Empowering K-12 Students with Computational Creativity
Towards A Constructionist Computational Creativity Model
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21240/constr/2025/74.XKeywords:
K-12 education, CS teachers’ education, Computational Creativity, Constructionism.Abstract
Recent developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) are not only transforming society but are also increasingly shaping educational contexts. While AI technologies offer new possibilities for rich learning experiences, there is growing consensus that students should not only use AI systems but also be able to understand and design them. Constructionist learning environments provide a promising foundation for this shift, enabling learners to engage hands-on with AI by constructing meaningful artifacts. One particularly suitable domain for this is Computational Creativity (CC), which focuses on systems that generate novel outputs using AI techniques. In this paper, we introduce the Constructionist Computational Creativity (CCC) model, which aims to integrate CC into K–12 education in a way that fosters both creative expression and AI competencies. The model was developed through a synthesis of CC theory and constructionist pedagogy and was refined through an exploratory study with pre-service Computer Science teachers. Findings from this study show that engaging learners in the development of creative AI systems supports a deeper understanding of AI concepts, enhances computational thinking, and promotes reflection on creativity across domains. The CCC model thus offers a structured approach to integrating AI education into creative learning processes.References
Artut, S. (2017). Incorporation of computational creativity in arts education: Creative coding as an art course. In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 37, p. 01028). EDP Sciences. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20173701028
Boden, M. A. (2004). The creative mind: Myths and mechanisms. Psychology Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203508527
Boden, M. A. (2009). Computer models of creativity. Ai Magazine, 30(3), 23-23. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1609/aimag.v30i3.2254
Brennan, K., & Resnick, M. (2012, April). New frameworks for studying and assessing the development of computational thinking. In Proceedings of the 2012 annual meeting of the American educational research association, Vancouver, Canada (Vol. 1, p. 25).
Brüggen, A., Feichter, C., & Williamson, M. G. (2018). The effect of input and output targets for routine tasks on creative task performance. The Accounting Review, 93(1), 29-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2308/accr-51781
Candy, L. (2013). Evaluating creativity. Creativity and rationale: enhancing human experience by design, 57-84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-4111-2_4
Carnovalini, F., & Rodà, A. (2020). Computational creativity and music generation systems: An introduction to the state of the art. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 3, 14. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/frai.2020.00014
Colton, S., & Wiggins, G. A. (2012). Computational creativity: The final frontier?. In ECAI 2012 (pp. 21-26). IOS Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3233/978-1-61499-098-7-21
Colton, S., Cook, M., Hepworth, R., & Pease, A. (2014). On acid drops and teardrops: Observer issues in computational creativity. In Proceedings of the 7th AISB Symposium on Computing and Philosophy (pp. 1-8).
Filimowicz, M., & Tzankova, V. (Eds.). (2017). Teaching computational creativity. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316481165
Fernández de Vega, F., Cruz, C., Navarro, L., Hernandez, P., Gallego, T., & Espada, L. (2014). Unplugging evolutionary algorithms: an experiment on human-algorithmic creativity. Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines, 15, 379-402. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10710-014-9225-1
Goodfellow, I., Pouget-Abadie, J., Mirza, M., Xu, B., Warde-Farley, D., Ozair, S., ... & Bengio, Y. (2020). Generative adversarial networks. Communications of the ACM, 63(11), 139-144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3422622
Grover, S., & Pea, R. (2013). Computational thinking in K–12: A review of the state of the field. Educational researcher, 42(1), 38-43. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X12463051
Han, J., Park, D., Shi, F., Chen, L., Hua, M., & Childs, P. R. (2019). Three driven approaches to combinational creativity: Problem-, similarity-and inspiration-driven. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 233(2), 373-384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0954406217750189
Holland, J. H. (1992). Genetic algorithms. Scientific American, 267(1), 66-73. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0792-66
Ismail, A., Aliu, A., Ibrahim, M., & Sulaiman, A. (2024). Preparing teachers of the future in the era of artificial intelligence. Journal of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Neural Network, 44, 31-41. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55529/jaimlnn.44.31.41
Issa, L., Alghanim, F., & Obeid, N. (2019, June). Computational creativity: The design of a creative computer program. In 2019 10th International Conference on Information and Communication Systems (ICICS) (pp. 193-198). IEEE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/IACS.2019.8809107
Jia, N., Chen, J., Wang, R., & Li, M. (2024). Towards automatically generating meal plan based on genetic algorithm. Soft Computing, 1-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-023-09556-0
Jordanous, A. (2012). A standardised procedure for evaluating creative systems: Computational creativity evaluation based on what it is to be creative. Cognitive Computation, 4, 246-279. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-012-9156-1
Kakarla, U. (2024). Fostering Creativity in Education. International Journal of Innovative Scientific Research, 2(3), 83-88.
