Exploration of Digital Media Art Design Practice Teaching Mode Based on Cultivation of Creative Ability
Published Online: Mar 24, 2025
Received: Oct 27, 2024
Accepted: Feb 18, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/amns-2025-0765
Keywords
© 2025 Jian Zhang et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Digital media art is a broad-bore, technology-driven, art-oriented, technology and art in one of the new majors. With the rapid development of Internet technology, computers have become a very popular tool to meet people’s daily life, and gradually penetrate into all areas of social life [1-4]. Therefore, digital media art is different from the traditional single-specialty teaching practice mode, which requires students to build a good solid theoretical foundation while also strengthening the practical ability [5-7]. However, the current development of digital media art design teaching in colleges and universities is not optimistic, and the exploration of digital media art design practice teaching mode based on the cultivation of innovation ability is of great significance [8-10].
The first task of the cultivation of innovation ability of digital media art design students is to guide students to innovative thinking and practice through the curriculum. The curriculum should combine the characteristics and trends of digital media art, emphasize the combination of theory and practice, and focus on interdisciplinary cross-fertilization [11-14]. The core curriculum of digital media art design should include creative design, digital technology application, artistic expression, cultural communication and other aspects, help students establish innovative thinking and methodology, and cultivate students’ interdisciplinary vision and in-depth artistic understanding [15-18]. Secondly, the cultivation of students’ innovative ability needs a good practice environment. Schools should establish modern digital media art laboratories and studios, provide advanced equipment and software resources, and provide students with good technical support and creative platforms [19-22]. In addition, the cultivation of innovation ability needs the guidance and help of tutors. Schools should allocate a group of tutors with rich experience and professional ability, who can guide students in the planning and implementation of innovative projects, help students to solve technical and artistic problems, and stimulate students’ innovative potential [23-26].
Literature [27] reveals the important position of digital media art design in higher education. It also studied the concept of digital media art and design in higher education, the current status of teaching, and innovative teaching strategies. Literature [28] emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary teaching mode. By analyzing the teaching mode of art and design majors in higher education and the current situation of engineering practice courses. The interdisciplinary teaching mode of the two majors was examined to provide a reference for the orderly development of art education in higher education. Based on the wide application of digital media, literature [29] emphasized the improvement of traditional teaching methods and the promotion of art education through the combination of technology and art. It also analyzes the current situation of digital media art teaching and the construction path of teaching mode in the new media era. Literature [30] took the digital media art specialty as an example and examined the reform and innovation of the innovative and entrepreneurial thinking cultivation of design talents. It analyzes the innovation and difficulty of innovation and entrepreneurial thinking cultivation in digital media majors. Literature [31] put forward the professional positioning and construction ideas based on the development characteristics of the digital media design specialty. It is believed that the development of the specialty should start from the actual school, actively promote reform and innovation, and take the road of professional construction of integration development. Literature [32] points out that in the context of the development of new media technology, the art design profession needs to carry out a series of reforms. By utilizing new media technology, innovating art design teaching mode, enriching teaching content and other ways to improve the level of students applying new media to art design. And the practical teaching methods of art design education are analyzed.
The above studies have examined the teaching mode of digital media art design from the perspectives of interdisciplinary teaching and perfecting teaching methods, and pointed out the current development status of this specialty and its deficiencies. But only individual scholars emphasized the cultivation of innovation ability in digital media art design profession, which indicates that the cultivation of students’ innovation ability in digital media art design has not been paid attention to, and innovation, as one of the important abilities of students, should be paid attention to in the teaching of digital media art design.
In order to cultivate digital media art design professionals who meet the requirements of the new era, and to improve and cultivate students’ innovation ability, this paper proposes an integrated teaching mode of “production-learning-research”. Students majoring in digital media art and design in a university in Guangzhou were selected as the research object, and before carrying out the integrated teaching practice of “production-learning-research”, a questionnaire was used to investigate the current situation of innovation ability and analyze the existing problems. From the perspective of creativity and innovative thinking ability, we gain a relevant understanding of the feelings of the teaching mode to provide data support for the value and feasibility of the study. Analyze the differences between the experimental class and the control class students before and after the experiment using independent sample t-tests to test the teaching effect of the industry-academia-research teaching mode.
