Walden University ScholarWorks Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection 1-1-2008 The impact of visual art instruction on student creativity Jeanie S. Parker Walden University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.edu/dissertations Part of the Art Education Commons, and the Curriculum and Instruction Commons This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies Collection at ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact ScholarWorks@waldenu.
Walden University COLLEGE OF EDUCATION This is to certify that the doctoral study by Jeanie Parker has been found to be complete and satisfactory in all respects, and that any and all revisions required by the review committee have been made. Review Committee Dr. Peter Kiriakidis, Committee Chairperson, Education Faculty Dr. Maryann Morabito, Committee Member, Education Faculty Chief Academic Officer Denise DeZolt, Ph.
Walden University 2008 Copyright 200 by 3DUNHU-HDQLH6 All rights reserved 2008 ABSTRACT The Impact of Visual Art Instruction On Student Creativity Jeanie S., Eastern Illinois University, 1987 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Teacher Leadership Walden University December 2008 ABSTRACT This researcher examined the relationship between visual arts programs and creative thinking skills of high school students taking a foundations of music course and an introductory visual art course. A gap existed in the current literature concerning visual art experience and creativity among high school students. This study was based upon the theories of Eisner, Gardner, and Csikszentmihalyi concerning creativity and art experiences. This researcher used a quasi-experimental, nonequivalent control group design.
A convenience sample of 2 high school fine arts classes was comprised of 1 visual art class and 1 foundations of music class, giving a sample of 50 high school students. The visual art class was the treatment group that received visual art instruction. The foundations of music class was the control group that received no visual art instruction. Pre and post assessments were measured using the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT) after 1 term of instruction.
Data analysis using the t-test showed that a statistically significant increase was found in creative thinking skills among high school students with visual art experience. The findings could help educational stakeholders to improve visual art curriculum and to seek funding for visual art programs. The findings will lead to social change in high school art curricula as documented in the current literature to a deeper understanding of the importance of teaching subjects that encourage creative thinking at the high school level. Social change implications include: a) increased funding for visual art curriculum that will lead to positive social change by enhancing student creativity; b) encouraging further research on the importance of creativity skills among high school students; and c) increasing community awareness of the necessity of creative thinking in the global economy and the value of visual art experience in helping students gain creativity skills.
The Impact of Visual Art Instruction On Student Creativity Jeanie S., Eastern Illinois University, 1987 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education Teacher Leadership Walden University December 2008 DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my husband Gary. Thank you for encouraging me to do whatever I wanted to do, believing in me, and knowing when to go to the "man cave" when I had the crazy eyes. Without your support, I would never have begun this journey, much less had the determination to finish. I also want to dedicate this study to my daughter Evan, and my son Adam.
You will always be my greatest achievements and I am so proud of you both. You two are such a blessing to me and I love you BIG! AKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would never have been completed without the encouragement, patience, and support from my committee chair, Dr. His professionalism, knowledge, and sense of humor led me through the times when I didn't think I'd ever finish. To say thank you is not enough for all that he did for me during this process, but thank you.
I'd also like to thank Dr. Maryann Morabito, my committee member for her sweet voice telling me it would be ok and being there whenever I needed to talk things through. Thank you Maryann. My colleagues Lesley Reel and Sarah Jane Byars were instrumental in my achieving this goal.
They understood my need to vent when things didn't make sense. Sarah Jane's calming nature settled me down, and Lesley held me up through the statistics maze, and trudged through all the classes with me one by one. I am so thankful for you both. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY .1 Importance of Creative Thinking Skills .5 Purpose of the Study .7 Nature of the Study .8 Research Question and Hypothesis .12 Assumptions and Limitations .14 Significance of the Study .16 Section 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .18 The Foundation of Art Education .18 Art and Assessment .23 Effects of Instructional time on Creativity .24 Benefits of Creative Thinking in Adulthood .28 Questions Concerning the Benefits of Teaching Creative Thinking .29 Contradictions between Testing and Creative Thinking .30 Measuring Student Understanding .31 Previous Research Concerning Visual Art and Creativity.38 The Need for Further Research .44 Research Design and Approach .44 Population and Sample .47 Curriculum for Treatment and Control Group .52 Methods for Missing Data .52 iii Data Analysis .54 Section 4: PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF DATA… .56 Generation of Data .57 Collection of Data .58 Organization of Data .59 Recording of Data .60 Analysis of Data .62 Comparisons of for Pretest and Posttest Scores for Both Groups .71 Section 5: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .74 Interpretation of Data .75 Implications for Social Change .76 Recommendations for Action .77 Recommendations for Further Study.
Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (figural A). Principal Permission Form. Scholastic Testing Services Inc.96 iv SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY The purpose of this quantitative study was to develop an understanding of creativity levels among high school students who take visual arts courses. The aim of this study was to develop a theory concerning student creativity and a visual arts experience.
Specifically, this study examined the effect of visual art experience on creativity skills among high school students. It was hypothesized that visual art instruction may have a positive effect on the creativity of high school students. The findings of this study may have implications for high school teachers teaching visual art subjects, and for curriculum developers who may be interested in the relationship between creativity and visual art curriculum. The findings of this study may also lead to an understanding between teaching a curriculum that encourages creative thinking, and the value of such a curriculum in education if students are to be prepared to compete in a global economy.
According to The Education Commission of the States (2005), 44 states and the District of Columbia require arts instruction in schools. This is in stark contrast with the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 that considered the instruction of arts as being a core subject. Although the teaching of the visual arts (a) provides unique learning experiences and (b) is considered by law a core subject, many school districts ignore the value of a vibrant visual arts program. Pink (2006) asserted, "At the Yale School of Medicine, students are honing their powers of observation at the Yale Center for British Art, because students who study paintings excel at noticing subtle details about a patient's condition" (p.
The 2 instruction of visual arts subjects benefits Yale medical students. Additionally, concerning the importance of creativity in the field of medicine, a highly academic and competitive field, it has been shown that creativity has the greatest predictive validity in determining the success or failure of medical students (Lippell, 2002). For the purpose of this study, it was assumed that the instruction of visual arts may benefit high school students. It was also hypothesized that the instruction of visual arts may have an effect on creativity skills of high school students exposed to an art curriculum.
With the implementation of high stakes testing as mandated by NCLB, visual arts programs, even though endorsed by NCLB, have been affected at the high school level to make room for subjects that are tested using standardized tests. For example, visual arts curriculum may not be taught or is ignored and in some cases eliminated from the school curriculum. Art education should be playing an integral part of a student's educational experiences. According to Eisner (2002), schools must understand that, "Not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that can be measured matters" (p.
Eisner asserted: Yet the tasks that the arts put forward- such as noticing subtleties among qualitative relationships, conceiving of imaginative possibilities, interpreting the metaphorical meaning the work displays, exploiting unanticipated opportunities in the course of one's work- require complex cognitive modes of thought. 198) The Importance of Creative Thinking Skills Art education may be considered of secondary importance because many school leaders are focused on the quest for higher standardized test scores. Hill (1999) wrote that the public has been conditioned to expect numbers in evaluating the educational 3 performance of students. According to Costa (1999), the public has been conditioned to expect that these numbers are an accurate account of a student's learning.
Perrone (1991) stated, "We have evidence that the curriculum is becoming a matter of worksheets, workbooks and skills: higher order thinking and deeper levels of understanding are being sacrificed reading for meaning is being set aside; the arts are becoming nonexistent" (p. The narrow band of cognitive functions tested using typical standardized tests does not include the wider band of divergent thinking that art experience teaches (Wakeford, 2004). Gardner (1990) noted that only in the contemporary epoch has the idea of universal schooling been a goal of society, with the teacher being held accountable for student achievement. As long as society views standardized tests as an accurate accounting of a student's learning, schools will be teaching to the test to measure up.
Additionally, creative thinking practices are in danger of becoming scarce due to the nature of the process. Creative ideas are most often unusual and out of the norm. Sternberg (2000) asserted, "When creative ideas are proposed, they often are viewed as bizarre, useless, and even foolish, and are summarily rejected. The person proposing them is often regarded with suspicion and perhaps even with disdain and derision" (p.
The successful teacher of creativity must be willing to withstand the onslaught of standardized testing blows to the curriculum as well as defend the uniqueness of the process. Beach (2007) wrote, Because there are no absolute answers, the ill-structured domain of art is a rich discipline for increasing learning about one’s values as well as opposing values, about different ways of thinking, about visual iconography and communication, and about enrichment of life through awareness of what a society 4 produces and values. 35) This is important not only to the visual arts curriculum itself, but to the preparation of creative thinkers that are equipped for the demands of a global economy. According to Covington (1992), teachers need to inspire students by engaging curiosity, asserting that, "This is accomplished by providing sufficient complexity so that outcomes are not always certain" (p.
Student learning that involves creative, problem-solving thinking helps students to develop self-reflection skills and critical inquiry skills (Engle & Ochoa, 1988). Apart from written tests for measurement, educators need to be aware that other modes of expression such as visual, dramatic, the musical, and the poetic have unique contributions to make to the human experience. Visual art experience gives students the opportunity to think like an artist would, allowing for many correct responses instead of focusing on correct answers for an upcoming test.