Appropriate Assessments for Artistic Learners

Action Research ProposalRebecca J Shepherd

SUNY OswegoMay, 04 2015

IntroductionAppropriate Assessments for Artistic Learners

Question: How could students with artistic learning styles be assessed appropriately in primary classrooms?• I am an artistic learner and I can relate to assessments not being easy to take

because I have trouble relating to them. What type of learner are you? • When observing a first-grade math class, some students were having trouble

paying attention and behaving during class. This made me wonder if there could be more ways to assess the many different types of learning styles.

• I am concerned that teachers are not fully aware of their students’ learning styles, making it difficult to successfully meet the needs of the students. Also, I am concerned that educators are not including art enough within their curriculum.

Who Cares?• Meeting the needs of our students is our primary goal as

educators. In recognizing our students learning styles, we can adjust our curriculum and assessments, based on their needs.

• Specifically, artistic learners should be able to complete other forms of assessment. Typically, formal assessments are not veered toward artistic learners, so I am attempting to have teachers include more informal art assessments in their curriculum, in order to one day include art in more formal assessments.

Defining Key Terms• Multiple Intelligence- According to Howard Gardner, there are seven

types of learning intelligences: visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, linguistic, and logical.

• Artistic Learner- Visual (Spatial) style is preferring the use of images, pictures, and colors to learn with and from. Also, maps help to organize information. All of these forms of style help to communicate with others more easily.

• Assessment- Evaluating or judging something or someone. • Formal- Data that is supported from information from a test/quiz• Non-formal- Data that is supported from content or performance.

Scope of the Presentation• I will be giving teachers and students questionnaires in order to

establish a starting point for my research. • I will give teachers ideas on what constitutes art and how art can be

easily implemented in their classrooms. • Next, I will be giving teachers and students an opportunity to

complete an art project in order to experience different forms of art and then be assessed based on participation, behavior, and progress.

• Finally, I will give a questionnaire to see what the students final thoughts are in relation to art and being assessed informally.

Review of LiteratureQuestion: What is considered art?Oreck (2006) shows that “the use of creativity in the classroom comes from the teacher and art is making its way through the curriculum through, ‘performance-based and portfolio assessment, creative processes in writing and reading, and cross-disciplinary and applied learning standards’” (p.2). While these approaches of artistic integration are expanding the creativity process of both teachers and students, I believe that many educators feel that incorporating art into their lessons is too time-consuming or more difficult than it needs to be.

Review of LiteratureQuestion: How can knowing your own learning style be useful in implementing art within a classroom?Allcock and Hulme (2010), matched learning styles between two groups of students with learning activities for nine weeks. After the nine weeks, students were tested for understanding and content. The results were fascinating in that the test scores improved for both groups. The weakness of the results is pointed out in that the students were not able to better understand their own learning styles or the importance of knowing their own style of learning. The lack of knowing one’s own learning styles results in educators struggling to pinpoint the diversity of learning styles.

Review of LiteratureQuestion: How can art be implemented as an assessment tool?Diket (2003) places emphasis on implementing art in a classroom in comparison to a student’s test scores. There is support of students being more artistic learners and that the integration of art in our classrooms resulting in higher scores in the end. If the test scores are providing positive results, then art should be added throughout the curricula and not specifically during art classes. • The positive trend is set in our primary school students and the

pattern continues until high school and thereafter.

My Research Question?I still pose the question…

How could students with artistic learning styles be assessed appropriately in a primary classroom?

Methodology: Teachers• My research can be implemented in an inclusive or non-inclusive

classroom of any grade level. I have prepared my action research for a fifth-grade classroom.

• I will start by introducing the idea of learning students learning styles and relating artistic learners with assessments. I want to give some background on learning styles and form a correlation between student assessments and lack of participation and understanding.

• Participating teachers will be given a questionnaire in order to get some background knowledge of where the teachers view learning styles and alternate forms of assessment.

