Art Education Commons^™

Exploring The Relevance Of Art Therapy In Public Education, Brandy A. Jarrell

Masters Theses

This thesis will explore art education as a therapeutic tool in a public education system. This topic will serve as a continuation of research that I conducted previously but will bring more focus upon bringing a certified art therapist into public school districts in West Virginia. Data will be collected through student surveys, interviews of professional art therapists, and administrative officials. Data will also be collected through a review of the literature surrounding the benefits of art therapy to children and adolescents. Through these sources I will explore the attitudes, beliefs, and practices of educational professionals, art therapists, administrators and …

A Guide For The Development Of Theoretical Understanding And Practice Of Teaching For Artistic Behavior: A Response For 21st Century Art Education, Lisa Van Plew-Cid

Masters Theses

Education in the 21st century is restructuring to meet the needs of an increasingly technological society where learning objectives need to focus more on learning abilities rather than knowledge acquisition. Creativity and authentic learning have been identified as new learning objectives for the 21st century. Throughout the history of education, art education has maintained relevance through the integral role it plays in meeting the learning and developmental needs of our students. Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) offers both a philosophy and practice for relevant 21st century art education.

Through research and deep reflection on my ten year practice as an …

The Role Of Arts Education In Closing The Achievement Gap In High Poverty Schools, Deanne Basse

Masters Theses

This paper will review research that identifies different types of poverty and how brain development may be affected as a result of living in poverty. Although research reflects support and understanding by the American people that arts education is important to the well roundedness of youth and, in fact, correlates with higher standardized test scores, arts programs continue to be cut especially in areas of poverty. There is an achievement gap in educational success when it comes to students that live in poverty and that of students in higher socioeconomic situations. Students of poverty are working with increased internal and …

Visual Literacy: Integrating Social Justice Art Education Into The Middle School Curriculum, Anna Kazmarski

Masters Theses

The purpose of this paper is to explore how social justice art education and visual literacy can facilitate growth and compassion for the diverse other in society. Social justice art encourages exploration of art-making in a variety of settings in order to dispel anxiety or misunderstandings about those affected by injustice. An investigation of original lesson plans designed to meet national core art standards will be introduced to elaborate on how social issues can be incorporated into a comprehensive art education curriculum based on critical and analytical inquiry at the middle school level.

Play Is Everything : Materials + Play = Learning, Adeline Diamond

Masters Theses

This model making based research project looks at how various materials—produce, board games, toys and curriculums—create opportunities for learning through play. Play creates intimate relationships that are generated between the spaces we inhabit and the objects and people that surround us, focusing on cognitive responses. This paper aims to further awareness of one’s perception of play and how all forms of play create meaningful relationships and improve cognitive development, material awareness and critical thinking skills. Play provides students with opportunities to learn and allow unlimited variations on the learning environment.

This research explores various forms of play through farming, interviewing, …

Art-Integrated Pedagogy For English And Chinese Language Learners, Regina J. Kuo

Masters Theses

The purpose of this research is to identify how art-integrated teaching methodology might help learners to absorb contents more effectively than the traditional teaching methodology. There are many schools in the U.S. started to use art-integration multimodal approach in school curriculum on different academic subjects. This research focuses on the art-integrated pedagogy in linguistic language, especially for English language learners and Chinese language learners. The researcher approaches the subject with illustrating a collection of personal cases about art-integrated pedagogy used in teaching and learning environment. This art-based research produces two teaching materials designed to answer the questions that were frequently …

Imagery And Photography : Enhancers In The Learning Cycle, Dandi Li

Masters Theses

This thesis highlights the importance of visuals and photography as significant enhancers in the learning process for students of all ages. There is both scientific and anecdotal evidence that illustrates the compelling impact of imagery and photography on not only academic education, but for the personal development and growth for students. Photography is often a medium for exercising creativity and self-reflection. As an activity, photography stimulates imagination while also exercising the ability to follow fundamental principles and limitations (timing, lighting, etc.) in order to take that perfect shot. As humans, we are driven primarily by our vision as both biological …

The Creative Process : Gathering For Meaning, Charity Appell Mcnabb

Masters Theses

The creative process of visual artists is not a well-understood methodology for intellectual inquiry. In particular, there are amorphous and individual aspects of it that defy narrow categorization. These aspects, like the gathering and associating labors, which vary from artist to artist, are nonetheless fundamental to our practices. The author investigates how the creative process has been defined and how the creative process is being used outside the traditional artistic context. Artists exist in a space where categories and definitions can be abandoned, where thought is advanced through the act of making, where worldviews can be imagined, where apparent contradictions …

