Research evidence for the benefits of arts integration is mounting. The purpose of this study was to determine if integration of the arts was an effective strategy for teaching the water cycle to kindergarten students. The study included lessons that supported both a science and an engineering standard of the Next Generation Science Standards and…

(Purpose) The purpose of this paper is to describe visual literacy and an adapted version of Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) and its value to enhance students' inferential thinking. (Methodology) An example of a middle school VTS, art-integrated lesson is described as well as reflections of a middle school language arts teacher about what she…

This article is about a year-long teaching and research project conducted with 696 4th graders (mostly 10-year olds) and their 36 teachers in Wyoming/USA. The researchers employed an action research approach. They planned and taught a two-day, Wyoming-themed, interdisciplinary unit, "We Are Wyoming", which integrated Social Studies,…

Purpose: The present study investigated whether or not the benefits of interleaving of exemplars from several categories vary with retention interval in inductive learning. Methodology: Two experiments were conducted using paintings (Experiment 1) and textual materials (Experiment 2), and the experiments used a mixed factorial design. Forty…

A conceptualization of visual proficiency is offered. A survey is described which asked college students (N = 358) to identify five photographs, five symbols, and five paintings that are generally recognized to be "famous". About 27% of all respondents claimed to recognize all the photographs, 23% recognized all the symbols, and 3%…

Te aim of this paper is studying ways in which originality of elementary school students can be stimulated through the use of artistic activities. The paper is theoretically grounded in considering originality as the capacity to deliver new ideas, ingenious, unconventional, unusual and shocking solutions (Mihaela Roco, 2004; H. Jaoui, 1975; Al.…

The use of emotional intelligence in peace-building has grown significantly during the past few years. Many projects across the world include some form of art activity to help victims of conflict, both individually and together across conflicting parties, in shaping a political process which enables a more profound understanding of each other with…

The present research focuses on modernising the approach to learning and teaching the visual arts in teaching practice, as well as examining the performance of an interactive approach to learning and teaching in visual arts classes with the use of a combination of general and specific (visual arts) teaching methods. The study uses quantitative…

A basic assumption in psychotherapy with children is that the parent-child relationship is central to the child's development. This article describes the Joint Painting Procedure, an art-based assessment for evaluating relationships with respect to the two main developmental tasks of middle childhood: (a) the parent's ability to monitor and…

In this article, I show how I enhanced my understanding of my practice as an artist, researcher and teacher using a self-study approach in my recently completed Master of Technology (M.Tech.) dissertation in Graphic Design. As part of my M.Tech. research, I conceptualised and developed a creative teaching tool that I named "PicTopics."…

Visual literacy was a stated learning objective for the fall 2009 iteration of a first-year seminar course. To help students develop visual literacy skills, they received formal instruction throughout the semester and completed a series of carefully designed learning activities. The effects of these interventions were measured using a one-group…

This article explains Janks' (2010) interdependent framework for critical literacy education, how it was developed and how it can be applied. The explanation focuses on each part of the framework: power, identity/diversity, access and design/redesign and it provides an argument for their interdependence. The framework is then applied to three…

This article examines whether exposure to the arts has an effect on the ability of students to engage in critical thinking. We conduct a randomized controlled trial involving 3,811 students who were assigned by lottery to participate in a School Visit Program at the newly opened Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Students who participated in…

The aim of this research is two-fold: first, to offer preschool children new learning situations in order to develop their drawing and painting abilities and second, to learn new techniques in a shorter period of time. The paper is grounded in the theory of creativity. Creativity is defined as the ability to propose something new, original and…

This article reports on the most recent phase of an ongoing research program that examines the artistic graphic representational behavior and paintings of children between the ages of four and seven. The goal of this research program is to articulate a contemporary account of artistic growth and to illuminate how young children's changing…