Arts Integration and Writing Critiques

Arts Integrations has been the focus of an in-depth action research study within the high school IB Art and Arts Foundations classes. For the last 4 months, I have been collecting data regarding the research process and how to analyze results in a way that minimizes threats to validity and maximizes the effect of the intervention.  The planning stages are complete and the research will take place in the fall of 2014, which will culminate in a thesis paper that reports the findings.  An excerpt from the thesis planning document (found below) explains the research idea and description of the intervention. 

Research question:

Does art integration within the curriculum positively affect the quality of vocabulary, writing skills, and confidence level of our students?

Samples of the Pre Test:  

Research idea:
The student work and reflective entries will be kept in their Investigative Workbooks.  Some samples are included here which show student work (pre intervention) with art critiques, analysis, investigation into visual qualities, and art specific terminology. At the end of the intervention, the students will do another critique and Likert-scale survey to see if there was an increase in descriptive qualities, use of vocabulary, and confidence level.  

The Art integration strategies will include a variety of fine arts disciplines including visual arts, dance, music, and drama. Within these disciplines, a range of approaches are explored including verbal and non-verbal kinesthetic, auditory, and visual activities.

  
 
Detailed description 

of the intervention:

For each of the “Arts Integration Interventions,” a new strategy that focuses on vocabulary and descriptive skills will be explored. Students will be introduced to the idea of Arts Integration and how we will practice it within the classroom setting, sometimes in groups, and sometimes individually. At the start of the research, students will create a sample product that, at the high school level, will consist of an art critique. Students will then continue through the unit as normal but will have added Arts Integration activities to supplement their practice. These activities will reinforce observational skills, descriptive skills, interpretive skills, and specific terminology.

Chosen Design

A Two-group pre/post design will be used with this action research intervention. One group of students will receive the arts integration treatment and one group will not.  Both groups will also receive a Likert scale pre/post test that measures their confidence when viewing and talking about art.

Type of Analysis for this Design

A non-paired t test will be used because there will be one group that receives the treatment and one group that does not. A correlation will also be incorporated because student confidence level will be an important component of this treatment.

 
 

In addition to the quantitative analysis, the following qualitative techniques will be a main component when analyzing the results.

• Observations:  Observations will be a component of the analysis, regarding student attitude, participation, and growth in writing skill.

• Reflection entries:  Reflective entries will be a significant insight into the viewpoints of students on the success/non-success of the arts integration strategies.

 

Stay tuned for the results...Coming Soon in Fall 2014!