]. In a nutshell, to the researchers' knowledge, first, creativity in the scope of EFL has mostly referred to the teachers' creativity more willingly than that of learners; second, there is not enough research that focuses on the function of creativity in Application-oriented students' engagement and success. Indeed, the insights provided by researchers may be significant as it can help teachers and educators to have a better picture of the role creativity plays in students’ engagement and success. Consequently, the review in this domain can pave the way for the improvement of teaching and learning specifically in Application-oriented contexts.

2. Review of the literature

2.1. Student engagement

There has been a growing body of studies on student engagement in general education given the impact of such a variable on learners' academic success or failure [42]. Yet, it has been investigated by researchers in recent years. Although studies on student engagement might be in their infancy, an increasing number of papers, empirical investigations and analyses have examined its contribution to education [[43], [44], [45]]. In the context of positive psychology, engagement has to do with a high level of interest in, attention to, or concentration on daily activities and tasks [46]. In these circumstances, individuals are thoroughly attentive to the tasks, analyzing the task enthusiastically. As pointed out by Ref. [47], high engagement involves a process that makes the individuals struggle in the classroom or whenever they are supposed to carry out their educational duties, i.e., studying. As a subcategory of engagement, educational engagement is concerned with a positive and emotional-cognitive state of mental health which involves enthusiasm, power, seriousness, and interest [48]. Such a type of engagement plays an important role in academic psychology by enhancing educational success and intrinsic motivation [49]. This construct is changeable in relationship to constructive educational results. Thanks to engagement, learners react to interventions [50]. Indeed, learner engagement can occur prior to educational success, or it can emanate from educational success [51]. This is, particularly, relevant for struggling learners. An increase in students' engagement leads to positive outcomes, such as successful performance in the educational context, the development of a positive self-image, better opportunities for finding jobs, a higher level of life contentment, and students’ well-being specifically among the students belonging to minorities groups, as well as those learners belonging to poor families [52].

Given that student engagement is seen as an umbrella term with several facets, it has been defined differently by different scholars, or they have focused on its particular facet(s) in their investigations. For example, the definition given by Ref. [53] of SE deals with the level of student involvement in a learning task, as well as the extent to which goal is taken into account while mental and physical activity is being performed. Indeed, it can be argued that as a metaconstruct, SE has several dimensions, including emotional, behavioral, cognitive, or social ones [54]. Another subcategory of engagement is emotional engagement, which is concerned with the affective aspects of learners' involvement [55]. Put it another way, this type of engagement is related to perceived attachment, affiliation, and enthusiasm [56]. Indeed, learners' emotional engagement indicates that they are eager for learning; moreover, they are very interested in attending classes and expressing their positive ideas about the learning experience [57]. Behavioral engagement is concerned with learners' heartfelt desire to participate in class tasks and to do assignments [44]. The extent to which students take part in these tasks, as well as the quality of active involvement, indicate behavioral engagement [58]. Even though behavioral engagement can be seen and observed, one cannot view it as a reliable predictor of engagement per se [59]. The learners with a high level of engagement are characterized by the following: positive emotive mood, disciplined class attendance, desire to participate in learning tasks, taking advantage of the opportunities provided, paying attention to educators’ feedback, desire to perform tasks, timely preparation of assignments, making utmost efforts in learning and doing homework, keeping on even in the face of difficulties, and enjoying successes [60]. Cognitive engagement entails focusing on tasks that are cognitively challenging [61]. When it comes to the classroom, several events are indicative of cognitive engagement (verbal and non-verbal communication, which involve responding to the questions) [55]. Lastly, the social dimension, which has been left out by some conceptual models of engagement models, is concerned with the degree and effectiveness of interactions among interlocutors, which is a characteristic of the nature of learning [55,58].

2.2. Student success

Some believe that learning is a life-long phenomenon starting from birth all through death. Learning induces a positive behavioral change as it brings a new response to improve overall behavior patterns. Indeed, bringing about such a change is one of the key goals of education [62]. Learning success has been described as the learner's ability to be successful using different high-order thinking processes, including cognitive and affective ones, among others [63]. According to Ref. [64], a combination of conditions, including knowledge, techniques, good skills, perceptions, etc., yields success, resulting in progressive and adaptive behavior. A multitude of factors influences the materialization of learning achievement (e.g., external factors, such as family support, teaching materials, class atmosphere, and others). Furthermore, several internal factors impact learning outcomes, as well. For example, inner motivation, interests, eagerness, and behavior can be mentioned [65]. As a multi-faceted construct, student success can be assessed by quantifiable outcomes such as retention and task completion, as well as unobservable indices, such as student engagement and the extent to which they invest time and resources to achieve their goals [66].