In the context of the new era, globalization and technological innovation have also had a profound impact on the development of the cultural industry. The deepening of global cultural exchanges has led to an increasing diversification of art forms and expressions, and has also presented new challenges and opportunities for art education and creation. In particular, the digitization and diversification of the art industry brought about by the rapid development of digital media technology have raised higher requirements for the abilities of art students. These requirements include not only new abilities and entrepreneurial skills, but also the improvement of practical skills. The challenges faced by students majoring in digital media art and design do not only stem from the rapid development of technology, but also from fundamental changes in artistic creation and expression. With the continuous emergence of new media technologies, such as mixed reality, artificial intelligence, digital interaction, etc., the diversification and enrichment of art forms have put forward higher requirements for practitioners. They not only need to have a solid foundation in art theories, but also have the ability to apply these theories to practice and create new types of art works with the characteristics of the time. In this context, students majoring in digital media art and design need to become composite talents with comprehensive abilities, possessing both profound artistic cultivation and high technical proficiency. Being able to skillfully use digital technology to realize creative ideas and enhance the strength and depth of artistic expression not only requires students to be familiar with the latest technological developments, but also requires that they be able to have their own unique understanding and insight into art.
In the learning path of art disciplines, the ability to innovate includes the use of creative thinking to synthesize and apply acquired knowledge, to actively identify, deeply analyze and creatively solve problems encountered in the transmission of culture and the practice of artistic creation. This ability is extremely rich, involving a sense of innovation, creative thinking, systematic construction of knowledge, teamwork and leadership, effective communication skills, exploration of new knowledge, and practical creative skills. For students in the field of art studies, the ability to innovate can be particularly emphasized in terms of creativity of thought, approach, and thinking.
Digital media art and design cannot be classified simply as computer science because at its core, it is the creation of art. There is a dialectical relationship between digital technology and art in digital media art design. Technology provides material media and display channels for art, and art is the core value of technology and the soul of the work. Digital media art design can’t simply be classified as artistry either, because it needs to rely on computer technology as a means of expression, because better digital technology can better interpret art works. Therefore, understanding the attributes of the cross-discipline of digital media art and design can more clearly define the professional context in its teaching.
The Digital Media Art and Design program is art-based and focuses on developing students’ ability to combine digital and artistic products. Courses in the art category account for a large proportion of the core courses, such as Introduction to Art, Media Design and Creativity, 3D Animation and Virtual Scene, Digital Film and Television Synthesis and Processing, and so on. The aim is to cultivate compound talents with both technology and art. Digital media art and design talent training framework, the author believes that it should be carried out from the “cross-disciplinary”, “art creation”, “talent training” three aspects: in the cross-disciplinary, respectively In the cross-disciplinary, respectively, in computer science and art cross-study; art creation means a variety of means, should be fully combined with the contemporary scientific and technological development of all the possibilities brought about by the practice; in the cultivation of talents is divided into the theoretical knowledge, market-oriented, practical teaching and innovative thinking training and training. So as to realize the theory, practice, teaching, “industry-learning-research” integrated teaching mode as shown in Figure 1. While college teachers possess solid professional knowledge and theoretical foundation, experts in the enterprise possess rich practical experience. Selecting and employing enterprise experts in the society as the tutors of master’s degree students has the following two advantages: firstly, the introduction of social experts can promote the exchanges between teachers in colleges and universities and experts in enterprises, and realize the complementarity of knowledge and practice, and teachers in colleges and universities can take part in the research of the projects of the enterprises, which is conducive to the enhancement of the The quality of college teachers’ team. Secondly, the social enterprise experts analyze the specific cases in reality, which can not only enrich the teaching materials, but also enhance the students’ enthusiasm for learning, and the use of this kind of teaching method of linking theory with practice is of great help to the improvement of students’ innovation level.
