The Development of a Canva-Mediated Project-Based Learning Model for Promoting Creative Thinking and Learning Motivation in Primary Education

Abstract

This study developed and evaluated a Canva-Mediated Project-Based Learning Model (CMPM) to support creative thinking among fifth-grade students. Using a Research and Development approach adapted from Borg and Gall, the study involved five stages: needs analysis, model design, expert validation, limited and extended field trials, and iterative evaluation and revision. Participants were 60 fifth-grade students from a public elementary school in Indonesia. Data were collected through expert validation, classroom observations, questionnaires, interviews, and pre-test–post-test assessments of fluency, flexibility, originality, and elaboration. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired-sample t-tests, effect size, and normalized gain, while qualitative data were examined thematically. The CMPM was rated valid (M = 4.53; Aiken’s V = 0.88) and practical (M = 4.45). Students’ creative thinking improved significantly, t(59) = 11.94, p < .001, dz = 1.54, with a moderate N-gain of 0.56; the largest improvement occurred in elaboration. Learning motivation also increased significantly, t(59) = 10.33, p < .001, N-gain = 0.50. Because the study used a one-group pre-test–post-test design without a control group, the findings indicate improvement associated with the intervention rather than definitive causal effects. The study offers a practical model for integrating Canva as a digital scaffold within project-based learning.