Based on open-ended responses, the skills have been coded into categories with summarized responses and weighted based on the level and how often the skill was produced and where it was ranked by participants. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data relating to the theme.
- Close looking and description
- Learn to look closely at art and visual culture, analyze its form, medium and construction, and articulate what one sees (apply visual analysis).
- Visual, formal, and spatial analysis
- Identify and practice denotation (visual analysis) of works.
- Critical looking and analysis
- Analyzing the relation between forms and ideas
- Critical viewing/learning to look
- To be able to look and see
- Ability to clearly articulate in written form key information and analysis regarding works of art
- to recognize the choices made by the artists
- Master the basic skills of visual analysis; ability to assess an image or object on the basis of its formal qualities, in both oral and written form
- Analyze art and visual culture in terms of content
Art Historical Thinking (48)
(+)
- Art historical thinking and methods
- Ability to make connections
- Learn and apply discipline-specific concepts, for example: iconography.
- analyzing the relation between architecture and its historical context
- Relations between art and its historical context
- Critical interpretation of iconography across genre
- To understand the political, social, and economic landscape and its effects and influences on art and architecture throughout history
- Learn to contextualize artworks from different cultures and media
- Apply knowledge of art theory to the interpretation of works of art
- Gain a basic understanding of the nature of the art historical canon and how what is included or not included depends on social and political will.
- Understand how art and the visual format has been used to express varied ideologies, concepts and expression throughout history
- Familiarity with art historical vocabulary of both a formal and interpretive analysis sufficient to describe attributes that characterize periods in the arts and its culture
- Formulate historically appropriate questions and hypotheses concerning art historical contexts.
- Assess the relationships between art, culture, and history
- Understand some of at the traditional problems inherent in art historical and visual cultural interpretations of the visual arts
- Methods/approaches to the discipline
- Relate art works to their historical contexts
Critical Thinking (47)
(+)
- Critical thinking with regard to the evaluation of a work of art
- Demonstrate critical thinking and writing skills through assignments that require a synthesis of information, demonstrate different positions and interpretations of the issues, and incorporate reflective thinking to recognize and clarify important connections between what you already know and what you are learning.
- Critical thinking and reading analysis
- Managing the mass of information
- critical reading, thinking, and analysis
- Identify and explain the difference between description and interpretation.
- Learning to move from detail into a big picture and vice-versa
- critical thinking, particularly being able to read the premises behind the declared theories/ideas/histories
- Beginner's critical reading skills applied to art historical texts designed for both lay audiences and academics.
- Develop critical thinking skills when observing, analyzing, and discussing art/architecture verbally and in writing.
Communication Skills (38)
(+)
- Writing Skills
- Effective verbal and written communication
- Ability to describe cogently and succinctly
- Ability to clearly articulate in oral form key information and analysis regarding works of art
- Demonstrate the ability to write clearly, in an organized manner, with a minimum of grammatical, syntax, and punctuation errors.
- Write lucidly and persuasively
- Written/oral communication
- To articulate verbally what is expressed visually by the art works.
- Talking about art/oral communication skills
- Academic writing
- Analytic and interpretive writing
- Speaking skills
- Present Ideas in Clear Oral Exposition
Demonstratable Art Historical Knowledge Base (35)
(+)
- Demonstrate a basic knowledge of visual art and cultural history
- An ability to notice specific artistic/architectural styles throughout history
- Define the movements and periods covered in the course material
- Ability to identify key artists/architects and their specific styles throughout history
- By the end of the semester, students will be able to locate specific works of art within their historical and artistic contexts
- Recognize and identify representative visual art of major historical and cultural periods
- General periodization of art styles and their development
- Major artists and works
- To discuss the value of some of the most famous masterpieces
- Learn and apply discipline-specific vocabulary
- general formal vocabulary and its application
- Developing Empathy: ability to see from another's perspective
- Learn to appreciate and respect diverse cultures and human experiences
- Understanding Diversity – historical and global
- understanding diversity -- materials and media
- Developing Sensitivity to the power of images to shape human perception and opinion
- recognize the relationship between seeing and thinking
Demonstrate Historical Knowledge (13)
(+)
- Historical perspective of history of art
- Demonstrate an understanding of social, intellectual, religious, and political contexts of major historical and cultural periods
- Historical awareness
Research / Information Literacy (12)
(+)
- Secondary source research
- Ability to analyze written sources or other documentation regarding works of art
- Demonstrate information literacy through assignments that require research and evaluation of sources from books and data bases.