The teaching model of the production and research
Creative talents are indispensable to the development of the digital media art and design industry. The main body of competition in the global cultural and creative industries stems from the core creative layer of the population, including scientists, engineering experts, architects, designers, educators, artists, musicians and entertainment practitioners, etc., whose work actually involves the “creation of new concepts, new technologies or new creative content”. The Singaporean Government concluded in 1998 that human imagination and creativity must be the driving force of future economic development, and that the future impetus of the global economy and industries would depend on those who can continuously release their imagination and utilize their creativity. Therefore, creative talents are also composite talents who need to be familiar with many fields of knowledge, such as art, design, psychology, marketing, materials, and other fields of knowledge. Creative talents also need to have the ability to innovate, including artistic, scientific, and technological innovations, product research and development, and the ability to pool resources, etc. These abilities are the core competitiveness of the cultural and creative industries, and even in the event of a crisis, they should have the ability to resist risks and help enterprises regenerate.
At present, there are problems in the supply and training of talents in the cultural industry and digital creative industry, and there is still a lack of creative, high-skilled, management, sales and compound talents, and the number and quality of talents cannot meet the requirements of industrial development, and there is even a structural imbalance in the supply and demand of talents. The supply of talent actually comes from the demand of the industry chain. The digital media art and design industry presents a chain of “cultural resources - content creativity - market operation”, from which it can be simply deduced that the digital creative industry needs a comprehensive quality of technical, creative and operational skills. It can be simply deduced that the digital creative industry requires comprehensive qualities in technology, creativity, and operational ability. Together with the uneven development of regions and imbalance of university resources, we can analyze that the talents required by the digital creative industry should be applied talents with high skills, creative talents with innovation ability, and high-end composite talents with high quality and high education.
According to the list of undergraduate majors in higher education released by China’s Ministry of Education, as shown in Figure 2, a total of 205 digital media technology or digital media art and design majors have applied to open or adjust from 2015 to 2023. Nearly a decade of time, the number of digital media majors opened tripled, which shows that the professional prospects of digital media art and design, the market demand for talent is on the rise, the number of colleges and universities to open digital media majors will continue to expand.
The number of universities that open digital media majors
This study implements the designed industry-academia-research teaching mode in the art classroom, and analyzes whether the industry-academia-research teaching mode can cultivate students’ creativity tendency and innovative thinking ability through experimental data.
A questionnaire was distributed to 100 students majoring in digital media art and design in a university in Guangzhou City, from which two classes with roughly the same academic performance, class size, learning atmosphere, class discipline, etc., and comparable in terms of creative practice ability and innovative thinking ability were identified, and one of them was randomly selected as the control class and the other as the experimental class. The control class carries out traditional teaching, while the experimental class is mainly taught in the mode of industry-academia-research teaching. The current status of creative ability is shown in Table 1.
Analysis of the status quo of innovation ability
| Innovative thinking ability | Innovative practices | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Question | Proportion | Question | Proportion |
| Occasionally make a different point of view or a way to do it | 50.2% | Sometimes, occasionally, find problems in the course of learning | 81.4% |
| Students are not familiar with common innovative thinking methods | 68.3% | The students study the problem, reflect the lack of active thinking in students’ learning | 15.8% |
| Unable to use innovative thinking method to solve learning | 89.6% | Sometimes students can solve it occasionally | 74.5% |
| Occasionally or without doubt of its scientific nature | 80.2% | Students are able to do good work or better | 53.4% |
Creativity tendency:
50.2% of the students occasionally put forward distinctive ideas or problem solving methods in their studies, reflecting that most of the students have general creative thinking ability, especially divergent thinking ability. 68.3% of the students are not familiar with common creative thinking methods, and 89.6% of the students think that they cannot flexibly use creative thinking methods to solve learning and life problems. It shows that in ordinary teaching, teachers pay too little attention to the methods, skills and process of thinking, which is very unfavorable to the development and cultivation of students’ innovative potential. For the remarks of teachers and experts, 80.2% of the students occasionally or did not doubt their scientific validity, a few students have a good critical spirit of learning, and most of the students are used to obeying the authority in their thinking, and there is a herd and inertia mentality.