Teacher Questionnaire

1. What grade level do you currently teach?

2. What subject(s) do you currently teach?

3. Tell me about your background as an educator?

4. Are you familiar with Gardner’s theory of seven intelligences? Explain.

5. What do you think about teachers incorporating art into their curricula?

6. How often would you say you incorporate art into your lessons?

7. What types of assessments do you do in your classroom on a daily basis? Weekly basis?

8. How do you feel about current standardized testing?

9. Do you feel like your students struggle with formal assessments? Explain.

10. Describe what material you see your students struggling most with? Least with?

11. Is there anything you would like to do differently in your classroom? If so, what?

Methodology: Students• I will want to have participating students fill out a questionnaire that will help

provide perspective on the student’s use of art in their everyday lives and help determine what type of learning style the student relates to most. If I can get a better understanding of the ways in which students learn and how the students feel about art, teachers will be able to easily recognize which students are artistic learners. This will enable educators to teach to their specific needs. I will also be able to see how the students’ progress as the study comes to an end.

• Based on the results of the student surveys, I will be grouping the students for their project, depending on their specific learning styles. I want to be sure to have a mix of different learning styles within each group to ensure that there is an even flow of creativity. I would like to have at least one artistic learning style per group, if possible.

Student Questionnaire

1. What grade are you currently in? _______________________

2. What is your favorite subject in school? (Circle One)

A. Math C. Science E. Other__________________

B. English D. Social Studies

3. Do you take an art class in school? (Circle One)

Yes No

4. On a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest, how important is art to you? (Circle one)

1- Not important 2 3 4 5- Very important

5. Do you draw/color at home? (Circle One)

Yes No

6. Do you like being graded on artwork? (Circle One)

Yes No

Why? ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

7. What test would you do best on? (Circle One)

A. Math C. Art E. Other__________________

B. Science D. Reading

8. How would you prefer to learn about a museum? (Circle One)

A. Reading about it

B. Being told about it

C. Visiting it

Parent Involvement• I will be sending a letter home to students’ parents, so

that I may provide information about the research study I will be conducting. It is important that I have consent from the parents before involving the students and it is helpful to have the support of the parents as well.

Parent Permission Dear Parent(s)/Guardian(s),

My name is Rebeca Shepherd and I am going to be doing an action research study that explores the different types of learning styles and the possibility of integrating art within our classrooms. There are numerous studies that show art having a positive effect on student’s participation, behavior, and grades in school. It is my goal to implore different forms of assessment that are geared toward artistic learners.

During the next four weeks, I will be doing my action research on the entire grade level. I will ask the students to fill out a questionnaire at the beginning of the study and then again at the end. Each week, the students will break into groups according to their learning styles and participate in an art project. At the end of the four weeks, the students will complete two small art projects, on their own. This will be a fun and creative way to get in touch with our artistic sides!

I ask for your permission to allow me to be in your child’s classroom for the duration of a month and allow your child to be a part of my action research. All student information will be private and at the end of the study, your child will bring home their questionnaires and final projects to be shared with you. Grades will not be counted.

Thank you for your permission and cooperation!

******************************************************************************

Please fill out and return to school

Student’s name____________________________________________________________

_____ Yes- You have my permission to allow my child to participate in the action research

_____ No- You do not have my permission to allow my child to participate in the action research

Parent’s Name______________________________________________________________

Signature__________________________________________________________________

Methodology: Student Project• I will request that the teachers include

a student project that will span over a month’s time. Over this period of time, I ask that the teacher’s report on student’s behavior and progress on overall achievement. I do not wish to overwhelm or burden the teachers or students with more work than they can handle, so the project will not be large or extremely time consuming. This is something that can be added within their curriculum that is already developed.

• There will be a new activity for each week. The weekly projects can be modified to fit any classroom, so I will provide a basic outline of the activities that are to be accomplished for four weeks. Each activity can be worked on for ten minutes to thirty minutes a day, depending on how much time the teacher is able to set aside. The activities are meant to help the students feel creative and use expression.