- College students today are generally seriously lacking in critical reading skills. I find it necessary to spend class time to clarify for them the differences between reading for content and reading in the service of identifying and critiquing the author's argument. Survey students don't need to tackle rigorous art historical reading right away, but I believe it is important to begin to build these skills at the survey level.
Ability to Engage in Visual and Aesthetic Experience (6)
(+)
- direct engagement with artworks
- Demonstrate ability to apply of the above when faced with examples of unfamiliar art or objects of visual culture.
Abstract Reasoning (3)
(+)
- Uninterrupted visual and reading concentration
- Developing curiosity
- Independent motivation to explore material outside of the course
Cultural Awareness (1)
(+)
- Ability to understand the role of art in everyday life
Understanding the artists (1)
Why are these skills important?
Based on open-ended responses, the following themes were produced in answer to the question. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data relating to the theme.
"Low level" skills ranked first with intent to build to "higher level" skills if possible
(+)
- I take skills to mean general academic skills, but relevant to the discipline of art history; they are different from competencies or outcomes. I have ranked higher-order skills last.
Course as a "foundation" for higher level courses
(+)
- These foundational skills prepare students for further studies in art history should they continue with this track.
- These are the basis of the discipline and illustrate for students the connection between art and life in general.
- These are basic lower order critical and creative thinking skills, supported by Bloom's Taxonomy, that support higher order thinking in future courses.
- Each of these skills lies at the foundation of what art historians do in the discipline at all levels.
- These foundational skills are the bases for looking at and understanding works of art throughout history. As a professor at an art and design school, our students need to be able to describe works of art, place them in a context, and communication information about those works (making broad connections)
Meet a general education requirement
(+)
- The first four are the learning outcomes for my survey classes. I've had these outcomes for years and feel that they are core and measurable for assessment. The fifth is the General Education outcome that the course best addresses
- These skills are central to a general education curriculum, and I believe students should not advance to upper level course work without them.
Course as preparation for life-long learning/understanding culture
(+)
- The outcomes above hover between those that have been traditionally privileged in the discipline -- the technical skill of learning the terminology and skill of analyzing a work of art, with those that while nascent in traditional intro courses, need to come more to the forefront -- understanding human diversity.
- These are the basis of the discipline and illustrate for students the connection between art and life in general.
- An art history survey course can instruct students in the major, but also those taking the course as an elective.
- Since we live in such a visual culture where students are continually seeing and casually interpreting visual information, it is important for them to learn and practice visual analysis and learn the different between content and interpretations.
- They serve as the foundation for functioning well both in the university setting and outside it, as these skills are applicable to most every circumstance and environment
- Because they are ways that art history helps students to gain and hone a number of skills that are necessary in any profession.
- Sensitivity to the power of images to shape opinion is vital to informed citizenship.
- They are the skills need to be a citizen and leader
- These skills are important to understand art and express ideas about them. Furthermore, these skills transcend any discipline and are useful for life.
- A survey course merely skims the surface; if an artist or art movement provokes them to search for more information outside of the classroom, then the material has, in a small but profound way, affected the student's quest for more knowledge.
- (Skills) that, while nascent in traditional intro courses, need to come more to the forefront (such as) understanding human diversity. (These skills) are particularly urgent in today's world as xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding and conflict between groups rise at both the local and international level.
- Understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity is hugely important to thrive within an increasingly globalized professional environment.
- Curiosity is a key skill that must be encouraged or inculcated if not exactly 'learned' as it is this that will drive a life-long passion for education and an open receptivity to new ideas and perspectives.
