Using the Online Self-Directed Learning Environment to Promote Creativity Performance for University Students

Creativity has been identified as a critical educational goal and an essential 21st-century skill, which can be captured through learning capabilities, thinking skills, and academic achievement. Although the relationship between creativity performance and self-directed learning (SDL) was theoretically researched, few studies have thoroughly investigated the exact nature of this association from a practical perspective. Therefore, this study aimed to design an online self-directed learning environment (OSDLE) to improve students' creativity performance. The OSDLE was proposed with functions such as planning, learning, evaluation, and reflection, based on the three dimensions of personal attributes, process, and learning context. A quasi-experimental study was conducted in a university in Northeast China to explore the influence of the OSDLE on creativity performance. One hundred and six university students as study participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Participants in the experimental group learned in the OSDLE, whereas those in the control group learned in traditional classroom methods. The results indicated that the students using the OSDLE exhibited significant improvements in creativity performance. Furthermore, the SDL capabilities of the experimental group demonstrated gradual and continuous improvement. In addition, students' thinking skills and academic achievement in the experimental group were higher than those of the control group. The main findings together are discussed in depth.