Student ProjectWeek One

Play song for classroom

Discuss elements of the composition; interpret the feelings behind the composition

Have students write their individual feelings on the song played in class

Week Two

Play new song

Show sheet music for the song

Discuss elements of the composition; interpret the feelings behind the composition

In their groups, have students compose their own songs; in writing, have students explain the elements, as well as the feelings behind their composition; each student should compose a section of his/her group’s song.

Week Three

Show students painting

Discuss elements of the painting; interpret the feelings behind the painting

Discuss artist’s life in brief

Week Four

In their groups, have students paint something of their choosing; in writing, have students explain the elements, as well as the feelings behind their painting; each student should paint a piece of his/her group’s painting.

Final AssessmentStudents should compose their own song and then explain, in writing, what the song intends to communicate to its listeners.• Using paint and a mirror, have each student paint a self-

portrait; students should explain, in writing, the feelings behind the portrait and what it communicates about his/her personality.

Final Student Questionnaire1. What grade are you currently in?____________________________________

2. Did you enjoy working on the art projects? (Circle One)

Yes No

Why? _____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________

3. What type of learning style best describes you?__________________________________

4. On a scale from 1-5, with 5 being the highest, how important is art to you? (Circle one)

1- Not important 2 3 4 5- Very important

1

5. What was your favorite part of the project?

A. Week One C. Week Three E. Final Project

B. Week Two D. Week Four

6. Would you be interested in doing a project like this again? (Circle One)

Yes No

Why?_________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

7. What did you like best about the project? __________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

8. What did you like least about the project? _________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Ethics• My research will not cause anybody physical, emotional,

or mental harm. I will ensure that my student’s questionnaires remain private.

• I will ask that the teaching staff only discuss their observations with me and nobody else, for the time being. I will discuss with the teachers and the students the nature of my research and ensure everyone that talking about learning styles and assessments is a completely natural and common idea. By explaining that everyone has their own learning styles, I will make sure that it will not cause anyone to feel left out or singled out.

Data Analysis• Once the data is collected from the questionnaires, I will be able to locate and group the students

into specific learning styles. This is the data I will pull from when grouping the students for the project. Also, by separating the data into the different types of learning styles, I will be able to see any progress that is made for the particular groups.

• Observations of behavior, participation, and attitude will be taken and recorded regularly. I want to see all of the students participating and sharing an equal amount of workload throughout the duration of the study.

• By the end of the month, I will gather the weekly projects and assess the work and gather feedback from the students and teachers. I will have the students fill out the final questionnaire and compare them to the surveys they took at the beginning of the study.

Data Analysis• My end goal is to hopefully get the teachers to create a list of assessments that entail a form

of art and brainstorm on how we can incorporate them into our daily curriculum. Eventually, we could discuss including art in more formal assessments, such as standardized testing.

• I want students to have a better understanding on their own learning styles and how important it is to learn the different styles of learning. I also want to encourage students to be more hands on and incorporate art in their everyday lives. If students are able to participate in school and be motivated in learning, they will pay attention and potentially do better on tests and other types of assessments, both formal and informal.

Limitations I do not have a classroom of my own yet, so I would be limited to classrooms on a voluntary basis. Also, I would have to change the formatting and project for grades younger and older, if I was doing the study for any other grade, but fourth and fifth.

Closing• I am hoping that my research can fill the gap from other

studies and research by looking into different forms of assessments for all types of learning styles, especially for artistic learners.

• My sons are both artistic and I think of them in school; struggling on exams, quizzes, and other assessments. I want to be able to provide them with a sense of relief because their teachers were receptive to all types of learning styles in their classrooms.

Questions or Comments?

ReferencesAllcock, S. J., & Hulme, J. A. (2010). Learning Styles in the Classroom: Educational Benefit or Planning Exercise?. Psychology Teaching Review, 16(2), 67-79.

Diket, R. M. (2003). The Arts Contribution to Adolescent Learning. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 39(4), 173-177.

Oreck, B. (2006). Artistic Choices: A Study of Teachers Who Use the Arts in the Classroom. International Journal of Education & the Arts, 7(8), 1-27.