Promoting young children’s creativity via reverse engineering pedagogy in STEM education

Creativity is a core element of children’s development, particularly in early childhood education. In this study, the reverse engineering pedagogy was applied to preschool STEM education, with the aim of exploring the effects of reverse engineering pedagogy and project-based pedagogy on the cultivation of young children's creativity in preschool STEM education. A quasi-experimental study that utilized a non-equivalent groups design was conducted with 60 young children (age 4-5) from the middle classes of two kindergartens, comprising a control group who received the PBP intervention, and a group who received the reverse engineering pedagogy intervention. Creative self-efficacy, Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking Figural were conducted to evaluate young children’s creativity. In addition, independent samples t-test, analysis of covariance and post hoc test were used to analyze the data to determine whether REP could improve young children’s creativity better than project-based pedagogy. The results indicated significant improvements in young children’s creative self-efficacy and creative thinking following the reverse engineering pedagogy intervention. The research findings highlight the value of reverse engineering pedagogy in preschool STEM education, especially in cultivating creativity.