Browsing by Subject "Art education"
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Item A comparison of grade percentage policies in the middle school art room(Texas Tech University, 2005-08) Gerhards, Gonzales Tyra; Fehr, Dennis; Akins-Tillett, Future; Maushak, NancyGrade percentage policies should fairly represent student grades. In comparing several different percentage approaches to a middle school art class, which one would best represent student efforts without negatively impacting failure rate? Forty-four middle school art teachers from around the state of Texas participated in a blind survey giving input on the percentage policies they use. Teachers commented on development, input and satisfaction with the grading policy. After comparing several policies using one art class’s grades, results showed that the preferred policy developed by the teacher was the most appropriate. The other policies could be used, but with some or a lot of changes to the teacher’s style of teaching.Item Art education for girls : Juliette Gordon Low and early girl scouting(2011-08) Glover, Lauren Haley; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This study investigates Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s role as an art educator. The study is framed around the years of Low’s life, 1860-1927, concentrating on the years 1912-1927, when Low’s role as an art educator was most pronounced. An examination is made into Low’s early artistic influences and training, and artworks made by Low are discussed. An overview of the Girl Scout organization is presented, and Low’s working relationship with Boy Scout founder Sir Robert Baden-Powell is analyzed. Evidence of art education in the early Girl Scout movement is examined, including handbooks, artist merit badges, nature study and observational drawing, and the personal recollections of an early Girl Scout. Low’s art education contributions beyond the scope of Girl Scouts are also investigated, including her role as a charter member of the Savannah Art Club. The study concludes by suggesting a historical reframing of Low as an art educator is needed.Item Art learning in the home: a survey of households in Austin, Texas(2009-12) Wilky, Megan Marie; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Ulbricht, Jarvis W.The purpose of this study was to determine how much art activity is taking place within households in Austin, Texas. By way of a questionnaire, the parents or guardians of children attending schools within the Austin Independent School District were surveyed regarding art activity within their homes. The objective of this investigation was to provide answers to questions such as: In what ways do children participate in art making within the context of the family household? To what extent does it appear a parent’s/guardian’s level of schooling, number of children in the family, and amount of electronic entertainment available to the child correspond with the amount of art activity that takes place in the household? Professional and personal motivations led to this investigation. There is an ever increasing amount of electronic entertainment available to children. Has this recent growth of technology had an effect on the amount of time children spend with art activities in the home? Through my own experiences growing up, and through conversations with others, it was brought to my attention that the number of children residing in a household might have an effect on the amount of art activities taking place within the home, as well as the parent’s or guardian’s level of education. Through the data collected by this investigation, I was able to reach a conclusion regarding the relationship found between the amount of art activities taking place in the households surveyed and the three variables studied in this investigation: (a) the parent’s education, (b) the amount of electronic entertainment available to the children in the home, (c) the number of children residing in the home. Support from the data indicated a significant pattern representing that the parent’s/guardian’s education is related to the amount of art activity taking place within the household. However, there was no pattern found regarding the variable of electronic entertainment devices found in a home and the amount of art making within that home. There was also a significant relationship found regarding the numbers of children residing in the household, and the amount of art activity those children are engaged in. The data collected indicated that a household in which fewer children reside is more likely to participate in more art activities.Item Art making practices for groups of individuals with Alzheimer's disease(2016-05) Coonrod, Ellen Claire-Murray; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-; Bolin, Paul EThrough the method of action research, this study reflects upon the individual practice of an art educator in facilitating visual art making experiences for a group of adults with dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The study’s qualitative data consists of interviews with class facilitators, photos of the class environment and resulting artwork, and written observations, which were analyzed for emergent themes supporting the participants’ cognitive and social engagement. In adopting Kitwood and Bredin’s (1992) approach of person-centered care, the study connected their twelve indicators of relative well-being to observations of engagement in the class. The discovered themes include personal objects and stories, collaboration, mood, repetition, stimulating materials, multiple steps, individualized assistance, minimized distractions, and limited options. These described attributes could provide a resource for those designing and facilitating similar