Choice Based Learning

Problem: My Studio I curriculum, while solid in skills acquisition and setting students up to be successful
in the classes that they will continue through in my program, could definitely stand to have more
opening for meaning making and application of skill in a personal, meaning making way, rather than in a
constraint methodology of skills application. Some thoughts of what I would like for my study to look at:
-Develop creative and critical thinking skills
-Creative Problem Solving
-Research based learning
-Multifaceted/intelligence approach
-Value of process/discovery

Product
-Demonstrate skills acquisition through choice based/big idea curriculum
-Encourage making art personal
-Provide ownership of education process to students and instructor

Question
-What kinds of art outcomes are important in art learning?
-How can skills acquisition in Studio I be taught in a choice based learning environment that
fosters meaning making?
-How does direct instruction fit within the scope of choice based learning?

Literature to be Included
Anderson, T. (2005). Chapter 8. In Art for Life: Authentic Instruction in Art (pp. 31-38). NY:
McGraw - Hill.
Examining meaning making through the lens of a/r/tography, Anderson sets out to explain a variety of
art making approaches, research strategies for art educators, and an examination of the artistic process
and meaning making as a society, artists, and students.

Bergin, C. A., & Bergin, D. A. (2015). Chapter 11: Peers, Friends, and Play. Child and adolescent
development in your classroom (pp. 454 – 494). Stamford, CT: Cengage.
While covering a myriad of information in regards to child and adolescent development in their text,
Bergin and Bergin dive specifically into the concepts and benefits of peer interaction and play within the
scope of development as well as within the classroom in chapter 11.

Compton, W. C., & Hoffman, E. (2013). Positive psychology: the science of happiness and
flourishing. S.l.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Utilizing an approach from world of psychology, Compton and Hoffman ponder and illustrate the uses of
creativity within our lives and its benefits.

Pink, D. H. (2006). A whole new mind: how to thrive in the new conceptual age. London: Cyan.
Pink seeks to illustrate the importance of approaching life, not education, through the lens of the right-
brained thinker. Encouraging readers to think outside of the box through six senses – design, story,
symphony, empathy, play, and meaning, Pink illustrates how approaches meaning making through a
variety of contexts and suggestions of implementation.

Walker, S. (1997). Working in the Black Box: Meaning-Making and Artmaking. Art Education,
50(4), 23-38. doi:10.2307/3193650
With an approach of experiential learning, Walker illustrates the concepts of meaning making
to art educators through the lenses of their creative practices and studio instruction within their
classroom as well as encouraging original thought through these practices within their students work
and approaches.

Yenawine, P. (2014). Visual thinking strategies: Using art to deepen learning across school
disciplines. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Utilizing visual thinking strategies, Yenawine explores an approach to meaning making through three
inquiry based questions: What is going on in this image? What do you see that makes you say that? and
What more can we find? Asking viewers to really study an image, decide how THEY feel and why, and to
also look further than the first approach or glance, Yenawine, along with Abigail Housen, has developed
a methodology to research that is multifaceted in approach and application.

Zeichner, K. M., & Liston, D. P. (1996). Chapter 2: Historical Roots of Reflective Teaching (pp. 9-
24). Reflective teaching: An introduction. New York, NY: Routledge.
Emphasizing the need and importance of reflective teaching, Zeichner and Liston sift through a variety
of historical theories to education – from Dewey to Schon, the authors ask educators to examine the
why to their how and what ifs.

Terms to be Defined
-Choice Based Learning -Teacher Directed
-Meaning Making -Student Directed
-Portfolio

Methods/Data Analysis
-Student Pre-Quiz Skill Survey (Quantitative)
-Student Small Group Critique (Narrative/Action)
-VTS
-Student Reflections/Artist Statement (Narrative)
-Student Post-Quiz Skill Survey (Quantitative)
-Class observation – Case study
-Students are making art - Art Based Study
-Online Blog Portfolios – Art Based/Narrative/Qualitative

Assumptions/Outcomes:
-Students will be able to see personal growth, bolstering artistic confidence – making more about
process learning than product outcome.
-The more students reflect on and write about their work, the more in depth and connected they will
become in their art processes and meaning making.
Limitations: 50 minute class period? How do I build in time for these extra things that I am wanting
students to do? Blogs need to be done in the classroom most likely as many students still do not have
access to technology at home. If students do not have a phone to photo document their work, what is
the alternative?

Participants: Studio I students (approximately 50)

Timeline: School year 2018-2019