2.3. Creativity

To elaborate on creativity [67], dissects the term “creativity”, which comes from the word “create” denoting “to generate or build.” There is a consensus among scholars that creativity is concerned with the generation of new, functional notions or products. Although this contract can be conceived by both experts and nonexperts, it can be hardly characterized. This may be because of the overlapping between the construct “creativity” and its conventional classifications [68]; for example, creativity is seen as one of the three core aspects of the theory of efficacious intelligence developed by Ref. [69]. In the educational context, the instruction of creativity requires consideration of a combination of skills, capabilities, behaviors, thoughts, insights, and other traits [70]. Creativity has been described as the cycle that drives people to contemplate creating new works. Indeed, creativity is comprised of four stages: arrangement, incubation, clarification, and confirmation [71]. Thanks to the previous research findings, a more inclusive definition and characterization of creativity have been presented, which take account of several capabilities, traits, and intellectual cycles associated with creativity.

Researchers have used a more subtle and interdisciplinary method to account for creativity [72]. Accordingly, the new body of grounded-theory research indicates that creative journalism involves the following four phases: intellectual flexibility, notable improvement, capturing the novelty, and contemplation [73]. Creativity constitutes an essential component of entrepreneurship education, resulting in the acquisition of entrepreneurship skills [74]. Indeed, creativity is an evolving type of learning concerning entrepreneurship education, which impacts the aims set by entrepreneurial learners. Furthermore, creativity, today, is a necessity for the following reasons: modern communities are in the dire need of creatively improving their enterprises [39, 74, 75]. As mentioned by Ref. [76], the elements of creativity, i.e., resilience, consistency, and compatibility are the requirements for both life and business sustainability. And it can be stated that learners’ creativity can help the achievement of learning inside the class.

Creativity as a metacognitive feature may consequently be regarded that considerably effects and forms the route of learning L2, and is consequently fundamental to students' mastery of their source languages [77,78]. Experimental research has noticeably proved a constructive relationship between creativity and EFL language presentation [77,79]. In line with such results, it is practical to consider that the improvement of L2 students’ creativity will have a constructive effect on their L2 presentation. Creativity, sequentially, is assumed as a possible for future creative work, a feature of each human, revealed in actual methods of identifying and resolving difficulties related to both cognitive mechanisms and individual–motivational issues [80].

3. Conclusions

In the domain of education, creativity can be viewed as students' perceived pleasure and active involvement in a learning task. This implies that teaching and learning in an educational environment are embedded in the creative realm; consequently, all educational programs should improve creativity by laying the groundwork for raising the chance of student achievement. Creativity involves the individual's ability to produce novel, innovative work. Indeed, creativity enables people to deal with big challenges in their environments in innovative ways that trigger their engagement. Given the rapid pace of new developments in the modern world, it is important more than ever to emphasize creativity in people's lives as it is essential for success in any career that requires thinking (e.g., writer, teacher, engineer, businessman, scientist, among others). As a result, creativity should be taken into account by teachers, who should find ways to enhance it among the learners. Enhancing creativity in academic settings plays an important role in bringing about the development of future societies. The review of the literature supports the importance of promoting and nurturing positive personal factors such as creativity in language learning classrooms in Application-oriented colleges to develop learners' engagement and consequently their success. Additionally, in line with the broaden-and-build theory, it can be concluded that creativity mediates the relationship between students' success and engagement, signifying that positive emotional experiences assist students to remark learning circumstances from an innovative, flexible perception leading to achievement. Based on the literature, creativity has proved to be a dynamic concept, with different students having different motives for equipping themselves with creativity. This implies that the schools' awareness of the various motives learners have for creativity enables teachers to adapt their teaching in such a way that students' creativity is improved and encouraged. Rather than telling learners to “Be creative!“, schools do well to interact with the learners and find ways to enhance their creativity. This, partially, can be achieved through engagement in creative-nurturing tasks.

