Exploring the Knowledge Structure of Research on College Students’ Creativity Through Keyword Network Analysis: A Context-Specific Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge structure of research on college students’ creativity from a context-specific perspective and suggest a future direction for the studies. A total of 579 keywords were selected from 242 research papers in South Korea during the past 20 years from 2003 to 2022 that considered college students’ creativity. Then, a total of 54 keywords represented more than three times among them were analyzed using keyword network analysis including centrality analysis, and community analysis. The results showed that the keywords with high degree centrality were creativity, college students, everyday creativity, creative problem solving and so on. The keywords with high betweenness centrality were creativity, college students, everyday creativity, creative problem solving, creative character, and so on. In the results of community analysis, four sub-groups were formed focusing on everyday creativity (creative character, learning flow, creative self-efficacy, creative thinking, and career maturity), college students (creative character education, character, creative ability, core competence, and creative education), creative problem solving (problem solving, creative tendency, empathy, learning motivation, and creativity competency), and creativity (creativity convergence competency, creative leadership, self-efficacy, nursing students, and creative competency). There were differences in context-specific (academic, career developmental, educational, social, and everyday) factors of creativity that each sub-group was mainly dealing with. Theoretical and practical implications and future directions were also discussed.