Kafai, Y. B. (2005). Constructionism. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences (pp. 35–46). chapter, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511816833.004
Kafai, Y. B., & Burke, Q. (2017). Computational participation: Teaching kids to create and connect through code. Emerging research, practice, and policy on computational thinking, 393-405. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-52691-1_24
Kafai, Y. B., & Resnick, M. (Eds.). (2012). Constructionism in practice: Designing, thinking, and learning in a digital world. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203053492
Kahn, K., & Winters, N. (2021). Constructionism and AI: A history and possible futures. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(3), 1130-1142. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13088
Kaufman, J. C., & Baer, J. (2012). Beyond New and Appropriate: Who Decides What Is Creative? Creativity Research Journal, 24(1), 83–91. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2012.649237
Maloney, J., Resnick, M., Rusk, N., Silverman, B., & Eastmond, E. (2010). The scratch programming language and environment. ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE), 10(4), 1-15. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1868358.1868363
Michaeli, T., Romeike, R., & Seegerer, S. (2023a). What students can learn about artificial intelligence-recommendations for K12 computing education. In Proceedings of World Conference on Computers in Education, WCCE 2022. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-43393-1_19
Michaeli, T., Seegerer, S., Kerber, L., & Romeike, R. (2023b). Data, Trees, and Forests–Decision Tree Learning in K-12 Education. In Proceedings of the 3rd Teaching Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Workshop, PMLR.
Morales-Navarro, L., Kafai, Y. B., Kahn, K., Romeike, R., Michaeli, T., DiPaola, D., ... & Solomon, C. (2023). Constructionist Approaches to Learning Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning: Past, Present, and Future. In Proceedings of Constructionism 2023.
Nicastro, F., Baranauskas, M. C. C., & da Silva Torres, R. Constructionism and Creative Learning: supporting the design of technology-based learning activities. CONSTRUCTIONISM 2020, 244.
Papert, S. (1991). Situating Constructionism. Constructionism/Ablex.
Peppler, K., & Kafai, Y. (2005). Creative coding: Programming for personal expression. Retrieved August, 30(2008), 314.
Perez y Pérez, R. P. (2015). A computer-based model for collaborative narrative generation. Cognitive Systems Research, 36, 30-48. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cogsys.2015.06.002
Peteranetz, M. S., Soh, L. K., & Ingraham, E. (2019, February). Building computational creativity in an online course for non-majors. In Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education (pp. 442-448). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287346
Pllana, D. (2019). Creativity in Modern Education. World Journal of Education, 9(2), 136-140. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5430/wje.v9n2p136
Przybylla, M., & Romeike, R. (2012). My interactive garden–a constructionist approach to creative learning with interactive installations in computing education. Constructionism: Theory, Practice and Impact. Proceedings of Constructionism, 2012, 395-404.
Resnick, M., & Ocko, S. (1990). LEGO/logo--learning through and about design. Cambridge: Epistemology and Learning Group, MIT Media Laboratory.
Rubin, S. H. (2012). On creativity and intelligence in computational systems. In Advances in Reasoning-Based Image Processing Intelligent Systems: Conventional and Intelligent Paradigms (pp. 383-421). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-24693-7_13
Sadiku, M. N., Ampah, N. K., & Musa, S. M. (2019). Computational creativity. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3(6), 1-3.
Touretzky, D., Gardner-McCune, C., Martin, F., & Seehorn, D. (2019, July). Envisioning AI for K-12: What should every child know about AI?. In Proceedings of the AAAI conference on artificial intelligence (Vol. 33, No. 01, pp. 9795-9799). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1609/aaai.v33i01.33019795
Wiggins, G. A. (2006). A preliminary framework for description, analysis and comparison of creative systems. Knowledge-based systems, 19(7), 449-458. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.knosys.2006.04.009
Wing, J. M. (2006). Computational thinking. Communications of the ACM, 49(3), 33-35. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/1118178.1118215
Zhaochen, D. T. C. (2017, June). Alternative 3D education for children: Course design of 3D printing interactivity for Beijing’s primary schools. In Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium of Chinese CHI (pp. 30-35). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1145/3080631.3080637
Downloads
Published
Conference Proceedings Volume
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Lana Issa, Ralf Romeike
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
