A Thematic-based Meta Analytic Study Regarding the Effect of Creativity on Academic Success and Learning Retention

Abstract

This thematic-based meta-analytic study aims to examine the effect of creativity on the academic success and learning retention scores of students. In the context of this aim, 18 out of 225 studies regarding creativity that were carried out between 2001 and 2011 have been obtained from certain national and international databases. The studies involving thematic-based meta-analytic reviews are examined under four themes - creative thinking, creative thinking activities, creative thinking techniques and creative writing applications. Certain inclusion criteria are also taken into consideration in the analysis. The statistical programs Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) and MetaWin are made use in order to analyze the data. The inter-rater reliability of the studies is calculated and found to be high. The Meta-analytic research results indicate that the effect size of creative thinking, creative thinking activities, creative thinking techniques and creative writing applications on academic success are large in terms of levels, while the creative applications in terms of learning retention are again large. This means that creativity has positive and great effects on both academic success and learning retention. The values of Fail-safe Number with regard to considering the effects of creative applications on academic success and learning retention show the high reliability of meta-analysis. It can be suggested that researchers should carry out more studies on creativity as there are not enough studies on creativity, especially regarding retention.