- The ability to understand the sway images have in our visually-oriented culture and to analyze their effects, both orally and in writing, is invaluable regardless of the student's ultimate academic destiny. Sensitivity to the power of images to shape opinion is vital to informed citizenship.
- Engaging in visual experience is fundamental within a world that is becoming more and more dominated by images;
Information Literacy / Research
(+)
- Critical thinking, information literacy, and strong written and oral communication are key skills that all students need to practice.
- research skills involve finding useful, relevant, and trustworthy sources and interpreting them.
- They should be able to think and read discerningly.
- I think the ability to think critically applies to all disciplines and art history offers skills that allow students to apply ideas to everything that they do.
- Critical Thinking and Written/Oral Communication skills are vital to the discipline, but also for any career.
- Critical thinking, information literacy, and strong written and oral communication are key skills that all students need to practice.
- Moving from detail into big picture means to hone attention to detail and casting a vision, which is a mark of leadership;
- Critical thinking involves deeply examining objects and sources, making conclusions from them, and creating new knowledge;
- Critical Thinking and Written/Oral Communication skills are vital to the discipline, but also for any career.
- Critical thinking, information literacy, and strong written and oral communication are key skills that all students need to practice.
- master vocabulary is a sign of a good speaker.
- communication skills involve writing, speaking, and making effective arguments;
- Visual analysis forms the basis of what we do as art historians and is specific to the discipline. As such it informs the questions, theories, and lenses of what we do. Even if students cannot always formulate correct historical hypotheses, to know that there are such things and work toward their understanding is significant in learning to think like a historian.
- Since we live in such a visual culture where students are continually seeing and casually interpreting visual information, it is important for them to learn and practice visual analysis and learn the different between content and interpretations.
- visual thinking involves looking closely at objects and noticing formal characteristics;
- I believe our main goal as art historians should be to teach critical looking skills the same way critical and analytical reading is accepted as a common learning outcome.
- Art is a visual language and although students today are highly visual, they do not always know how to approach an art work, what questions they should ask themselves about it. Unless students can actually see what is in front of them, they would not be able to ask any questions about it, nor think about the reasons behind the choices made by the artists. It is my experience that students have a great difficulty in articulating verbally the complex ideas expressed through art, nor do they have an adequate vocabulary to talk about art. Students also should be able not just to recognize and describe art works but to be able to understand them in their own context and to reason why the art works are actually relevant, what makes them important.
- Students should be able to analyze and evaluate art works discussed in the course, and to be able to discuss and/or write about them in an intelligent manner, using terminology learned from the class.
- Contextualizing skills help to think about the complexity of situations keeping an open mind, thus avoiding the risk of oversimplifications;
- historical thinking involves thinking about the past as different from present experiences in specific and significant ways, as well as about how history is a narrative construction;
- The ability to focus on a work of art or a textbook reading without distractions ("the more you look, the more you'll see").
Content
General Considerations
- I do not believe that there is any content area that must be covered in an Introduction to World Art class other than the course must include significant works that enable the students to be introduced to the breadth of global artistic traditions. I have been attempting to make sure there is as much Asian, African, South Pacific, and Latin American content in the course as there is European/N. American.
- This is very difficult for me to answer, because it may depend on the strengths of the faculty composing the department. Complexities can be seen in any period and in any culture, so it depends on the individual faculty expertise to choose content that best reveals them. I am a Western art historian who covers all the department needs, has no art history colleagues and no surveys devoted to non-Western art, so to my regret I cover mostly Western art. However, I would guess in larger departments and different climate faculty with diverse expertise team-teach the course, and that provides multiple perspectives.
Based on open-ended responses, the skills have been coded into categories with summarized responses and weighted based on the level and how often the skill was produced and where it was ranked by participants. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data relating to the theme.
