Education Commons^™

Sixth Graders Investigate Models And Designs Through Teacher-Directed And Student-Centered Inquiry Lessons: Effects On Performance And Attitudes, Benjamin D. Olsen, Audrey C. Rule

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

Science inquiry has been found to be effective with students from diverse backgrounds and varied academic abilities. This study compared student learning, enjoyment, motivation, perceived understanding, and creativity during a science unit on Models and Designs for 38 sixth grade students (20 male, 18 female; 1 Black, 1 Hispanic and 36 White). The unit began with a very teacher-centered approach, then became increasingly student-centered, employing more inquiry with each lesson set to determine the effects of student-centered instruction on performance and attitudes. Pretest-posttest data with specific questions tied to each lesson set were collected, as well as repeated measures attitude …

Using Color, Comics, And Creativity To Cultivate Comfort For Military-Connected Kids, Kasey L. Bozeman, Sophia Rodriguez

National Youth Advocacy and Resilience Conference

Since the events of Sept 11, 2001, military service members have experienced frequent war-zone deployments, causing issues of separation, anxiety, and stress in military youth. As part of a 4-H project, a high school student and military teen developed and implemented an activity that uses art to allow military-connected children to express their feelings in a safe, inclusive environment. As someone who has experienced the effects of having a parent in the military, the 4-H student worked with a licensed counselor to develop age-appropriate art activities that are engaging and fun and allow military children to share their experiences. Using …

Using Creativity From Art And Engineering To Engage Students In Science, Mason Albert Kuhn, Scott Greenhalgh, Mark Mcdermott

Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions

STEAM education, referring to integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, is a contemporary buzzword that is popular in many schools. In particular, many elementary school teachers who have been tasked to incorporate STEM teaching, because of the requirements of the Next Generation Science Standards, attempt to apply the arts in their science curriculum because they feel more comfortable using instructional approaches that incorporate creative activities such as crafts, drawing, and model construction than the core practices of STEM disciplines. Teachers can use the creative arts activities in two ways to enhance the STEM learning environment: 1) Using creative processes …

Encouraging Student Creativity In Art Education, Naomi I. Ellsworth

Honors College

In this thesis, I explore the concepts and means through which art education can better understand and encourage creativity as a central aspect of their approach to teaching. More specifically, I seek to respond to the question: How might art educators support and facilitate the development of creativity within their students. To answer this question, two forms of research were utilized. The first portion includes a literature review, conducted to find major concepts associated with creativity and art education. From this research, themes such as processes, interdisciplinary connections, assessment, student declines in creativity, giftedness, if creativity can be taught, threats …

The Sheridan Notebook, Brandon Mcfarlane, Kristine Villeneuve, Devin Murray

Faculty Books

The Sheridan Notebook is an integral component to a series of studies that seek to better understand (1) the impact of adult colouring on creativity and mindfulness, and (2) the educational potential of adult colouring. A growing volume of research suggests there is a noteworthy connection between mindfulness and creativity: mindful individuals through presence, openness, acceptance, and self-inquiry are able to adopt many perspectives and pursue multiple solutions when solving problems—characteristics held by highly creative and innovative individuals.

This book synthesizes adult colouring with the “In and Out” note-taking technique—developed at the International Center for Studies in Creativity—to provide students …

The Creative Child At Home, Ellen Loraine Herget

Theses and Dissertations

This was a study of how two children showed creativity in their own home environment. This study demonstrated four aspects of creativity, including problem solving, imagination, artistic expression, and play. Both children were very creative when making artwork in their own home. The more the children were engaged in the artwork, the more involved they were in the act of creativity. The girl demonstrated more problem solving skills, whereas the boy, due to his younger age, showed more imagination and play. While the children were working on their art projects, they showed imagination and problem solving through the association of …

The Value Of The Arts In Education, Thorin Teague

Masters Theses

Art is a subject that has no substitute, as the learning and production of art satisfies a uniquely human need to communicate and connect with other human beings. The marriage of art and society can (and should) be thought of as culture. This author intends to assert that the arts have a critical place in education and indeed human society itself, bringing ancillary benefits to bear on the subject without relying on them as the primary justification for the retention and even expansion of arts programs; education (which could in turn be thought of the dissemination of cultural knowledge) of …

Art Therapy In Educational Settings: A Confluence Of Practices, Nicole M. Gnezda Ph.D.

Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal

Art educators solicit a range of images from students. Art therapists help clients respond to the images they create in ways that promote self-understanding and personal growth. This article describes two settings where art therapy perspectives have been integrated with art education practices in order to help students identify underlying issues impacting their education and well-being. As a result of information that arises in art therapy oriented art education programs, students can be offered guidance and directed to interventions that help them grow past their pain and self-defeating behaviors.

