A Study on the Effectiveness of a Humor-Integrated Art Curriculum on the Creativity of Sixth-Grade Elementary Students

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Educational Studies and Curriculum Planning, Mara.C., Islamic Azad University, Marand, Iran

2 Department of Educational Science, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Azarbaijan Shahid Madani University, Tabriz, Iran

Abstract

Objective: Creativity plays a significant role in individual and social development, and art education can provide an appropriate context for its cultivation. Accordingly, the present study aimed to examine the effectiveness of a humor-integrated art curriculum on various dimensions of students’ creativity.
Method: This applied experimental study employed a pretest–posttest design with a control group. Multi-stage cluster random sampling was conducted among sixth-grade elementary students in Khoy during the 2022–2023 academic year. A total of 60 students were assigned to either the experimental or control group. The experimental group received instruction through a humor-integrated art curriculum, whereas the control group did not. Creativity was assessed using the Torrance Creativity Questionnaire (1979), and the data were analyzed using univariate analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS version 26
Results: The findings indicated that the humor-integrated art curriculum had a significant effect on students’ creativity (p = 0.043, F = 1.533). The eta-squared coefficient (0.749) suggested a strong impact of the intervention on creativity. Moreover, the mean creativity scores of the experimental group were significantly higher than those of the control group.
Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that incorporating humor into art education can effectively enhance students’ creativity. It is recommended that curriculum development and implementation, particularly in the field of art, utilize creative approaches such as humor integration to further foster students’ creative abilities. Future research is suggested to include larger samples and different educational levels to evaluate the effectiveness of this approach under diverse instructional conditions. Applying the findings of such studies can contribute to improving teaching–learning processes and developing creative skills among young learners.

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  • Receive Date: 05 June 2025
  • Revise Date: 19 October 2025
  • Accept Date: 08 November 2025
  • First Publish Date: 22 November 2025
  • Publish Date: 22 November 2025