Sometimes The Sh*T Stays Messy : Critical Frameworks For Arts-Based Researchers & Educators, Zoe Schein

Masters Theses

The standards by which we assess the legitimacy of knowledge production are deeply biased: resting ideologically, systemically, and formally on processes that are deeply rooted in systems of oppression. Consequently, our current body of “legitimate” or scholarly knowledge presents only a partial, partisan picture of what it is possible—and worthwhile—to know. This thesis addresses how hegemonic institutions (like the academy) rely on two central notions: (1) that their methods are “objective,” “value-neutral,” or otherwise impartial (2) that these methods are the best—if not the only—ones through which “real” knowledge may be accessed and communicated. As this paper demonstrates, each of …

Researching + Observing + Reflecting Of Chinese And American Landscape Architecture Pedagogy : Focusing On Department Of Landscape Architecture In Risd And Bfu, Change Gao

Masters Theses

This thesis focuses on the Chinese and American landscape architecture education, typically in Beijing Forestry University (China) and Rhode Island School of Design (USA). By relecting back to author’s graduate and undergraduate study in landscape architecture in these two schools, this thesis provides a view of an observer and outsider instead of an experiencer and insider to look through the teaching and learning in landscape architecture. Through the voice from students and academia in both schools, this thesis functions as a platform sharing the learning and teaching experience, providing a cross-culture access to other people’s experience and as a chatbox …

The Art Of The Wilderness : A Field Guide To Integrating Art + Outdoor Education, Rachel Dranoff

Masters Theses

This thesis serves as both a comprehensive review of the fields of art and outdoor education, and as a practical handbook. Through an exploration of the definitions of art and wilderness to the pedagogy of art, outdoor, and experimental education, this thesis endeavors to make evident meaningful ways of learning. Interdisciplinary learning and multiple intelligence theory support a holistic and interconnected approach to education. Place-based and project-based learning emphasize a multidimensional line of inquiry rooted within a meaningful and personal context. The goal of integrating art + outdoor education is to design learning adventures that cultivate: creativity, leadership, problem-solving, collaboration, …

Light On : The Value Of Art & Art Education, Juri Rhyu

Masters Theses

As an international student, I have had the chance to view art education through the lenses of both the United States and Korean education systems. While Korea’s education system leans more on authoritarian institutions, rote memorization, and grades, art education in the US is equally as restrictive and teaches technical skill rather than fostering creativity. Technical skill does not an artist make. Because of my self-assumed lack of creativity, I began to go to museums and sketch masterworks in an effort to self direct creative learning. This experience ultimately led me to consider a future career as a teacher as …

Let's Get Hairy : Women, Body Hair And Stigma In Arts Education, Chaitra Bangalore

Masters Theses

A woman who is visibly hairy might be viewed as masculine, dirty, unprofessional, or as a radical feminist. There are variations on what it means to be a woman; feminine does not have to be synonymous with “hairless”. Body hair is a stigma because it is a physical characteristic that is undesirable and shamed when exposed.

Body hair as stigma can be explored in terms of creativity and pedagogy. How can creativity work to dismantle stigma? Talking about stigma gives one the chance to express themselves in a way that is exploratory, sparking new ways of understanding. Arts education already …

What Makes A Good Teacher? : The Artist's Engagement In Public Art Education, Wenjing Fan

Masters Theses

This thesis is written in a language other than the author’s own, so its content as she developed an understanding of ideas in English may reveal both inaccuracies of grammar and indeed some misunderstanding of context and concept. This being said, the author uses the thesis investigation to reflect on her art education in China and also to report on encounters with teachers she has met in Providence, Rhode Island. So, the thesis has been opportunity to wonder about the significant role that various types of teacher (First Teacher to Fourth Teacher) play in cultivating students’ artistic ability. The author …

Traversing Ambiguities : Rebuilding Perspectives Through Designed Visual Education, Mudita Pasari

Masters Theses

We perceive the world largely through categorizations and associations. We distill people, objects and entities into extremes. ‘Normal’ becomes a measure of acceptable. Reductionist definitions, force anything ambiguous or uncertain to be rejected. Acknowledging our biases towards these misinterpreted, shunned or ignored entities, has long been overdue. In todays world we cannot possibly continue being blind to complexity.