Classrooms As Creative Learning Communities: A Lived Curricular Expression, Soon Ye Hwang

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Creativity—the fundamental basis of human experience, expression, and learning in the communal world of the classroom—is the primary concern of this dissertation. While creativity is one of the buzzwords of 21^st century education the world over, its lived understanding as fundamental to being human is understudied. This gap calls attention to the significances for all involved of entering into meaning making as creators. To explore the significances, I draw upon and give expression to my experiences of building such creative learning communities (CLC) in my own Multicultural Education (ME) classrooms as a teacher educator and curriculum theorist. Ways to …

Serious Fun: The Perceived Influences Of Improvisational Acting On Community College Students, Ruth H. Yamamoto

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research in extracurricular activities and arts education demonstrate how experiences in those areas contribute to the well-being and ongoing development of students in higher education. Although practiced and performed across the United States, theatrical improvisation, as an art form or extracurricular activity, lacks investigation within the context of higher education. Without an understanding from the student perspective, higher educational stakeholders miss an opportunity to incorporate experiences that address the institutions' mission and learning goals or worse, inadvertently produce student disenfranchisement. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and describe the experience of improvisational acting training, practice, and performance …

High School Visual Art Students' Perceptions Of Creativity, Jacqueline B. Henson-Dacey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

When high school art teachers do not understand how their students experience creativity, studio art programs are less effective in fostering student learning than they would otherwise be. Nevertheless, extant research does not reveal a consistent or comprehensive understanding of how adolescents experience creativity in art education. Drawing on Csikszentmihalyi's theory of creativity and flow, this study explored students' perceptions of creativity and its relationship to flow, or the state of consciousness associated with optimal pleasure. This phenomenological study investigated students' perceptions of creativity and flow by interviewing nine high school advanced placement students in a public high school in …

Problem-Solving Pedagogy: A Foundation For Restructuring, Updating, And Improving Undergraduate Theory And Musicianship Curricula, Michael T. Simonelli

Masters Theses

The goal of this thesis is to provide the ideological and practical foundation for an improved approach to undergraduate theory and musicianship pedagogy. I will discuss the structure of conventional theory programs and explore problems inherent to traditional curriculum design. Problem-solving pedagogy, an approach rooted in creative composition and improvisation, will be presented as a complement to traditional theory pedagogy. Balancing problem-solving pedagogy with a more traditional pedagogical approach will provide a practical foundation for improving undergraduate theory and musicianship curricula.

Improving Problem-Based Learning In Creative Communities Through Effective Group Evaluation, Richard E. West, Greg S. Williams, David D. Williams

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

In this case study, we researched one cohort from the Center for Animation, a higher education teaching environment that has successfully fostered group creativity and learning outcomes through problem-based learning. Through live and videotaped observations of the interactions of this community over 18 months, in addition to focused interviews with nine key community leaders, we considered the evaluative culture and actions of this community, and how these evaluative practices improved their creative problem solving. We describe their evaluation practices in the context of principles derived from the Joint Committees’ Evaluation Standards (Yarbrough, Shulha, Hopson, & Caruthers, 2011), which are well-respected …

Developing A Creative Thinking Course For Community College Students, Noreen Mcginness Olson

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This project describes the development of an online Creative Thinking course designed specifically for community college students. This interdisciplinary college course will be one component of an entrepreneurial certificate program aimed at business students, but will be open to all students seeking to improve their creative thinking abilities. While developing the course the author engaged in the process described in Cameron’s The Artists Way as a structured reflective practice.

In this writing, selected theories of creativity are described in their connection to course content and approach. The course was informed by traditional western ideas on creativity as well as an …

Steam With A Capital A: Learning Frenzy, David Rufo

The STEAM Journal

A student dipped a brush into a bowl of viscous tempera paint and in a few quick strokes formed thick magenta letters on a large display board. Nearby a handful of students were working together to attach string to paper cups and balloons. Across the room a small group of girls were lying on the floor carefully adding multi-colored text to a poster. Two others created characters out of Popsicle sticks for a puppet show...This is how the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Math (S.T.E.A.M.) happened with the fourth and fifth graders during the first few weeks of …

Deliberate Use Of Creative Problem Solving In Art Making, Rebecca Dame-Seidler

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

This project explores the productivity of the Creative Problem Solving (CPS) tools in the visual art making process. The project offered the opportunity for high school student volunteer’s to participate in an after school program called Creative Art Group Experience (CAGE). Volunteers learned and made use of CPS tools to guide their art making. The project researched the effectiveness of using CPS tools in art making documenting volunteer progress and feedback. As an art educator, I had the opportunity to evaluate the impact of using CPS tools with the art-making process. The results of CAGE will benefit how CPS tools …

Artist/Teacher: Toward A More Creative Curriculum, Matthew L. Auch Moedy

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates the formation of my teaching identity. It seeks language for why I orient my teaching toward artistic thinking in my preparation and content. Features of artistic thinking discussed include students have personal interests, teachers need to expose and build on what students bring to class, artistic thinking is not linear and creativity invites the unexpected, play and creativity require both time and space and are best accomplished through situated freedom, process ought not be separated from product, making process visible and valuing process will make a positive difference in a student’s future. Vignettes from my teaching experiences …