experiences for adults with Alzheimer’s disease.Item The art of manipulation : gender inequity and the picture study movement(2012-08) Kern, Jasmin Nikol; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, Christina BThis study locates and examines the relationship between societal gendered expectations in nineteenth century United States and the content of a picture study manual published at the turn of the century: Lucy Langdon Williams Wilson’s Picture Study in Elementary Schools: A Manual for Teachers (1909). Critical analysis of the images, artists, and content of the picture study manual provides insight into the relationship between curricular materials and the social climate during which they were produced. Recognition of this connection will enable art educators and curriculum developers to produce materials and textbooks conscious of the potential bias and marginalization of students.Item An assessment of technology-centered art learning for students with autism spectrum disorder using universal design for learning curriculum(2012-05) Hahn, Abby Lynn; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, ChristinaWorking collaboratively with VSA Texas, the research study examined how a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) curriculum functions for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in an art learning setting. The curriculum focused on learning new media for art making in the form of digital film and video. My research and proposed successful classroom strategies are intended to assist current and future art educators in implementing aspects of UDL in their inclusive art classrooms to better educate students with disabilities through art.Item Beyond the sugar skull: a critical discourse analysis of Mexican art lessons on Pinterest(2016-05) Sandoval, Stephanie Nicole; Bain, Christina; Adejumo, ChristopherThis study is motivated by two research questions: (1) What criteria does an elementary school art teacher apply when searching “Mexican art lessons” on Pinterest? (2) What kinds of pins and pinboards are available to online users who search “Mexican art lessons” on Pinterest? To examine these questions, an instrumental case study (Yin, 2009) was designed in order to collect data in the form of pins and a semi-structured interview with the selected participant. The findings reveal that the art educator applies her previous familiarity of Latin American art to find culturally authentic pins and pinboards on Mexican art. Additionally, these pins and pinboards that are available feature images of artworks derived from the Oaxaca-Mexican folk art culture, influencing the art teacher’s decision to select certain pins over others for her lesson.Item Breaking the silence : empowering adolescent girls through art(2016-12) Link, Bethany L.; Adejumo, Christopher O., 1959-This action research study investigates “loss of voice” in adolescent girls and explores the ways art educators can promote assertiveness and self-confidence in middle school girls. This study examines literature on adolescent girls’ psychology, the power of art-making, decentralized structure, and feminist pedagogy. Grounded in this literature the author creates a 12-week art club for 7th and 8th grade girls. This club was designed to promote assertiveness and self-confidence by letting the girls lead in a decentralized learning environment. The daily process of the club is chronicled and recommendations are made for art teachers looking to support girls as they transition through adolescence. Data was collected with surveys, interviews, field notes, and observations. After the club concluded, findings revealed that the girls involved in the study grew in their ability to assert their opinions, take risks, and have confidence in themselves.Item A case study revealing how preservice art educators develop awareness of the role of language during field work in art education for pupils who are blind or visually impaired(2013-08) Keating, Jannette; Bain, ChristinaWorking collaboratively with the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI) and Dr. Kara Hallmark's art education students at the University of Texas at Austin (UT), this qualitative case study documented how preservice art teachers' awareness of how to implement language as a teaching tool developed during a participatory observational experience in the segregated special needs art class at TSBVI. My research reveals how the field experience at TSBVI, which included hands-on interaction with pupils who are blind or visually impaired and the role modeling of an experienced special needs art educator, enhanced awareness for preservice teachers about how language can be used effectively in teaching art. This awareness is useful for all educators who include students experiencing vision impairment in the art classroom.Item Comic art in the classroom : making the classroom relevant to students' lives(2012-05) Paul, Rebecca Michelle; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.The boundaries of art education are growing and encompassing new artistic practices and contemporary discourses. Many art educators are advocating for the inclusion of popular visual culture into the school curriculums. This study investigates what might be learned from the effects of adding a unit of instruction on popular visual culture, in the form of comic book art, into a beginning level high school art curriculum.Item Contemporary storytelling practice : a look inside the Portland Art Museum's Object stories(2013-08) Stuart, Sophie Shields; Mayer, Melinda M.The purpose of this study is to investigate how the use of contemporary storytelling practice in a museum setting can successfully engage visitor voices with objects. Specifically, this research used an