Creative and Practical Ability:
81.4% of the students sometimes or occasionally found problems in the process of learning, only 15.8% of the students often found problems in the process of learning, reflecting the lack of active thinking and independent thinking habits in students’ learning, and most of the students have a weak sense of problem. For challenging problems, 74.5% of the students can sometimes and occasionally solve them successfully, which shows that students have some problem-solving ability, but the level is still weak. 53.4% of the students have strong or better hands-on experimental ability, and a considerable part of them have weak hands-on practical ability and lack hands-on exercise opportunities. From the above analysis, it is clear that under the traditional teaching mode, students generally lack innovative consciousness, innovative spirit, innovative thinking abilities, problem-solving abilities, and practical abilities. It is necessary to change the traditional teaching mode and strategy, and conduct research and practice of anchored teaching mode to develop students’ innovation ability.
A questionnaire survey was conducted on students majoring in digital media art design in a university in Guangzhou City, and the results of the survey are shown in Table 2, which found that the level of creativity tendency and innovative thinking ability of students in these two classes, the freshman (6) class and the freshman (9) class, are comparable.
Students’ tendency to be creative and innovative thinking ability
| Class | Creative tendency | Innovative thinking ability |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 118.29 | 62.53 |
| 2 | 118.45 | 61.32 |
| 3 | 115.38 | 60.31 |
| 4 | 113.22 | 54.28 |
| 5 | 113.56 | 57.74 |
| 6 | 114.28 | 58.22 |
| 7 | 113.25 | 54.84 |
| 8 | 115.22 | 56.37 |
| 9 | 114.39 | 58.75 |
| 10 | 112.17 | 54.28 |
The data of the two classes were entered into SPSS20.0 to carry out independent samples T-test, and the test is shown in Table 3, which shows no significant difference, with P-value greater than 0.05. The two classes are comparable in terms of academic achievement, class size, learning atmosphere, class discipline, etc., therefore, the freshman (9) class was randomly selected as the experimental class, and the freshman (6) class was the control class, and the experimental class was taught with the main line of the teaching mode of industry-academia research The experimental class was taught with the main line of the industry-academia-research teaching mode, and the control class was taught with traditional teaching.
The students’ creative tendency and the difference of thought were tested
| Class | N | Mean | SD | T | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Examination of the difference of students’ creativity tendency | |||||
| 6 | 50 | 114.28 | 13.38 | 0.195 | 0.859 |
| 9 | 50 | 114.39 | 13.34 | ||
| Examination of the difference of students’ innovative thinking ability | |||||
| 6 | 50 | 58.22 | 8.22 | 0.038 | 0.995 |
| 9 | 50 | 58.75 | 7.59 | ||
The pre and post-test data of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the students in the experimental and control classes were subjected to independent samples t-test, and the results are shown in Table 4. The p-values of the pre-test of challenging, imaginative, curious and adventurous of creativity tendency are 0.423, 0.368, 0.428, 0.952, and there is no significant difference, which proves that the levels of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the two classes are about the same before the experiment, and the p-values of the post-test are 0.204, 0.045, 0.033, 0.716, which shows that after the experiment the two classes in the creativity imagination and curiosity dimensions of creativity tendency reached a significant difference, and did not reach a significant difference in the challenging and adventurous dimensions, which means that the industry-academia-research teaching mode is more effective in cultivating the imagination and curiosity dimensions of students’ creativity tendency compared with the traditional teaching mode.
