Creativity in design education: an educational psychology model of motivation, cognitive load, and self-efficacy.

OBJECTIVE

This study examines the statistical relationships among learning motivation, cognitive load, creative self-efficacy, and expert-rated creative performance among undergraduate design students.

METHODS

A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted with 428 valid responses from undergraduate students majoring in design-related disciplines. Students first completed a design task, after which questionnaire data were collected and anonymized design works were evaluated by three independent experts. SPSS was used for descriptive statistics, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, regression-based path analysis, and Bootstrap tests of statistical indirect effects; AMOS was used to evaluate the measurement model.

RESULTS

Learning motivation and germane cognitive load were positively associated with creative self-efficacy. Creative self-efficacy showed the strongest positive association with design creative performance, and germane cognitive load showed a smaller positive direct association. Extraneous cognitive load was negatively correlated with creative performance at the bivariate level, but its adjusted direct path was not statistically significant; therefore, H5 was not supported. Intrinsic cognitive load was not significant. Bootstrap results indicated significant statistical indirect relationships through creative self-efficacy.

CONCLUSION

The findings suggest that design creativity is associated with students' motivation, meaningful cognitive engagement, and creative self-beliefs. Because the questionnaire was administered after the design task, the indirect effects should be interpreted as statistical indirect relationships rather than evidence of causal or temporal mediation.