Discussion and Engagement: Building Deeper Understanding in a Project-Based Setting
Gloria Adams, The City College of New York
Bio
Gloria is an exhibiting artist and educator with a BA in Art and Sociology from Oberlin College and an MFA in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art. She began teaching high school visual art at City College Magnet School of the Arts in 2007 and at City College in 2009 as an Early College lecturer. She teaches Drawing and Painting at CCNY and various classes including scenic design, book arts and puppetry at CCMSA.
Course Setting
CCMSA is a 6-12 school that prepares students for the Early College Program with an on-location CCNY mini-course in 8th grade and full 3 credit courses starting in the fall semester of their 9th grade year. I teach these 9th grade students their first class: Intro to Drawing and then Intro to Painting in the Spring. I also teach the same classes to older high school students, depending on their interests, schedule and when they entered the college program. Some of my classes are half fully-matriculated CUNY students and half high school students from CCMSA. This year I taught all high school students at the college campus.
Problem of Practice
Conversation by students about their own artwork and the artwork of their peers is a wonderful way to build a community that is committed to problem solving, understanding art-making and learning from each other. Discussion is really the most authentic way that I have found to build critical thinking skills that translate to high quality work. Unfortunately I find that students are often reluctant to participate in discussion because they view it as optional or they don’t know what to say. Even when there is a clear point system to motivate them to speak, I find that 10-20% of my students participate while the others zone out. My problem of practice is: How can I increase the number of students who engage in full class discussion with comments that build on the contributions of other students and deepen understanding?Strategy
With a goal of creating a space where students would want to have constructive, naturally flowing conversations about their own artworks and the work of other students, I implemented a three-step strategy. First we had a full class discussion about the importance of critique, having homework completed on time and making comments and suggestions that are rooted in the elements and principles of art and are not just a statement of opinion. As part of this discussion, I gave them a handout that we read together. It includes lists of categorized questions to think about when looking at art. These questions help students make a statement about the artwork that considers the concepts we practice in Introduction to Painting, like color, shape, composition, texture, symbolism, etc.
The next step was putting students in small groups where they first wrote about their own artwork and then wrote about the work of other group members. I used the graphic organizer: Thoughts, Questions and Epiphanies. Following this they had small group discussions where they could reference what they wrote and expand upon it.
Finally, we came back together as a large group and chose two to four artworks to discuss together. Having warmed up with small group discussions, students were able to participate in the larger discussion when I gave clear instructions that I would like them to listen to each other and respond. We did this type of discussion three times and each time it took an entire class period of an hour and fifteen minutes to complete.
Documentation
Thoughts, Questions and Epiphanies
This handout was used as a pre-writing tool before discussion so that students had time to think about their work and the work of others before they discussed it.
Student Photo of Thoughts, Questions and Epiphanies
When students are up out of their seats, and actively moving around, they are forced to think about their work and the work of their peers.
Student Self-Evaluation
This document was used as a way to see how students felt about the discussion they had with their peers about their work.
Measuring Impact
Full Class Discussion Participation
This is a demonstration of how participation in full class discussions increased over time in both of my classes.
Use of Visual Art Specific and Analytical Language in Critique
This demonstrates an increase in the use of visual art-specific and analytical language use as documented on the Thoughts, Questions and Epiphanies handout.
Analysis
Using writing and questioning supports were successful ways to get more students to join group discussions with meaningful and productive comments. I found that the conversation and analysis of artwork was most authentic and joyful for the students when they worked in small groups. They became genuinely interested in each other's work and in improving their own. I also found that the strategies I suggested for improvement were reinforced naturally when students engaged in small group discussion. These discussions were aided by the list of art critique questions and a list of visual art-specific vocabulary that was included on the Thoughts, Questions and Epiphanies worksheet. The worksheet itself served as a landing pad for ideas and questions that made for an easy transition into authentic discussion.
The hardest transition for students was from small group discussion to authentic and productive full group discussion for several reasons. Talking in front of a large group is more intimidating than talking with just a few peers. Additionally, because there had been so much small group discussion, students were less eager to talk more about another batch of student work. And finally, there was no specific graphic organizer for large group discussion, so students had to draw from what they had thought about and said in their small groups, but translate it to looking at different work. As a result, naturally talkative students took the lead in the larger discussions and didn’t hesitate to fill silences, possibly keeping less vocal students from expressing their ideas.
Recommendation
High school students benefit from having a way to do pre-writing and small group thinking and discussion before they engage in a full class discussion. Explicitly talking about how discussion should play out, giving students graphic organizers to plot their ideas and being consistent in making time for discussion as well as assigning discussion leaders all help students become comfortable. When they can talk about their work, they build confidence, are more likely to turn it in on time, and are more prepared for class. Students who talk to each other are happy and excited to engage in authentic learning and are more likely to apply art concepts readily and deeply.