Can designed visual education reinterpret ambiguity and embrace multiplicity? How can a designer’s perspective help scaffold these educational systems? Can we do so by looking deep within our own practice as designers, artists, scholars and educators?

The thesis explores these various questions …

Anchored In Place : Locational Identity + New Genre Public Art, Stephanie Benenson

Masters Theses

Since its inception in the 1970s when Joseph Beuys proclaimed, “Jeder Mensch is ein Kunstler” or “Everyone is an Artist”, public art that focuses on social engagement (otherwise known as new genre public art) has been tested in a variety of formats and places. Today, the breadth of work in this category is vast and the resulting aesthetics vary based on the artist’s intentions and goals. While measuring the success of these projects remains a challenge, an examination of recent history provides us with insights that can become a tool kit for artists commencing on social projects. Once examined, specific …

The Artist, The Object And The Meaning Between : An Exploration Of The Joys Of Incorporating Meaningful Objects Into Art Practice And Teaching Pedagogy, Sarah Leis

Masters Theses

The Artist, the Object and the Meaning Between begins by exploring the human motivation and delight in keeping physical ephemera, tokens, specimen, souvenirs, relics, etc. Material things can be tools to understand and interact with the world around us; a name for this is “Object-based Learning”. I use Qualitative and Arts-based research to make the case for object-based learning as a complement to digital resources. Though anyone may benefit from these practices, the focus of the thesis is the teaching artist and her opportunity to encourage in her students a rich experience of the three-dimensional in a world that seems …

Intrigues And Priorities : Critical Thinking And Contemporary Art In Visual Arts Education, Connor Phillips

Masters Theses

This thesis looks at how arts education can respond to the context of the 21st century by focusing on critical thinking and contemporary art in visual arts education. I argue that art as a subject has the potential to educate youth beyond mere aesthetic, formal art skills. Its inherent flexibility to encompass all interests, cultures, and backgrounds makes it a truly inclusive subject and the multiplicity that follows provides students with opportunities for cross-associative and critical thinking. If utilized in an education context, it can be the necessary conduit for engaging students, respecting their intrigues, and offering a space to …

Creating Access And Equity In Arts Education : Strategic Partnerships For Systemic Change, Colleen C. Andrews

Masters Theses

Creating Access and Equity in Art Education: Strategic Partnerships for Systemic Change examines the diminished state of art education in United States public schools, reveals how nonprofit arts organizations supplement what is lacking in the current educational system, and offers current examples, based on interviews, to place these issues in context. A history of the National Endowment for the Arts and an examination of arts funding, both public and private, provides a backdrop for the weakened state of the arts in schools. Exploring educational policies such as No Child Left Behind and the Every Student Succeeds Act reveals how federal …

Developing The Cartooning Mind : The History, Theory, Benefits + Practice Of Comic Books In Visual Arts Education, Cathy G. Johnson

Masters Theses

This thesis by cartoonist and educator Cathy G. Johnson explains why cartooning should be taught in visual arts classrooms. The theme is supported by historical research, professional inquiry, child development research, and analyses of pedagogical approaches. Johnson traces the history of the U.S. comic book industry from its beginnings during the Great Depression, through the anti-comics movement of the ‘50s, male-dominated comic shops of the ‘70s, and the eventual Japanese import comics boom of the ‘90s. She uses the personal narrative of her engagement with comics as a child in the ’90-‘00s as a case study to explain the current …

Engagement Of Early College Students In The Graphic Design Classroom, Kelly Ann Vander Kley

Masters Theses

This thesis creates recommendations for methods to increase classroom engagement, specifically in classrooms consisting of art/design students within a dual enrollment setting. The recommendations follow the investigation of literature and the examination of studies related to engagement features of young college students who are studying graphic design. This thesis examines factors that potentially reduce classroom connectivity, and looks deeper into how those factors play a role in the engagement levels of students. I begin with a focus on overall classroom engagement followed by a closer look at engagement of early college students in the graphic design classroom. After an examination …

Middle Level Multicultural/Social Justice Art Education Curriculum, Meghan E. G. Andrews

