Creating Project-Based Learning for Online Art Classrooms

Project-based learning (PBL) is considered an engaging and promising pedagogy across diverse disciplines and student populations in the United States in the digital age. Research on PBL in online environments and in the field of art has, however, been limited. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine the theoretical grounds of PBL and analyze its pedagogical features and application. Of specific interest is Krajcik and Shin’s (2014) PBL model, which includes six pedagogical features: asking driving questions, emphasizing learning goals, fostering authentic practice, enhancing collaboration, learning with technology, and creating artifacts. An account of a qualitative descriptive pilot study conducted in an undergraduate online art course further explicates the application of this PBL model. The pilot study accentuates ways to create an online PBL art classroom and illustrates students performing PBL through their arts-based research projects. Reflection on pedagogical recommendations and the challenges of implementing PBL in the online art classroom concludes the study.

Visual Art Education Teacher’s Beliefs and Attitudes Toward Incorporating ICT into Art Classrooms

Visual art is a subject that emphasizes on creativity, innovation and critical thinking, therefore, Visual Art Education (VAE) teachers have been urged to utilize the full potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Despite numerous literature have highlighted the benefits of ICT, VAE teachers were found not serious toward integrating ICT in teaching. Hence, this study was carried out to determined Malaysian VAE teachers’ attitudes and beliefs and their level of confidence toward incorporating ICT into art classrooms. This study explored teachers’ specific approach of ICT and factors that influence their integration of ICT into art classrooms. The participants of this study were eighteen VAE teachers from three-selected secondary school in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Data for the study was gathered by face-to-face interviews. The findings of the study indicated that Malaysian VAE teachers were still at moderate levels of ICT integration. The support from the school administrator and continues professional development were identified as two main factors that contribute towards successful ICT integration. In light of the published research on the integration of ICT in the VAE subject area, hopefully, the findings of this study will assist school organization, teachers training institutions and the Ministry of Education toward establishing a standard for successful ICT integration, especially in the context of the VAE. Keywords: Visual Art Education (VAE), Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Teachers; beliefs and attitudes

VISUAL ART EDUCATION TEACHER’S BELIEFS AND ATTITUDES TOWARD INCORPORATING ICT INTO ART CLASSROOMS

As a subject that emphasizes on creativity, innovation and critical thinking, Visual Art Education (VAE) teachers were urged to utilize the full potential of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Despite numerous literatures that highlighted benefits of ICT, VAE teachers were found not serious toward integrating ICT. This study was carried out to determined Malaysian VAE teachers’ attitudes and beliefs and their level of confidence toward incorporating ICT into art classrooms. Moreover, this study explored teachers’ specific approach of ICT and factors that influence their integration of ICT into art classrooms. The participants of this study were eighteen VAE teachers from three-selected secondary school in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Data for the study was gathered by face-to-face interviews. The findings of the study indicated that Malaysian VAE teachers were still at moderate levels of ICT integration. At the mean time, the support from school administrator and continues professional development were two main factors that contribute towards successful ICT integration. In light of the published research on the integration of ICT in the VAE subject area, the findings of this study will contribute towards guiding school organization, teachers training institutions and the Ministry of Education toward establishing a standard for successful ICT integration, especially in the context of the VAE.

Improving Student Behavior in Middle School Art Classrooms: Initial Investigation of CW-FIT Tier 1

Classroom management is commonly challenging in middle schools. Class-wide function-related intervention teams (CW-FIT) is a multitiered intervention designed to decrease problem behaviors at the classroom level. It is comprises evidence-based practices such as teaching classroom expectations, increasing teacher praise, and using positive reinforcement in an interdependent group contingency. CW-FIT has shown promise in a variety of school settings, but it has not been tested in middle school art classrooms. This initial investigation examined the effects of CW-FIT using a single-subject ABAB design in two middle school art classrooms. Results indicated that class on-task behavior increased by more than 25% and teacher praise-to-reprimand ratios more than doubled during CW-FIT implementation compared with baseline levels. Results also indicated that on-task behavior for students identified as at risk for behavioral disorders improved by more than 18% during the intervention. Teachers and students found the intervention to be socially valid. Resulting implications were promising for using CW-FIT in other middle school art classrooms.

Improving Student Behavior in Art Classrooms: An Exploratory Study of CW-FIT Tier 1

Disruptive student behavior, a common concern for teachers, presents particular challenges for those who teach art. Class-Wide Function-Related Intervention Teams (CW-FIT) is a multitiered intervention for implementing effective classroom management strategies aligned with schoolwide positive behavior interventions and supports. CW-FIT has proven effective in general education classrooms, with its emphasis on social skills instruction, teacher praise, group contingency, and positive reinforcement. This first study of CW-FIT implementation in elementary art classrooms examined its effects on student on-task behavior. The researchers used a single-subject (AB) design in one classroom and reversal designs (ABAB) in two classrooms. Results indicated student on-task behavior significantly improved, and the teacher was able to implement CW-FIT with fidelity as well as increase her praise-to-reprimand ratios. Both teacher and students found the intervention to be socially valid. Study implications and limitations are discussed.

Multiple Temporalities, Layered Histories

In Quotational Practices: Repeating the Future in Contemporary Art, Patrick Greaney asserts, “the past matters not only because of what actually happened but also because of the possibilities that were not realized and that still could be. Quotation evokes those possibilities. By repeating the past, artists and writers may be attempting to repeat that past’s unrealized futures.”[1] In the information age, the Internet, for instance, provides us an expanded collection of visual information—quite literally available at our fingertips—summoning together aspects of the past and possibilities of the future into a boundless present. Sketchbook Revisions (2014–2015), a series of mixed-media paintings, represents my attempt to communicate the ways in which I experience my contemporary moment constructed from multiple temporalities excavated from my past. This body of work combines fragments of representational paintings created between 1995 and 2003 and nonrepresentational renderings produced between 2003 and 2014. Using traditional tracing paper and graphic color, I randomly select moments of my previous work to transfer and layer over selected areas of already-filled pages of a sketchbook I used from 2003 to 2004. These sketches depict objects I encountered in studio art classrooms and iconic architecture on the campus of McDaniel College, and often incorporate teaching notes. The final renditions of fragmented and layered histories enact the ways that we collectively experience multiple temporalities in the present. Quoting my various bodies of work, Sketchbook Revisions challenges both material and conceptual boundaries that determine fixed notions of artistic identity.