exploratory case study to better understand Object Stories at the Portland Art Museum. The unique attributes inherent in Object Stories make it an exemplary program to research and through which to gain understandings regarding effective contemporary storytelling techniques within a museum. The use of digital archives, the creation of a safe space, and enabling visitors to share personal stories about museum objects are some of the qualities that set Object Stories apart from other contemporary storytelling programs in the United States. Four themes emerged through interviews, observations, and the study of documents forming a rich and detailed understanding of Object Stories. These themes are found within and help elucidate the successful characteristics of Object Stories. Based on the findings of this study, museum educators can look to this interactive gallery space at the Portland Art Museum to help them develop or enhance storytelling programs, and ultimately to improve the development of empathetic connections between visitors and museum objects.Item Crafting a definition : a case study of the presentation of craft at the Renwick Gallery(2011-12) Noyes, Chandra; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This report is a case study of the presentation of craft at the Renwick Gallery, the craft museum of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). The Renwick, founded in 1976, is a curatorial department of SAAM, focusing in modern and contemporary American craft. Through an examination of the museum’s galleries and exhibitions, interviews with staff, and an analysis of educational programming, this thesis explores how the Renwick defines craft implicitly and explicitly. Giving a context for this study is a history of the Renwick Gallery, as well as history of craft and its definitions. With these histories as background, the ways that the Renwick, and thus its visitors, understand craft is explored. The qualities specific to craft in the literature and manifest at the Renwick are examined in order to determine how they influence the presentation of craft at the Renwick.Item Create to live : perceptions of contemporary art in reality TV(2016-05) Macknight, Lauren; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, ChristinaWithin the field of art education, there has been little to no research into the knowledge afforded by discourses around popular culture, especially those specific to reality television, into how the public conceptualizes contemporary art and artists. This kind of foundational knowledge is critical to our own development and evolution as a field as we learn how to most effectively reach our students and advocate best for the value of arts in education. Through an investigation of the television program Work of Art: The Next Great Artist, I asked: is the perception of contemporary art and practice altered by the lens of popular culture and, specifically, the reality television format? Is this an entryway to a broader dialogue about art’s value in the 21st century and to young individuals’ lives and careers? Results from this study were threefold. First, results pointed to a pattern of progressively nuanced insight and descriptive talk, indicated alternative access to art’s interpretability through the lens of popular culture. Talk in the focus groups functioned as a way for participants to perform access to interpretive authority over subjects of contemporary art to varying degrees of success, whether that meant adopting art terminology or modeling the language of judges and artist-contestants. Secondly, analysis displayed the discursive work involved in the meaning-making around understanding the artist as a figure, as a myth, and as a profession. Participants’ interactional speech performed a balancing act between critically examining the competing discourses of the artist—as contestant and creative laborer—and an understanding of who they are and their own identity in relation to the character of the artist. Lastly, analysis uncovered situated meaning of art and its value, where participants conducted a critical negotiation of what is and what was not art unfettered by lack of art historical knowledge of access to art’s interpretability.Item Creating a haven : how one art teacher promotes acceptance for LGBTQ students in the art classroom(2015-05) Rabalais, Hannah Lenore; Bain, Christina; Bolin, PaulThe purpose of this study was to investigate how one art teacher in Nevada promotes acceptance for Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer (LGBTQ) students in her classroom. Through case study methodology, the researcher observed the high school classroom for five consecutive days. With a focus on pedagogy, classroom management, curriculum, and interactions in the classroom, data collected included field notes, interviews and images of the classroom. The researcher interviewed the teacher and four former students that self-identify as LGBTQ. The collected data was analyzed through in- vivo coding, descriptive coding, axially coding, and visual analysis. The results from this study demonstrated that the teacher promoted acceptance through four strategies. The first strategy was to incorporate the work of artists that self-identify as LGBTQ to provide positive role models for students. The second strategy was to establish a rapport with students through humor. The students reported that the sarcastic banter encouraged friendship between the students and teacher. The third strategy performed by the teacher was to treat the students as adults, with respect, on a regular basis. Offering the students respect, and accountability, gave the students a sense of ownership over the space. Lastly, the teacher promoted acceptance for LGBTQ students by promoting acceptance