This thesis proposes to develop a one-year sculpture program for high school art students. The intention is to present a reference and guide for those teachers interested in establishing their own sculpture program. Justifications for the course are discussed, including the importance of experiencing three-dimensional forms for any student interested in the visual experiences of life - be it nature or the man-made environment. The general approach to teaching sculpturing is presented along with a sequence of projects designed to provide the student with a variety of experiences with sculpturing as an art form and means of personal expression. Also included is a description of desirable classroom characteristics, materials and tools. The conclusion contains my personal views on the value of offering sculpturing at the high school level and the benefits to student, school and community. I also recommend a means of selecting students for the class and reasons for such selection. Here also, as a result of three year's of teaching at the high school level, I feel that it is necessary to make comment about the importance of the high school art teacher's commitment to their subject matter.

This thesis deals with the application of simple oxyacetylene welding techniques to the secondary art curriculum. Welded sculptural forms in sheet steel have been the focus of my own work during the past three years and these experiences formed the basis or background of the presentation of these skills to secondary students. An instructional unit was designed to fulfill three primary objectives. First, to familiarize the student with the basic tools and materials used in the construction of welded steel sculpture; second, to introduce the student to the creative concepts involved in the creation of sculptural form; third, to give the student liberal opportunity.to explore the possibilities inherent in the materials.

This thesis deals with an investigation of the feasibility of using the multiple-piece plaster mold as a vehicle for teaching the indirect method of sculpture to the adolescent student. It is based upon the assumption that the students involved in the processes described will have had previous experience with the tools, techniques, and materials to be used. The investigation centered around the ability of the students to express themselves through the development of a sculptural form. The teacher's role was to assist the student identifying, expressing, and evaluating his individual goals against those goals established by the teacher. Instructional goals were present, but relegated to being of secondary importance to those goals possessed by the student. My research established the physical possibilities of casting both in aluminum and concrete using the multiple-piece plaster mold. Research procedures centered around the investigations of industrial methods used in forming aluminum castings in plaster molds. My investigation revealed that solid aluminum castings in plaster molds offered exciting artistic possibilities, but that rigid control of the preparation of the molds and the casting process was necessary before aluminum casting could be introduced to the students. Concrete casting was also found to be of use in the secondary class room. Prior to the introduction of casting to the students, a questionnaire was given them to determine their sculptural concepts and their past experience with materials, tools, and techniques. The information gained gave support to the exploration of the casting process. I then formulated a unit of study designed around the student's successfully completing a solid casting in either aluminum or concrete using the multiple-piece plaster mold. This unit was presented as nine separate problems to be solved in the following sequence: designing in clay, constructing an armature, modeling a temporary clay form, forming a multiple-piece plaster mold, drying the mold, casting, chasing, applying a patina, and mounting a completed casting. The project was challenging and broadening for the majority of the students involved. They were able to use past experiences with implements, materials, and processes and incorporate these into this new learning situation. Group solutions were found to be the most useful method in solving problems in each step. Evidence suggests that group learning through association and cooperative problem solving is the most valuable result of this project. Aluminum proved to be the most popular material, but from an instructional standpoint it was found to be a much more demanding and complex material. I found that it was important for the students to have had previous experience in the use of similar materials, tools, and methods to those encountered in this project. Due to the complexity of this project, prior knowledge in sculptural concepts is also clearly indicated as being necessary. I conclude with the recommendation that this unit of study be undertaken by advanced students as a summary project after several years of study.

The goal of this thesis was to illustrate that secondary students, when motivated to express themselves, can effectively apply to their own work those elements of design relevant to sculptural form. This unit sought, first, to develop in secondary students a knowledge of sculptural techniques for handling terracotta; second, this unit sought to inspire or motivate the secondary students by utilizing a subject of great interest to them, their own images; third, this unit sought to bring together the students' understanding of the material and their motivation for self expression -- to transform their ideas into three-dimensional works of art; fourth, this unit sought to introduce to the students those art concepts related to sculpture that would be immediately helpful to them while working. The projects of this unit were organized into a series of progressively more challenging subjects to gradually increase the students' confidence in handling the material and to develop the students' understanding of sculptural design. The choice of the sculptural material and method was limited to a single material using a simple method -- namely, terracotta with the additive method to illustrate that the expressive possibilities of sculpture can be learned and experienced in depth with this simple approach. This unit in terracotta sculpture lasted approximately seven weeks and was presented in part to a general art class consisting of approximately twenty-nine students at Adams High School and in part to three classes at the Museum Art School totaling thirty students. The students in all classes ranged in age from thirteen to eighteen years of age. The results of these projects were generally successful. The work produced by the students demonstrated an understanding of the use of clay, an awareness of the expressive possibilities of sculpture, and an awareness of some elements of design relevant to sculpture. As the projects progressed, the students became more confident in the manipulation and control of the clay. They began to realize that sculpture can be a very interesting art form due to its three dimensionality, and that clay due to its plasticity, can be used expressively. As their work progressed, they developed an awareness of form, content, and the organization of sculpture as tools for creating effective and interesting sculptures. It was concluded that students on the secondary age level are capable of understanding mature art concepts and, furthermore, are interested in experiencing these concepts if they can be applied immediately to specific needs related to the students' work. These concepts must have the purpose of helping the student express himself more effectively and must be immediately applicable to a subject in which the student is very interested.

Technology offers opportunities for museums to expand the ways in which cultural perspectives relevant to objects on display can be exchanged and understood. Multimedia content offered online in an environment with user input capabilities can encourage dialogue and enrich visitor experiences of museums. This action research project using narrative analysis was an effort to develop the use of web technology in museum education practice, with an emphasis on constructivist learning. Concepts including the visitor-centered museum and multiple narratives led the researcher to collaborate with a pre-service art teacher education classroom and a local Hindu community to create content that might better develop understandings of one museum's Hindu sculpture collection that are personal, cultural, and complex.