The comparison of experiential and expository teaching methods in fashion figure illustration among university students

Fashion fígure illustration is the medium in which designers effectively communicate not only original creations, but also ideas, attitudes, and social customs. Fashion illustration is a basic skill necessity for design students. Students entering fashion design programs experience fashion drawing through the eyes of the instructor and the use of various teaching methods. The purpose of this study was to determine effectiveness of the expository and experiential teaching methods in the instruction of proportional fashion figure illustration.

Twenty-six students enrolled in two sections of a fashion drawing university course composed the sample. Cluster sampling was used to select six university courses from which 157 students volunteered to complete the pretest questionnaire for the purpose of assessing generalizability of the sample. A pretest, three intermediate Proportional Figure Scales (PFS), and a posttest were used to gather data. The pretest instrument contained scales assessing personality, values, listening types, creative propensity, body-image, and figure drawing skills and a demographic component. Lesson plans for an eight-week unit on drawing the proportional fashion figure were composed for the two teaching methods, expository and experiential. Teaching methods were randomly assigned to the two sections of the fashion drawing course. Statistical procedures used in analyses were the one-way and two-way ANOVA, the Pearson r correlation, the t-test for variance, and a categorical modeling procedure. No statistical significance was observed for the difference between the expository and experiential teaching methods as measured by the Proportional Figure Scales. A statistically significant difference was noted between developmental stages for PFSl and PFS4. Statistical differences were observed between the University and Fashion Design samples in response to the Artistic subscale of the GIFFI-II creativity scale, with a signifícantly higher level of interest for the Fashion Design sample. A correlational procedure for the fashion design students revealed significant relationships between ability to draw a proportional figure and height, frame, parental artistic skill, GPA, creative propensity, and personality. In summary, although no statistical significance was noted for teaching method, differences between the fashion design and university students rested primarily in artistic backgrounds and levels of social values. Hence, further research of and analyses of these variables will provide better understanding of the artistic individual and effective means of communicating and teaching.