In the majority of educational contexts, academic success requires creativity; however, many educational systems underestimate the positive role of creativity. Fostering the learners' academic success requires encouraging them to be creative. In their efforts to enhance creativity among learners, policymakers in collaboration with administrators need to provide separate modules aimed at fostering creative thinking. To this end, the curriculum must be changed so that students are exposed to the tasks in which they need to think creatively about topics. This type of creative thinking entails the ability to recognize, understand, and analyze knowledge in new environments. In addition, the inclusion of novelty in instruction and curriculum is conducive to a creative environment [81]. For instance, the new learning materials one can access via the internet or mobile Apps, along with newly developed teaching techniques making use of smart devices can enhance student creativity, leading to successful performance and more engagement. Also, the incorporation of integrative tasks which lead students to engage in creative, critical thinking can improve both their engagement and success. Indeed, creativity can act as an indicator of student success given that it plays an important role in people's lives in the modern world. As a result, creative students can demonstrate purposeful work that results in engagement and success. Creativity has proved to play a key role in fostering self-reliance; that is, a high level of self-reliance leads to better life quality. Indeed, creativity makes it possible for people to get the most out of life experiences and resources. Creativity yields innovative ideas, novel concepts, constructive designs, and new opportunities that can result in success. It also enables the learners to access valuable information and resources. Indeed, the lack of creativity makes an individual fall back on old habits and behaviors. As a result, educators and teachers need to include the element of creativity in education programs and organize training programs on creativity for teachers [82].

4. Implications and future directions

The findings of this study have several implications for teachers. For instance, when it comes to creative pedagogy, teachers need to be aware of their important role in fostering creativity in a learning environment. They need to be equipped with knowledge about the importance of creativity and how it can be improved and used in classrooms. To this end, teachers should take part in training programs in which they are encouraged to value creativity on a practical level and to incorporate it into their attitudes and teaching philosophies. They are also advised to induce a positive attitude toward creativity in the learners. This would lead the learners to self‐directed and authentic learning. Indeed, teachers must appreciate the real value of creativity and make use of the methodologies that enhance the learners' creativity. Moreover, teachers should be knowledgeable concerning the responsibilities required for fostering creative learning in the class (e.g., how can they pave the way for students’ ownership of their learning).

Indeed, as pointed out by Ref. [83], creative people take on responsibility and become well-equipped in the face of new challenges and risks. Literature shows that motivated students are more likely to be engaged in learning activities than others. This leads to their success in academic settings [25]; therefore, teachers can use novel methods and techniques to foster creativity among the students. This implies that teachers should seek to create a classroom atmosphere where creativity rather than rote learning is fostered [84]. Furthermore, teachers are required to design teaching techniques to enhance creativity. This is because creativity enables learners to go beyond traditional ways to come up with authentic solutions. Also, teachers must appreciate the real value of creativity and make use of the methodologies that enhance the learners' creativity. Using techniques aimed at enhancing creativity and making innovative changes in the learning and teaching context, the teachers can foster the students’ creativity. Indeed, creativity can be reinforced among the students by equipping them with new strategies for thinking creatively, a skill that will be very helpful to them in their academic efforts.

Undoubtedly, syllabus designers need to take into account the teaching methods and strategies to be used in the prospective classes; moreover, they should incorporate creative tasks and tasks that enhance students’ creativity. This, in turn, improves learning and increases the likelihood of their success through fostering their positive feelings and reducing negative ones that as a result trigger their engagement [85]. The curriculum must be developed in such a way that paves the way for improving creativity among the students. This would lead to the professional and technological development of the students. Preparing such conditions for improving creativity, as well as the implementation of technology, entails a reconsideration of the role of the teachers. They should be viewed as facilitators, enablers, and mentors, who help the learners to take control of their own learning. Application-oriented students should be assigned a practical project rather than final grades or abstract assignments as their final test. All vocational students should take part in workshops and training and they need to be continuously updated with the new development and knowledge in their field given the technological advancement and social changes.

Prospective studies need to shed light on the relationships between creativity, engagement, and achievement. Given the limited nature of this study, prospective investigations are recommended to shed light on other hidden aspects of creativity, one essential yet inadequately examined variable almost in all walks of life. Moreover, future studies need to examine the mediating role of learners’ factors, such as age, social class, gender, and the field of study along with the role of creativity.

Production notes

Author contribution statement

All authors listed have significantly contributed to the development and the writing of this article.

Data availability statement

No data was used for the research described in the article.

Additional information

This work was sponsored by the provincial teaching and research projects of Anhui pro "Research on the application of O-AMAS teaching model under the guide of positive psychology "(Grant No.2022jyxm1507) and "Innovation project for training excellent journalism and communication talents in advertising"(Grant No. 2022zybj095).

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.