Students’ creativity tends to be tested in different dimensions
| Test | Dimension | Class | N | M | SD | T | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pretest | Challenge | Cross-reference class | 50 | 27.35 | 3.22 | 0.842 | 0.423 |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 27.28 | 3.20 | ||||
| Image | Cross-reference class | 50 | 28.21 | 4.13 | 0.884 | 0.368 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 28.25 | 4.15 | ||||
| Curiosity | Cross-reference class | 50 | 33.92 | 4.83 | 0.704 | 0.428 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 33.84 | 4.55 | ||||
| Risk | Cross-reference class | 50 | 24.93 | 3.29 | 0.072 | 0.952 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 24.87 | 3.58 | ||||
| Posttest | Challenge | Cross-reference class | 50 | 27.36 | 3.15 | 1.349 | 0.204 |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 27.68 | 2.85 | ||||
| Image | Cross-reference class | 50 | 28.22 | 4.78 | 2.164 | 0.045 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 30.54 | 3.06 | ||||
| Curiosity | Cross-reference class | 50 | 33.95 | 4.72 | 2.315 | 0.033 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 35.84 | 3.84 | ||||
| Risk | Cross-reference class | 50 | 25.07 | 3.21 | 0.367 | 0.716 | |
| Laboratory class | 50 | 25.31 | 3.36 |
The paired samples t-test of the post-test and pre-test data of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the experimental class and the post-test and pre-test data of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the control class is shown in Table 5, which clarifies the differences in the dimensions of creativity tendency of the two classes after the experiment compared to before the experiment. The p-values of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the experimental class after the experiment compared with the preexperiment are 0.079, 0.022, 0.015, 0.040 for the dimensions of challenging, imagination, curiosity, and adventurousness, which indicates that the creativity tendency of the experimental class compared with the preexperiment has reached a significant difference in the dimensions of imagination, curiosity, and adventurousness, while it has not reached a significant difference in the dimension of challengingness. The p-values of the dimensions of creativity tendency of the control class after the experiment compared with the pre-experiment are 0.685, 0.584, 0.312, 0.714 in the dimensions of challenge, imagination, curiosity, and adventurousness, and none of them reached a significant difference. This indicates that the industry-academia teaching mode is more favorable to cultivate the dimensions of adventurousness, curiosity, and imagination of students’ creativity tendency, while it lacks in cultivating the challenging dimension, which may be attributed to the shorter time of the teaching practice and the teacher’s factors.
The students’ creativity tends to be tested in different dimensions
| Class | Creativity tends | Dimension | N | M | SD | T | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laboratory class | Posttest-pretest | Challenge | 50 | 0.21 | 0.95 | 1.815 | 0.079 |
| Image | 50 | 0.24 | 0.70 | 2.845 | 0.022 | ||
| Curiosity | 50 | 0.28 | 0.75 | 3.096 | 0.015 | ||
| Risk | 50 | 0.20 | 0.60 | 2.146 | 0.040 | ||
| Cross-reference class | Posttest-pretest | Challenge | 50 | 0.03 | 0.30 | 0.512 | 0.685 |
| Image | 50 | 0.03 | 0.28 | 0.577 | 0.584 | ||
| Curiosity | 50 | 0.03 | 0.26 | 0.872 | 0.312 | ||
| Risk | 50 | 0.03 | 0.32 | 0.443 | 0.714 |
Significant differences were observed in the imagination and curiosity dimensions of creative tendencies between the two classes after the experiment. The experimental class achieved a significant difference in the imagination, curiosity, and risk-taking dimensions of creativity compared to the pre-experiment.
The Innovative Thinking Skills Test Questionnaire was used to measure students’ innovative thinking skills, and the pre and post tests were conducted in the control and experimental classes to count the number of students in each mark band before and after the experiment in both classes. It can be clearly seen that the number of students in each score band in both classes before and after the experiment. The results, as shown in Figure 3, show that the number of students with less than 53 points in the control class after the experiment decreased by 2, and the number of students with 53-63 points increased by 2, indicating that the distribution of the number of students in each score band of the innovative thinking ability in the control class after the experiment did not differ much compared to that before the experiment.
