META-ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF INVENTION EDUCATION IN SOUTH KOREA: CREATIVITY, ATTITUDE, AND TENDENCY FOR PROBLEM SOLVING

Abstract

This study aims to synthesize the research findings on the effects of K-12 invention education regarding creativity, attitudes toward invention, attitudes toward science, and tendency for technological problem solving in South Korea. Meta-analyses were conducted by calculating the effect size of 37 studies, including theses and journal papers associated with the implementation of invention education, published in South Korea. The overall effect size was medium (0.694), and invention education was found to have an effect on education. The effect sizes determined by the dependent variables and the categorical variables indicated that invention education had a positive impact. In other words, invention programs have helped improve K-12 students’ creativity, attitudes toward science, and tendency for technological problem solving. However, the number of program sessions and participants in invention programs did not have an impact on the benefits of invention education. Considering the effects of invention education on the students’ perspectives, this study could be helpful to both K-12 educational researchers and practitioners in the fields of science and technology education. Further studies are needed to develop the concrete instructional strategies of invention education for K-12 science and technology classrooms. Key words: invention education, meta-analysis, science education, South Korea, technology education.