Pretest and Posttest Data on Creativity Skills Development Using Plickers Cards Among Female Elementary School Learners

Creativity skills remain underdeveloped among female learners in Ghanaian primary schools, partly due to a reliance on traditional teaching methods. We examined whether gamification, implemented through Plickers cards in Creative Arts lessons, enhances creativity and academic performance relative to conventional approaches. Thirty female learners from Basic 4–6 participated in a one-group pretest–post-test design for 12 weeks of training. The quantitative results showed substantial improvements in both creativity and performance, with post-test scores increasing by 32% (t(29) = –9.35, p < .001). Regression analysis confirmed a positive relationship between creativity and academic outcomes (R² = 0.161, p = .028). Qualitative findings revealed that learners perceived gamification as motivating, engaging, and conducive to idea generation and problem-solving, although technical difficulties, unclear rules, and time constraints were reported as barriers to its use. We provide evidence that gamification fosters creativity while improving academic outcomes and demonstrate that overlooking implementation challenges risks limiting its effectiveness. Finally, we show that gamification can be a viable strategy for addressing gender gaps in creativity training by embedding interactive game-based elements into early childhood education.