Dataset on collaborative creativity in digital higher education
Description
This dataset contains quantitative and qualitative information derived from a multi-cohort study conducted between 2020 and 2025 in a Psychology of Education course at a Mexican public university. The study examined the microdevelopment of collaborative creativity among university students working in digital environments. Data were collected from 1,038 individual contributions written by students in shared Google Docs while developing creative intervention proposals in teams. Each contribution was coded along two dimensions — Novelty (0–3 scale) and Appropriateness-Feasibility Index (0–5 scale) — following the framework of Kupers et al. (2018).
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Steps to reproduce
The dataset was obtained through a multi-cohort design-based research study conducted between 2020 and 2025 in a Psychology of Education course at a Mexican public university. Each cohort worked collaboratively in Google Docs to design creative educational interventions addressing authentic professional problems. A total of 26 student teams (104 participants) produced written contributions over a 16-week course. The textual data from shared documents were exported and organized chronologically to preserve the temporal sequence of collaboration. Each contribution was treated as a single unit of analysis. The data were then coded using a micro-developmental approach based on the Complex Dynamic Systems Model of Creativity (Kupers et al., 2018). Two main indicators were applied: Novelty (0–3 scale): degree of originality compared to prior team ideas. Appropriateness–Feasibility Index (0–5 scale): degree to which each idea was relevant and practically viable. Coding was performed manually by trained raters using a shared codebook. Descriptive and correlational analyses were carried out in SPSS (v29) and R (v4.3.2), and dynamic visualizations (time series and State Space Grids) were created in R and GridWare (Lamey et al., 2004). All procedures followed ethical standards of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and were approved by its institutional ethics committee.
Institutions
- Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico