<p> Students in the United States have historically struggled with mathematics, especially with problems that require higher-order thinking Even struggling students, however, often show considerable interest in the arts. Unfortunately, the literature sheds almost no light on how the arts might be useful in helping students become proficient in rigorous mathematics.</p><p> I created <i>Beautiful, Beautiful Math (BBM)</i> to both intrigue students and require them to use higher-order thinking In <i>BBM</i> lessons, students interact with an object of art in order to learn mathematics. </p><p> My overarching research question was: "How can objects of art be used as effective catalysts for higher-order thinking in mathematics lessons?" In this study, "higher-order mathematical thinking" was operationally defined as having students actively engaged, working and talking together, on math tasks that require high levels of Webb's Depth of Knowledge. Three research sub-questions informed this study: 1. What do exemplary <i>Beautiful, Beautiful Math (BBM)</i> lessons look like? 2. To what extent do <i> BBM</i> lessons result in students' higher-order thinking in mathematics? 3. What are key design features and other implementation factors that need to be in place for BBM lessons to have the desired outcomes?</p><p> A constructivist learning philosophy coupled with recent cognitive psychology research informed my study. Using an action research methodology, three teachers participated in two cycles of creating <i>BBM</i> lessons. I collected eight sources of data: The Performance Assessment for Quality Teaching (PAQT) scores for each lesson, including a baseline lessons and two <i>BBM</i> lessons for each participant; video recordings of the <i>BBM</i> lesson implementations; lesson plans; audio recordings of planning sessions; audio recordings of post-lesson debriefs; audio recordings of my post-study interviews with the participants; student survey responses; and my researcher's journal. I then created tables of the PAQT scores merged with the lesson plans, which helped me search for patterns among the different lessons. Additionally, I wrote narratives of each teacher's experiences with <i>BBM</i>, which became a rich source of information.</p><p> Results show that <i>BBM</i> lessons increased higher-order thinking across all three teachers when compared with their "typical" baseline lesson. The cognitive rigor of the mathematical tasks showed especially strong growth. Additionally, students were highly engaged and active in mathematical discourse. Those <i>BBM</i> lessons determined to be "exemplary," based on their extremely high PAQT scores, had several important design features in common, including strong integration between the work of art and the mathematics content, the use of Visual Thinking Strategy questions, and a cycle of problem solving. Inquiry-based pedagogical practices and the culture and climate of the classroom and school were found to be additional keys to the success of <i> BBM</i> lessons.</p><p> Products from this study include: a set of instructions that will allow other teachers to create <i>BBM</i> lessons; a <i>BBM</i> workshop that I facilitated at the local art museum for math and art teachers from around our county; a collection of twelve <i>BBM</i> lessons for the museum's library and website; and collaboration between one of the teachers and myself to design a workshop for a fall NCTM conference.</p>

The purpose of this study was to explore and assess creative avenues that challenge racism in urban high schools. A project study was established at one racially and ethnically diverse high school through the development of an anti-racist peer education curriculum model that used perspectives from multicultural education, the arts and media. The school system, with a student population of 25,000, had been experiencing racial problems and welcomed the study. The project study approach was used in order to analyze student responses to creating an anti-racist/multicultural arts and media curriculum. The participants of the project created a problem-solving play entitled "Let's Stop Racism in Our Schools," and performed it three times during the course of the study. The major goal of this research was to discover, through the eyes of students, if their learning, attitudes and behavior were affected by racism. Another goal was to demonstrate the significance of using multicultural arts to address racism in schools. Data collection methods included student interviews, field notes, audience surveys, and production videotapes. In addition, quantitative surveys on race relations and multicultural arts were used as support data. As a result of this study, students were able to identify creative ways of addressing racism in school and share their perceptions of how racism has affected their learning. All of the participants agreed that utilizing their "voice" throughout the project made them feel empowered to reach out to others. The study found that students experienced feelings of discouragement, guilt, anger, and pressure to over-achieve because of racism. The implications of this study are relevant for grades K-12 and beyond because it brings the issue out in the open, thereby enabling a greater chance for reduction. It is important for educators nationwide to take a look at students' points of views and ability to take a stand and make a difference in school curricula. Administrators should consider allowing students to become more involved with curricular development. In addition, this study should encourage all school personnel to consider the arts and multicultural education as integral aspects of education in all basic subject areas.

The purpose of this study is to explore, identify, and describe the causal relationship between leadership and the phenomena that produce an environment conducive for growth of the arts in higher education, by recording the thoughts, perceptions, and experiences of individuals who are, or were, in leadership roles at selected institutions. The institutions chosen for this study were The Ohio State University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Each institution is noted for distinction in the arts. Both institutions are state funded land-grant universities, with comprehensive arts programs in the performing and visual arts and have professional arts presenting centers on campus. Through “expert nomination,” over fifty participants were invited to take part in this study. The participants were central administrators, mid-level administrators, chairs, and arts faculty. Qualitative research methods were used in collecting the data through the use of a guided, open-ended and in-depth interview with each participant. The research questions for this study focused on the participant's view of: (1) how the history of the campus connected with the history and growth of the arts at the institution, (2) what were the most significant integrative components of the arts on the campus, (3) what accounted for the growth of the arts on the campus, (4) what was the perception of the educative role of the arts on campus, and (5) what would be the ideal situation for the arts on campus. The analysis of the data revealed three major areas where leadership had effected the growth of the arts on these two campuses: (1) the creation of an environment that encourages collaborative and outreach ventures, (2) the creation of an environment that is based on a shared vision and goals, (3) the creation of an environment that generates faculty and staff excitement and high morale.

This collective case study examined students' beliefs and perceptions regarding art education and investigated factors that influence and shape students' art attitudes and their intrinsic valuing of art. The main focus of this investigation was centered on students' voice regarding art education and on the conceptions students hold about the value and significance of art. A phenomenographic orientation guided this research. The study was based on classroom observations, interviews and critiques with 12 highs school art students taking elective art courses. The analysis of data involved a constant comparative method to develop categories and themes. Three major themes were developed to explain and describe the results of this study. 1) Art Attitudes—explored students' beliefs and conceptions about art. A working definition of "art attitude" was developed to serve as a steppingstone in this inquiry. The ABC model, focusing on affective, behavioral, and cognitive modes, was employed to organize data. Students' emotional responses, actions and verbal indications of behavioral tendencies and cognitive evaluations of artistic experiences described their art attitudes. 2) Inspiring Mechanisms—investigated various influences exerting a positive impact on attitude formation. This section was organized into four categories: Introspections, Art Valuing, Consequential Art Experiences, and Family Zone. 3) Inhibiting Mechanisms—examined the negative forces that affect students' art attitudes and their valuation of art. This section was organized into two categories: Disengagement and Creative Trepidations. Study results suggest that the process of attitude formation involves a collection of determinants. Some of them promote increasingly positive attitudes: positive personal experiences, meaningful learning, engagement, self-esteem and nurturing family environment. While other determinants, such as anxiety, boredom, and poor self-perception exert a negative influence. Inspiring and inhibiting mechanisms exert impact on students' perceptions and beliefs about art and their self-concept as artists. These forces shape students' attitudes and affect how they feel, think and respond to artistic experiences. The attitudes that students form consequently determine their willingness or reluctance to expose themselves to new ideas and their eagerness or apathy to learn and experience more about art.

This research looks at the effects of learning environments on the creative process of learning. The literature search addresses fundamentals of, and relationships between learning, creative process and art-making through neurophysiological, aesthetic, and psychobiological theory. These three things are further tied together through a movement analysis tool—the Kestenberg Movement Profile (KMP)—which underscores the common tie between the three: bodily movement in the forces of space, weight, and time of the three-dimensional world in which we live. The Kestenberg Movement Profile was used to analyze the movement of preschool children in three activity categories of movement: formal activities, improvisational dance, and art-making. A gestalt notation of group movement was done; the notation was scored and plotted separately for each activity category. An interpretation of each activity profile was done for KMP factors related to the creative process of learning. These factors were: developmental age being expressed in each activity, as well as affect, self-esteem, learning styles and structures, creative and social intelligence, and agreement between internal states and the effective communication of those states. Results showed formal activities as hindering the creative process of learning. Formal activities required highly controlled bodily movement of the children. This research study indicates, as the literature suggests, that children of this age group—ages three-and-a-half to five years—develop a healthy self-identify and intelligence through bodily movement and creative spontaneity.

The purpose of my study is to investigate, through in-depth phenomenological interviews, the methods or strategies African American artists have employed to either: (1) survive in a Eurocentrically biased art world; (2) combat a Eurocentrically biased art world; or (3) challenge or change a Eurocentrically biased art world. The methods these artists use to survive, combat, or attempt to change the art establishment affects what we see as observers of the artist's visual expressions. The same methods also give us clues to how African American artists survive in contemporary society. The nine artist participants were Lois Mailou Jones, Calvin Burnett, Richard Yarde, Kofi Kayiga, Cheryl Warrick, Nelson Stevens, Paul Goodnight, Michael Borders, Shirley Whitaker. Each interview was conducted in three parts, with each session lasting at least 90 minutes. Part I focused on the past experiences of the participants. This could involve childhood experiences as well as those relating to their artistic training. Part II concentrated on present experiences, what is it like to be an African American artist in the northeastern United States in the 1990s. Also, how these artists go about finding exhibition opportunities, how their work has been received, and in their opinion why. Part III centered on meaning, what the participant's experiences as an African American artist, communicator, and individual mean to them. The interviews were audio tape-recorded and later transcribed and analyzed. It is the written transcript that formed the foundation of the participants' profiles. The artist profiles have made it clear that these artists do indeed reflect a microcosm of African American society, with all its biases, dreams and aspirations. The study has reaffirmed that a given racial group can have a common goal, but the means to achieve that goal can be viewed with all the variations of hues that make up the African American community. When the concept is understood, that we are all individuals, categorization by race or sex seems quite an inadequate means for understanding who African American artists are as people or as image makers. These artists are a mirror of society in general, and their art is a catalyst for the discussion of larger issues that affect the entire African American community.

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The purpose of this study is to describe and interpret young children's shared narrative construction and story acting practices within an early childhood visual arts program. Narrative and story acting offer children unique opportunities to explore ideas, thoughts, and questions. Listening to children and trying to understand their perspectives, thought processes, and experiences is a necessary and vital way of illuminating our understanding of curriculum practice. Based on the researcher's kindergarten art workshop program, this inquiry specifically addresses: (a) What is the context (the structure and organization) of the shared narrative process to be studied? (b) What are the major themes that emerge in the children's small group narrative? (c) What does this collection of narratives tell about what these particular kindergarten students feel and think about their world? This study provided an ethnographic-type account of the young children's co-constructed narratives in response to works of art. The study included 18 children from a private Montessori school in the northeast. The kindergartners worked in three separate small groups of six. Each group took part in 9 sessions. The children ranged in age from 4.9 to 5.9 years old. The primary methodology is that of participant observation. The design of this project is exploratory, descriptive, and interpretive in nature. The data in this study was gathered via audiotape and observational field notes. Data analysis primarily consisted of reviewing field notes to identify themes, patterns, events, and actions in the children's narrative activities as well as to generate working hypotheses. The application of the coding system by Wolf (2002) aided classifying co-constructed conversational sequences in order to allow the frequencies of each category to be calculated and compared. Analysis consists of the three aspects of data transformation advanced by Wolcott (1994). This ethnographic research emphasized the importance of listening to children's voices.

Previous research does not address the integral role art plays in early childhood education and preschool teachers and providers are rarely trained to teach art creatively. This study presents a framework for training early childhood providers in the developmental and psychological aspects of early childhood art, and the methodology of formulating and teaching creative art activities. The study assessed the effectiveness of this training in changing attitudes and behaviors of preschool teachers and day care providers, regarding the value of art for the young child and methods of teaching art to children. The sample was composed of 73 preschool teachers, assistant teachers, and family day care providers in Western Massachusetts. The treatment group received training in creative art activities. Both groups were administered pre- and post- tests regarding attitudes towards children's art, a demographic survey and a researcher-designed preschool and day care questionnaire. After the training the subjects' styles of teaching art to young children were observed and evaluated. The treatment group completed an evaluation of the training, a self-evaluation form and participated in post- training interviews. The effectiveness of the training program was confirmed by the evaluations. Subjects found the training was important to their professional growth. Statistical findings reveal significant differences for 11 of the 23 items on the Likert-type attitude pretest and posttest. Non-significant findings show a change in the expected direction for almost all items. Although the control group also showed change on some items, their change was always smaller than that of the treatment group. The data showed that overall, educational level made no difference in participants' attitudes towards the value of children's art. The methodology and behavior of teaching art by treatment group subjects were more effective than the control group. When observed, treatment group subjects displayed a smaller percentage of dictated art activities. Both groups displayed an equal percentage of creative art activities in their facilities. The results of this study indicate the importance of teaching art creatively with an awareness of the developmental and psychological implications for preschool children. It depicts positive implications for future research.

No description available.