Enhancing Reflection, Creativity, and Self-Efficacy Through Visual Art and Writing
Track
Research Project / Learning Theories and Pedagogy
Abstract
This research explores the role of visual art in promoting reflection, understanding, and self-efficacy. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in reading courses at a four-year university participated in this ongoing study on teaching and learning.
Responding to Visual Art: A Window of Opportunity for Engagement and Appreciation
Reading research identifies five proficient reader strategies: activating prior knowledge, creating mental images, making inferences and predictions, generating questions, and identifying themes. As students discover art as text, they gain a deeper understanding of these strategies. At the same time, the teacher gains awareness of the students’ nature. In order to interpret art, the viewer must have a personal connection to the piece. This connection promotes self-reflection as the art elicits personal stories, insight into different cultures, and feelings about social justice. Reading art compels students to use their schema to derive meaning. They make inferences about the story the artist is telling and use this insight to compose a piece of writing. These writings provide valuable information for the teacher as she endeavors to learn about her students, cultivate classroom community, and foster self-efficacy.
Session Format
Presentation Session
Location
Room 211
Recommended Citation
Wells, Lauren R., "Enhancing Reflection, Creativity, and Self-Efficacy Through Visual Art and Writing" (2016). SoTL Commons Conference. 70.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2016/70
Enhancing Reflection, Creativity, and Self-Efficacy Through Visual Art and Writing
Room 211
This research explores the role of visual art in promoting reflection, understanding, and self-efficacy. Undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in reading courses at a four-year university participated in this ongoing study on teaching and learning.
Responding to Visual Art: A Window of Opportunity for Engagement and Appreciation
Reading research identifies five proficient reader strategies: activating prior knowledge, creating mental images, making inferences and predictions, generating questions, and identifying themes. As students discover art as text, they gain a deeper understanding of these strategies. At the same time, the teacher gains awareness of the students’ nature. In order to interpret art, the viewer must have a personal connection to the piece. This connection promotes self-reflection as the art elicits personal stories, insight into different cultures, and feelings about social justice. Reading art compels students to use their schema to derive meaning. They make inferences about the story the artist is telling and use this insight to compose a piece of writing. These writings provide valuable information for the teacher as she endeavors to learn about her students, cultivate classroom community, and foster self-efficacy.