Segmental comparison of innovative thinking (Cross-reference class)
The distribution of scores of the experimental class before and after the experiment is shown in Figure 4, the number of people with less than 53 scores decreased from 19 to 10, the number of people with 53~63 scores increased from 18 to 23, and the number of people with more than 63 scores also increased by 4, which indicates that the distribution of the number of people in each score range of the experimental class’s innovative thinking ability after the experiment is significantly improved compared to the preexperimentation period. The innovative thinking ability of the control class did not change much, while the innovative thinking ability of the experimental class improved significantly, indicating that the teaching mode of industry-academia-research is conducive to the cultivation of students’ innovative thinking ability.
Segmental comparison of innovative thinking (Laboratory class)
The pre-test data and post-test data of the innovative thinking ability of the two classes were subjected to independent samples t-test as shown in Table 6, which can clarify the difference between the innovative thinking ability of the two classes before and after the experiment. The p-value of the pre-test is 0.983, which is not significantly different, proving that the innovative thinking ability of the two classes before the experiment is more or less the same, and the p-value of the post-test is 0.035, indicating that the innovative thinking ability of the two classes after the experiment reaches a significant difference, which shows that the industry-academia-research teaching mode is more helpful to the cultivation of students’ innovative thinking ability compared with the traditional teaching.
Test of differences in students’innovative thinking abilities
| Test | Class | N | M | SD | T | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pretest | Laboratory class | 50 | 57.23 | 7.53 | 0.038 | 0.983 |
| Cross-reference class | 50 | 57.31 | 8.22 | |||
| Posttest | Laboratory class | 50 | 60.14 | 5.71 | 2.134 | 0.035 |
| Cross-reference class | 50 | 57.25 | 8.23 |
At the end of the experiment, a questionnaire was used to investigate the preference and acceptance of the teaching mode of the experimental class and the control class, and the results of the statistical analysis are shown in Table 7, which shows that the experimental class students’ evaluation of the industry-academia-research teaching mode was significantly higher than that of the control class. After one semester of the experimental teaching of the UI teaching mode, the students in the experimental class generally accepted and agreed with the UI teaching mode, which was manifested in the fact that the students in the experimental class had a better interest in the study of biology, gained a successful experience, and had better self-assessment of the development of innovation ability than the control class. It can be seen that the UIS teaching mode can stimulate students’ motivation and interest in learning, and its teaching atmosphere and related strategies are more conducive to students’ successful experience and the development of innovation ability.
Analysis of student preferences and results
| Cross-reference class | Laboratory class | |
|---|---|---|
| The students’ evaluation of the classroom teaching atmosphere of new and old teaching modes | ||
| The atmosphere is active up | 60% | 80.9% |
| The atmosphere is depressing | 30.8% | 14.4% |
| Negative confrontation | 9.2% | 4.7% |
| Self-assessment | ||
| Very interest | 29.9% | 40.6% |
| Interest | 39.4% | 52.9% |
| Disinterest | 30.7% | 6.5% |
| Harvesting self-evaluation | ||
| Harvest | 34.5% | 45.2% |
| Reap | 49% | 51.4% |
| No gain | 16.5% | 3.4% |
| Innovation ability development self-evaluation | ||
| Big raise | 29.7% | 38.5% |
| Have raise | 43.3% | 55.2% |
| Unimproved | 27% | 6.3% |
| Overall evaluation of teaching mode | ||
| Good | 36.4% | 57.3% |
| General | 36.7% | 30.5% |
| Difference | 26.9% | 12.2% |
This study uses questionnaire surveys and experimental methods to analyze the current situation of creative ability of digital media art and design students. Whether the use of industry-academia-research teaching mode can cultivate students’ creativity, innovative thinking, and learning interest and attitude was investigated and analyzed. The main findings of the research are as follows:
Compared with traditional teaching, the University-Industry-Research Teaching Mode can improve students’ creativity tendency to a certain extent. Through the practice of the industry-academia teaching mode, the experimental class reaches a highly significant difference in creativity tendency compared with the pre-experiment, in which the dimensions of adventurousness, curiosity and imagination reach a significant difference. Students’ creative thinking ability was also significantly improved at the end of the practice of the University-Industry Research Teaching Mode.