Facilitating Creativity in TVET Culinary Education Through Practice-Embedded Heutagogical Strategies: A Mixed-Methods Study

Abstract Book of the 11th International Conference on Advanced Research in Teaching and Education

Year: 2026

[PDF]

Facilitating Creativity in TVET Culinary Education Through Practice-Embedded Heutagogical Strategies: A Mixed-Methods Study

Muhammad Rahimi Haji Roslan, Nena-Padilla Valdez, Lee Kok Yueh

ABSTRACT:

Creativity is increasingly recognized as an important graduate competence in culinary and gastronomy education, yet vocational programmes often face challenges in fostering and assessing creativity in ways that remain aligned with professional kitchen expectations such as safety, timing, balance, and plate viability. This mixed-methods study examined the use of practice-embedded heutagogical strategies in a Contemporary Culinary module at a public technical institute in Brunei Darussalam. Two intact cohorts (HOS21 and HOS22; n = 20 matched pre-post per cohort) completed an individual chicken-based practical assessment at baseline and a comparable later assessment using the institutional practical marking scheme. Quantitative findings showed substantial pre-post gains in weighted total scores in both cohorts (HOS21 mean gain = 52.6, p < .001, dz = 4.04; HOS22 mean gain = 52.5, p < .001, dz = 2.72), with no meaningful between-cohort difference in gain. Qualitative portfolio reflections and artefacts were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis and generated four themes: adaptive creativity under constraint; movement from uncertainty toward growing creative confidence; experimentation in flavour, technique, visual composition, and cultural reinterpretation; and reflective learning as a basis for agency and future growth. Taken together, the findings suggest that practice-embedded heutagogical strategies can facilitate creativity in skills-based culinary modules while remaining consistent with vocational performance expectations. The study offers classroom-based evidence for how creativity may be fostered and interpreted in authentic TVET culinary learning contexts.

Keywords: Culinary Education; Creativity; Heutagogy; TVET; Mixed Methods