The Terror Of Creativity: Art Education After Postmodernism, Jan Jagodzinski

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

This essay addresses two problematics. The first concerns the question of creativity, which has become a key signifier for art and its education in the 21st century. I try to situate this interest in creativity within the broader context of neoliberalism and capitalist designer capitalism. The second problematic addresses the term ‘after postmodernism,’ which has left us in a state of relativity by rejecting universality. My interest is to show how these two problematics are at play in the well-known documentary film, Waiting for Superman, directed by Davis Guggenheim. An attempt is made to expose the structure of this film …

Lego Brick As Pixel: Self, Community, And Digital Communication, Jay Michael Hanes, Eleanor Weisman

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

Over the last three years the authors attended Brickworld Conventions for adult and teen fans of LEGO in Chicago. Through interviews, observations, and research they conclude that the LEGO brick is a medium replete with possibilities for creative construction and playful design beyond the expectations of its corporate producers. The history of the brick as a toy infuses play throughout its use, and the Internet provides a forum for adult and teen fans to communicate, critique, and discuss their creations. Online communication is perhaps the most interesting facet of LEGO play. It demonstrates a model of social change with LEGO …

The Arts And Australian Education: Realising Potential, Robyn Ewing

Australian Education Review

AER 58 surveys the international and national research on the role and effect of arts-rich programming in schools and in the broader community, and examines the policies and practices that inhibit or support these initiatives. It puts the case that embedding the Arts in learning would be a powerful catalyst for educational and social reform in Australia, since arts-rich experiences can benefit students academically and socially, revitalise school curricula and foster the development of much needed creativity and imaginative thinking. Section 1 discusses and defines ‘the Arts’ collectively, as a way of knowing and learning – embodying play, inquiry, experimentation, …

The Pedagogical Role Of Reggio-Inspired Studios In Early Childhood Education, Laura Ann Ganus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The influence of the Reggio Emilia philosophy has been present in early childhood programs across the United States for decades, with many programs attempting to adapt the philosophy's concept of a studio, but few studies have examined them. This study describes, interprets, and appraises two Reggio-inspired studios in the United States in order to provide an in-depth analysis and shed new light on such practices.

Four questions guided this study: 1) What is the role of a studio in a Reggio-inspired school? 2) What is happening in the studio? 3) What are children learning in this environment? 4) How does …

Fostering Imaginative Expression In Elementary Art Students: A Descriptive Study Of Teacher Strategies, Julia Robinson Bargo

Theses and Dissertations

The students in my elementary art classes did not seem to be creating for themselves. They seemed to have the understanding there was only one correct answer in art class, and the art teacher knew what that answer was. By way of research I have found ways to create an atmosphere in my art room that promotes imagination and self expression in children, thus fostering a free and creative reaction from my students. Through understanding how and why one uses their imagination, an art teacher can enhance a student's ability to build and use his or her knowledge base. I …

Wisdom, Intelligence, And Creativity Synthesized., Susan Daniels

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

Wisdom, as explored by Sternberg is the application of successful intelligence and creativity. For thirty years, Dr. Sternberg has been a vocal critic of narrow conceptions of intelligence. In this recent work, he argues that a more comprehensive view of intelligence must go beyond the psychometrically based, IQ-driven views predominant in the last century.

Critical Creativity: On The Convergence Of Medium Education And Media Education, Michael J. Emme

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

Days after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in the United States I heard an interview on the radio. The short exchange, with peace educator and activist Johan Galtung, not surprisingly in light of world events, focused on conflict resolution. While I was impressed by professor Galtung's commitment to peacemaking and his real experience serving as a mediator in world conflicts, what struck me most was the word he used to describe the key ingredient in conflict resolution. That word was 'creativity'. As an artist, art educator, academic and parent I suppose it makes sense that …

Love, Life And Photographs: A Look At Creativity And Community In Adult Literacy, Michele M. Sedor

Master's Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Premises, Promises, And A Piece Of Pie: A Social Analysis Of Art In General Education, Tom Anderson

Journal of Social Theory in Art Education

It is argued that advocates of content-based art education and other art educators who are attempting to move art to the political center of general education are struggling against largely unrecognized social realities. The idea is developed that just as the art world occupies a marginal place in the larger society do does art education in the society's educational institutions. The roots of this marginalization are argued to be in contending; particularly the dearly held notions of creativity and originality which are at the heart of the art world, versus acquiescence and conformity which are held most dear within general …

The Creative Process: A Symposium, Charlotte B. Winsor

Books

A collection of papers encompassing an education conference about the creative process, in honor of Lucy Sprague Mitchell - founder of Bank Street College. The collection examines the creative process theoretically through psychodynamic and Piagetian viewpoints, as well as the effects of creativity on cognition and development. The works cover a large range of discussions on creativity and include an array of studio-workshop reports using music, food, needlework, and many more materials to stimulate creativity.

Creativity And The Creative Teacher, April Dunham

Honors Theses

Studies show that all children start life with a creative spark, but by the time they get to the fourth grade it is knocked out of them. This is because our schools and society as a whole tend to teach children to conform. They are expected to be just like everyone else. They are all taught to act alike, dress alike, learn alike, think alike, and on and on. Children soon learn which are the safest paths in life to follow. Soon they have hidden their creative potential so deep in never finds its way out again.