Matching Items (3)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Education, Secondary
- Genre: Art
- Creators: Arizona State University
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
This study examines the possibility of using social and historical contexts, image analysis, and personal themes to engage adolescent photography students in the craft of photography. This new curriculum was designed around large themes that correspond to the developmental stage of adolescence. Issues such as self-identity, teenage stereotypes, school, family, and community were explored through examining historical documents and photographs, comparing popular culture perspectives, and learning basic semiotics. The students then worked within these ideas by creating their own photographs and reflecting upon their art making choices. The new approach was implemented in an analog film class in which basic 35mm camera and film techniques are taught. It is argued that meaning making motivates the adolescent photographer rather than the achievement of strong technical skills. This qualitative study was conducted using an action research approach, in which the author was both the classroom teacher and the researcher. The study incorporates data collected from student-created photographs, student written responses, interviews of students, interviews of photography teachers, and the researcher's field notes. Major themes were discovered over time by applying a grounded theory approach to understanding the data. The curriculum brought a new level of student engagement, both in participation in the course and in the complexity of their image making. By incorporating the chosen topics, students' images were rich with personal meaning. Students retained concepts of historical and social uses for photography and demonstrated a base understanding of semiotic theory. Furthermore, the data points to a stronger sense of community and teacher-student relationships within the classroom. The researcher argues that this deeper rapport is due to the concentration on personal themes within the practice of photography. Setbacks within the study included censorship by the school of mature subjects, a limited amount of equipment, and a limited amount of time with the students. This study demonstrates the need for art curriculum to provide connections between visual art, interdisciplinary associations, students' level of development, and students' personal interests. The research provides a possible approach to redesigning curriculum for photography courses for the twenty-first century student.
ContributorsOverby, Alexandra (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Many alternative schools for at-risk students do not offer art classes to their students. Phoenix Job Corps is one of those schools. I conducted a qualitative study about a voluntary summer art course at Phoenix Job Corps, a vocational school for at-risk students. I had thirteen student volunteers, eight of them refugees from other countries. All the participants created a narrative painting about something in their lives. The purpose of this study was to examine this voluntary summer art course and to determine its usefulness as a beneficial tool to the lives of the students. This included looking at participants' narrative paintings to determine common themes or subjects, finding out their opinions on whether or not their school should offer an art course, their willingness to share their stories, determining whether they think it's important for others to see their work, and lastly concluding what artwork they like best and why. I found that the majority of students do want an art class offered at their schools, and all but one participant was more than willing to share their story about their narrative painting. Common themes amongst their paintings were family, a specific memory or event, or their present and future lives. I found similar subject matter in their paintings such as animals, houses or huts, and people. My research also unveiled a large difference in the refugee students' paintings as opposed to the other United States participants. The findings also suggest that participants judged other work based on meaning more so than aesthetics. This study explores, in detail, the narrative art and experiences of a very diverse group of students.
ContributorsSchaller, Kimberly (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This study gathers the expertise of three reputable art teachers, through analysis of qualitative data collected during in-person interviews and classroom observations, as they share their experiences and insights regarding successful methods of motivating and engaging students in their beginning-level art classes. Various works of literature regarding educational motivation are reviewed, and this study begins to address the need for additional research involving this issue, as it applies to teachers of art. Commonalities between the motivational tactics of the participating teachers are discussed, as well as comparison of findings to existing literature. This may be useful to art teachers who are new to the field or who are seeking information regarding successful methods of encouraging motivation and engagement in their beginning -level art classes.
ContributorsClark, Erica (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012