LTC 8750 Research in Art Education 6/5

Shaping a Question

Mindwork: Explore Trial Questions – Prepwork 1 & 2 from yesterday categorized:

Curriculum

• The district art curriculum is shallow.

• How can I construct a curriculum that meets state and district elementary art requirements yet which fosters a culture of inquiry?

Student Learning or Outcomes:

• I would like my students to use technology in ways that develop media literacy.

• How do students react to reading and writing when art-making, visual literacy, technology, history, and communication arts are presented in a blended format?

• Will a blended literacy format generate higher levels of student motivation and learning?

School Policy or Politics

• It is difficult for me to book lab time, and mobile labs are unreliable.

• Subjects are isolated, there is little to no blending of literacies in the district elementary curriculums.

Teaching Practices

• I would like my lessons to be meaningful with real life connections.

Mindwork: Position Yourself in Relation to the Question

Who am I in relation to this idea?

I am an art teacher with recent educational experience in the development of 21^st century skills. I enjoy the creative use of technology for work, school, and in my personal life.

How does my position affect the way I approach and / or understand it?

I feel comfortable using technology. The skills I have learned combined with the experience of using them give me pleasure and encourages me to look for new and better applications.

What ethical questions might I raise?

·      Would a blended literacy curriculum be more effective than my current art curriculum?

Who will best be served by this study?

·      My students

Who might be affected or hurt by it, and how?

·      Other art teachers who are unwilling to utilize technology and who are happy with a ‘cookie cutter’ elementary art curriculum.

What are my hidden biases and assumptions?

·      My way is the best, students will be more engaged and create meaningful art as a result of a blended literacy curriculum.

Could I change my questions to avert ethical difficulties, or should I face these difficulties directly?

·      I will attempt to avoid ethical difficulties, but am not afraid to face difficulties should they arise.

Mindwork: Refine Your Questions

 I have underlined terms I think might be unclear. As classmates, please let me know what’s unclear to you.

I’m not sure that the ethical questions really matter to me. I believe that the risk of trying something new is worth the alienation of my peers. I feel strongly that students deserve a more engaging curriculum.

What’s missing, what bothers you, what might you be assuming? I’m certain that there are missing elements to this equation, but I’m not sure what they are right now. I’m concerned about the time and commitment that it will take to completely rewrite a curriculum. I am assuming that my coworker / team teacher shares my same level of determination.

Sub-questions:

·      Will students independently engage in projects outside the classroom if assignments were available online?

I could see myself returning to ‘Will a blended literacy format generate higher levels of student motivation and learning?’ It is an idea that I have been experimenting with for the past two years, something always hovering in the back of my mind.