Masters Theses

The way in which children are taught matters a great deal and influences not only their worldview, but also how they view themselves with that world. Through my experiences as an art teacher, I have witnessed a growing need for teaching students in a way that focuses on multicultural and social justices issues in order to help students gain a more well-rounded world view. The art classroom has to power to serve as a safe and effective place to explore these issues. Determining why there is a growing need for a multicultural and social justice oriented art curriculum was important …

Networking And Connecting Creative Minds: Understanding Social Media’S Role In Today’S Visual Arts Instruction, Tonya Rose Kirby

Masters Theses

This study explores the use of social media in K-12 visual arts programs, focusing on why and how art educators choose to implement social media in their instructional practice. This study discusses benefits and disadvantages of social media as a pedagogical and creative tool in art education through analysis of the survey responses of 50 in-service teachers. Finally, specific social media platforms are recommended, with in-class examples provided for art teachers interested in using social media in their program.

Expanding Horizons, Expanding Self: An Incentive To Get Out Of The Classroom And Start Using Art To Explore Your Community With Placed-Based Arts Investigation, Erin Poindexter

Masters Theses

The three primary components of Place-based Arts Investigation (PBAI) are an understanding of place, arts-integration, and arts-based research, each with a heritage in and of itself. These ideas work in tandem to form the keystones of PBAI, a model for interdisciplinary arts-based learning that utilizes the multiple languages of art as methods of inquiry and self-reflection without stifling curiosity. Developed with the intention to provide a true model for ‘arts integration’ in teaching and learning, PBAI uses the distinct advantages of visual art education to engage the learner through multiple modes of inquiry while providing periods of guided reflection (Gude, …

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 …

Taking Art To The Next Level: Integration Of Advanced Placement Studio Art, 2-D Design, Krystal Kingsley

Masters Theses

Teaching High School art has brought me great joy. Along the way I have been challenged with many difficult questions. One that beckoned me to direct and intentional action is “how do I help students take their art work to the next level?” This project is the result of my personal discovery and development of an Advanced Placement Studio Art 2-D Design course. My research of multiple sources led to the development of an Advanced Placement (AP) approved course which includes: a syllabus, multiple breadth lessons, project rubrics, critiques, sketchbook assignments, summer homework, and a guide for helping students develop …

Fostering The Efficacious Adolescent Artist, Regina Beltowski

Masters Theses

Low self-esteem and insecurity is common among adolescents. In the secondary-school art room, students often stop engaging in art practice, believing that they lack talent, when the truth is that they lack specific skills. Students who are fortunate to have teachers who help them develop their skills experience a boost in feelings of self-efficacy, and often reengage with art production. This thesis project focuses on strengthening students’ self-efficacy in the visual arts at the secondary level. Clarifying the differences between related terms – self-esteem, self-concept, and perceived control – I focus on self-efficacy as a characteristic that plays a significant …

Creative Concentrations: A Secondary Design Curriculum, Linnea Roberta Gustafson

Masters Theses

Design education, as distinct from art education, has been overlooked as an area of student learning, creative expression, and career potential. This thesis explores the benefits of design education for students at the secondary level, when identities are being formed and areas of future study and work are considered. Guided by the newly published National Core Arts Standards, this paper provides a model design curriculum that introduces secondary students to a design-oriented view of the world, explores design principles through real-world applications, and calls attention to professional career options.

All lessons in the curriculum encourage creative approaches to solving design …

Choice--‐Based Art: Students Who Create, Not Replicate, Hillary K. Moczerad

Masters Theses

The problem that I researched in today’s art education world is how to teach our art students to be problem solving, confident, independent thinkers. It seems that in a classroom that is supposed to be full of innovation and creativity, it is currently falling flat. Through research, I discovered a teaching methodology called Choice-­‐Based Art that claims to eliminate these problems in the art room through student-­‐directed learning and choice while still delivering art curriculum. In order to test these theories, I aligned my classroom with the demands of the methodology and planned a field test with two groups of …

Emerging Technologies In Art Education, Molly A. Marshall

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the emerging technologies in visual arts education and the impact they will make on the future of visual arts education in a K-12 setting. Research was done through a literature review. As a result, it was found that integrating technology into the visual arts is beneficial to both student and teacher on many levels.

The research will cover how these technologies affect best practices in teaching. Also how these technologies influence student learning. You will find the history of how technology has been implemented in art education, to give the reader and …