for every student. By creating a space where everyone was respected, from conservative Mormon students, to lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender and queer students. The classroom operated as a haven for all individuals, including LGBTQ students. These strategies are shared so that art teachers may have a better understandings of how to create a safe learning environment.Item Creating art, creating selves : negotiating professional and social identities in preservice teacher education(2012-08) Kraehe, Amelia McCauley, 1977-; Brown, Keffrelyn D.; Urrieta, Jr., Luis; Valenzuela, Angela; Bolin, Paul E.; Carpenter, B. StephenThis critical ethnographic collective case study examined the process of becoming a teacher in the context of visual art education. This longitudinal study was grounded in larger educational concerns regarding the preparation of teachers for socially and culturally diverse U.S. public schools. This framing of teacher learning went beyond traditional dichotomies in educational research that maintain an artificial boundary between learning to teach content and learning to teach all students effectively and equitably. In order to re-integrate the study of teacher learning, this research foregrounds the transactional relationship between a preservice art teacher’s social locations (e.g., race, class, sex-gender, language) and how s/he makes sense of what it means to be an “art teacher.” Specifically, the study asked (a) how preservice art teachers negotiated their emerging art teacher identities in a university-based teacher education program, (b) how their social positions were implicated in that process, and (c) how their teacher identities were meditated by cultural narratives, artifacts, and practices. This approach eschewed simplistic and reductive analyses of teacher identities in order to attain a nuanced understanding of the multiple, sometimes contradictory social processes involved in becoming a teacher. This collective case study centered six preservice art teachers with varied racial, class, gender, and sexual identities, all of whom attended the same undergraduate teacher education program in the southwestern U.S. Social practice theory of identity, and critical curriculum and cultural theory were employed in constructing a multi-leveled relational analysis of the commonalities and divergences in participants’ self-understandings over time. Findings showed historical patterns of institutionalized racism, as well as complex class and sex-gendered meanings of art. These inequitable norms were reproduced in ways distinctive to the asocial and apolitical “common sense” knowledge that was mobilized within the world of art teacher education. Some participants experienced alienation and marginalization based on their social positioning in relation to the world of art education. The findings also illuminated the polyvalent nature of identity through the coexistence of hegemonic identities as well as counter-hegemonic agency. Implications and possibilities for generating more critical, equity-oriented teacher education and art education research, practice, and policy are considered.Item Creative catalysts : a narrative investigation of pivotal learning experience through conversation with six contemporary artists(2010-08) Curry, Kendra Wynne; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Mayer, Melinda M.This thesis is a narrative study that examines significant life experiences of six living artists that were pivotal in their decision to pursue careers in the arts. Although the examples found in these conversations are not exhaustive—many factors play into the individuals sense of identity and agency—they serve to give voice to the multiplicity of the learning experience, underscoring that creative education occurs in the home, the community, and among social groups as frequently as it does in the classroom. Through direct, open-ended conversations with artists, research explores the setting of upbringing and education, the pivotal experiences—catalysts—that propelled these individuals into art careers, and impact of their experience on both creative practice and notions of art learning. Interviews encompass artists whose work is located in public spaces, natural landscapes, and urban environments as often as it appears in the traditional exhibition settings, whose work is both collaborative and socially constructed. They comprise Rick Lowe, artist and founder of Project Row Houses in Houston, Texas whose community-centered social sculpture expands on our cultural assumptions about the artist and Anne Wallace, a public artist whose early work as a human right activist and bi-cultural experiences translate into videos about the complexities of the United States/Mexico border. It includes Vincent Valdez, a self-described “hyper-realist” who depicts his home city and composite life experiences of his family through allegorical paintings and drawings; Marie Lorenz, an artist explorer whose interest in urban waterways brings her work into the waters of forgotten canals and rivers; of Robert Pruitt, who critiques ever-changing political landscapes, conceptions of history, and globalism through hybrid drawings and sculptures; and Franco Mondini-Ruiz who fuses aesthetics of high and low in installations and creative economy widely accessible to people both within and outside the confines of the art world. Through narrative conversation, this thesis enriches overlapping theories that encompass our understandings of education and learning—mentorship, experiential learning, the aesthetic experience, place-based learning, communities of practice—through lived example, underscoring learning as a socially constructed phenomenon. Experiences of learning, unique and wholly