Rather than just being a study of past art works, art history can also be a study of process in which students learn about describing, attributing, reconstructing, and interpreting art. Sheet music is suggested as a possible resource to develop these skills. (IS)

Contends that history is a discipline with a great potential which could be exploited in the service of art education. Proposes that this potential be tapped by extending our notions of the educational functions of history and our conceptions of what past events might be seen as historically significant, and by learning to recognize historical…

Reports the effects of art-history instruction on students' abilities to interpret artwork contextually. Confirms that eighth-grade students are more successful in contextual interpretation; students at both levels can use successfully the historical artist perspective; and art-history instruction at both levels increases students' ability to…

Questions the traditional assumption that primary age children are not capable of historical understanding. Study discovers a wide range of responses that validates some of Parsons' Theory of Aesthetic Development and calls other aspects into question. Concludes with a suggestion for more study. (MJP)

Reports on a study of 815 elementary and secondary students and adults on the types of evidence referred to in art historical interpretation. Finds that participants referred to four general types of evidence: (1) artist; (2) viewer; (3) culture; and (4) perception. (CFR)

Provides evidence that sixth-grade students are capable of considerable art historical understanding. Suggests that second-grade students are able to incorporate knowledge of individual artists, and some limited historical perspective, in their consideration of artworks. Includes assessment instrument and statistical tables. (MJP)

Postulates a broad, interdisciplinary art education curriculum. The curriculum is built around nine increasingly cognitively challenging understandings expressed as instructional objectives. These objectives incorporate a series of questions examining art's functional, cultural, historic, and social contexts. Includes a discussion of the project's…