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ARTS EDUCATION AND CONVENTIONAL ART EDUCATION: DEPICTING ACTION AND DETAIL IN CHILDREN'S DRAWINGS, GRADES 1-3

The purpose of this study was to describe and compare three art(s) programs and to explore the influence of selected arts experiences (combined dance, theatre, music, and the visual/plastic arts) and conventional art experiences (visual/plastic arts only) on children's drawings with special regard for the measurement of the amount of action and detail depicted. / The Subjects. The subjects were elementary school students involved in an arts education program or a conventional art program in three different school systems in the United States. In total, there were 335 subjects; 118 first graders, 103 second graders, and 114 third graders. Of these, 164 were female and 171 were male students. / Procedures. A motivational package was sent to each of the participating classrooms in each of the three school systems. This package contained a short cassette tape, a map, a set of photographs, and drawing paper. The tape presented voices of a fictional "family" from Tallahassee, Florida who were presumably moving to each school sampled in the study. The students were requested to draw themselves with their families and/or friends doing something together. It was requested that this drawing give some indication of the neighborhood or environment to which the "family" was going to move. In response to the motivational packaged materials, one (1) drawing was collected from each student in the participating classrooms. / Instruments. Two different instruments were used to obtain data for this study. The data obtained from the two instruments were used for statistical analysis of the amount of action and detail between students in arts education and conventional art education. / The Broyles Drawing Action Inventory was designed by the investigator for the purpose of assessing the amount of action students depicted in their drawings. / The Broyles Drawing Detail Inventory was designed by the investigator for the purpose of assessing the amount of detail students depicted in their drawings. / Conclusions. (1) According to the findings of this study, it would be presumptuous to conclude that students involved in arts education programs significantly include more action in their drawings than their counterpart in a more conventional art program. This conclusion was also apparent with respect to grade level and gender. However, it was observed that students involved in a variety of arts experiences tended to show a higher percentage of depicted action. In addition, categorically, the amount of action depicted by all students tended to improve with grade level. (2) The findings indicated a relationship between arts experiences and the amount of detail children include in their drawings. (3) The grade level at which arts experiences may have an influence on the amount of detail children depicit in their drawings appears uncertain. According to the findings, it was statistically significant at the first grade level only. (4) The findings suggested a major relationship with regard to the depiction of detail by females and males in arts programs. One could conclude that arts experiences aid both the female and male student in including detail in their drawings and that such a program could be equally beneficial to both sexes in this regard. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 41-03, Section: A, page: 0905. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1980.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74115
ContributorsBROYLES, TOM LEONARD., The Florida State University
Source SetsFlorida State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeText
Format106 p.
RightsOn campus use only.
RelationDissertation Abstracts International

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