individualized, contribute to a one’s sense of self and agency; in the case of the six artists featured in this study, creative experiences contribute to their identity as “artist” and motivated their pursuit of lifework and career.Item Cultivating a meaningful experience : art education for adults with disabilities at a community-based art center(2012-05) Schulz, Danielle Alexandra; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, ChristinaThe purpose of this study was to investigate instructional components that foster meaningful learning for adults with disabilities in a community-based art center. Through narrative analysis and case study methodology, the researcher examined the programmatic content of a single community-based art center--the Arc of the Arts Studio and Gallery (AOA) in Austin, Texas--from 2009 to 2011. Utilizing authentic instruction and constructivism as educational frameworks (Anderson & Milbrandt, 2005; Newmann & Wehlage, 1993), the investigator proposed instructional changes to the AOA program that encouraged student-centered learning through discipline-based inquiry, maintaining real-world connections, and the active construction of knowledge. The researcher instituted a structured, arts-based curriculum based upon these educational concepts that infused lessons with illustrative materials, sequential learning, and public promotion of participants' finished art products in order to stimulate creativity and meaningful learning within the art center. This study scrutinized historical literature documenting art and general education for the disability community in order to examine the influence each historical orientation to disability had on art instruction for this population. Coupled with analysis of the programmatic structure of similar art centers around the country, this information facilitated a more full and rich understanding of how and why art education for people with disabilities is currently organized. The process of creating and implementing a structured art curriculum into the AOA studio addressed the ways in which meaningful learning may take place for adults with disabilities at community-based locations, and emphasized the need for further research into the quality, experience, and location of art education for the wide spectrum of people with disabilities.Item Design and development : social empowerment and two community art programs in Brazil(2011-05) Brooks, Nicholas Charles; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Adejumo, Christopher O.This study examines how two community art programs in Brazil have empowered participants through art practice. The programs are contextualized historically and theoretically to address how program participants from varying social, cultural, and economic backgrounds, are prepared to be responsible world citizens.Item Educating the next generation for public service : integrating service-learning into the art classroom(2012-05) Ehman, Aren Rebekkah; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, ChristinaThis thesis establishes an understanding of how public school art teachers are incorporating service-learning into their art classroom curriculum. Through conversations with three public school art teachers and one administrator, observations of the teachers' instruction, and written reflections from several students, I have introduced how service-learning can impact students. Additionally, this thesis identifies resources that help create and sustain a successful service-learning curriculum. Using case study methodology, an investigation was made of service-learning philosophies and perspectives, methods of application and practice, and impacts on the students and the art classroom environment. Through this research I have gained an understanding of what I believe to be best practices of service-learning found in the art classroom, which are particularly helpful for real world application.Item ESL writing strategies for art instruction(2014-08) Treviño, Cynthia Jane; Bolin, Paul Erik, 1954-; Bain, ChristinaThe purpose of this study was to investigate English as a second language (ESL) strategies and modify them for use in the art classroom. The goal of this research was to help improve writing skills for English language learners (ELLs). This study utilized collaborative action research to understand teaching practices and develop curriculum for 4th grade students at Texas Elementary School in the Lejana Independent School District. During this study I collaborated with Ana Rivera, the art teacher at Texas Elementary School. Through a semi-structured interview and informal discussions, we developed an art lesson, Creating a Comic Book, which combined writing and drawing activities. Several lesson resources were also created as a result of our collaboration. Data was collected from the semi-structured interview, teacher and student reflections, field notes, and photos of students’ writing and artwork. By identifying academic areas that need support, I was able to draw conclusions and provide suggestions for ESL strategies. The findings of this study indicate that art educators can help improve writing skills for ELLs by utilizing vocabulary development, physical gestures, body language, visuals, and demonstrations. After reviewing a final lesson evaluation and analyzing data, I was able to provide recommendations for other art educators. These recommendations include support for native languages, create connections between home and school, encourage rigorous thinking, and edit student writing. It is my purpose that my research be shared with educators and administrators in the Lejana Independent School District and other professional venues of research dissemination.
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