Historical contextual/thematic knowledge (41)
(+)
- Understand the aspects of history (political, economic, and social) and how they effect art and architectural design
- Describe and explain the art of historical and cultural contexts
- Identify and explain key issues/events/philosophies that influence the conception and production of works of art
- Understanding the historical perspective of art
- Ability to orally present and explain contexts
- Understanding the relationship between art and social, political, and economic developments
- understanding the diversity of political/cultural/religious/social/economical/material forces that inform artistic and architectural decisions
- Knowledge and understanding of historical/social context to evaluate a work of art
- basics of the cultural, political and historical contexts
- Content is specific to Western and Non-Western Contexts
- Knowledge and understanding of religious/cultural context to evaluate a work of art
- How art is distributed
Foundational Art Historical / Formal Vocabulary (35)
(+)
- development of a foundational art historical vocabulary
- Formal qualities of individual works of art
- Knowledge and understanding of the visual elements
- Knowledge and understanding of the principles of design
- Identify and explain key terms that are necessary to explain and interpret works of art
- Understanding of artistic processes
- Knowledge of different media
- understanding the contingency of the ideas about form and space
- How art is made
- different techniques and their challenges
- Identify, analyze, describe and evaluate major monuments and movements in the history of art
- Knowledge of art movements, objects, and artists
- understanding of major patterns and periods of world history
- Recognize key artists, periods/movements, formal qualities of art works through history
- orientation to key visual works from the world's diverse visual cultures
- Understanding of periods and styles in history of art
- Understanding the major artists and their major works within each period
- most famous art works and artists worldwide
- Ability to recognize, describe, compare, and analyze key works of art and significant artists
Art Historical Writing (27)
(+)
- Ability to make convincing arguments about works of art using specific, historical evidence
- Essay paper
- Read and write creatively and critically about the arts and understand research methods and principles
- Students are able to clearly and concisely analyze works of art in writing, adhering to a few basic stylistic requirements.
- Compare and contrast: Ability to make meaningful connections between two or more works of art with one or more similarities but different backgrounds or contexts
- Ability to write, clearly and critically, about art historical and cultural contexts
- an ability to write about objects critically
- footnotes and citations
- Ability to describe in words visual imagery and objects with discipline-specific vocabulary
- Writing and description
World Visual Culture (21)
(+)
- Identify and explain how key historical works influence popular culture today.
- Acknowledging that art history is relevant and important to society today. It is a way of knowing and means to understanding ourselves and other people and cultures across time and space.
- Develop an eye to understand how artists/architects have influenced style throughout history
- basics of the different art languages all over the world throughout history
- Understand the role of the visual medium throughout history
- Recognizing the functions and reception of visual arts in the time in which they were created
- Develop an understanding of how to look at art and talk or write about it, as well as establish connections of art/architecture to everyday life
- Interpret art and architecture as expressions of cultural and historical circumstances
Critical Understanding of Art History as a Discipline (20)
(+)
- Historiography of art history - what art history is and where it came form
- Exposure to different methodologies of interpretation
- The relationship between museums and our understanding of works of art
- Interpretive frameworks used to discuss art
- Understand the context (social, historical, religious, philosophical, political, etc.) that informed the production of art
- Understand art historical methodologies and approaches, and apply them to the analysis and interpretation of works of art and architecture
- A general understanding, and critique of, the western art historical narrative
- Sourcing--understanding that knowledge is constructed, and the evidence it rests on should be questioned for biases, incompleteness, and outright gaps from primary documents to contemporary readings
- Identify and explain different theories and methodologies used in Art History to interpret and explain works.
- familiarization with the goals and problems of the discipline of art history and visual culture
Critical Thinking (19)
(+)
- Critical thinking
- reading art and architecture as more than forms
- Recognizing that while the past and present may have broad similarities, for example propaganda or economic concerns it is necessary to situate art within period appropriate contexts.
- Relate topics under question in relationship to contemporaneous social, political, and cultural issues
- avoiding stereotyping and labeling
- a basic knowledge of how to look critically
- an awareness of the interrelationship between seeing, describing, and analyzing
- Image analysis
- ability to write a short visual analysis
- Ability to formally analyze works of art
Problem Solving / Application / Doing Art History (15)
(+)
- Students are able to recognize stylistic similarities between different works and provide educated guesses about the provenance of the image(s).
- Ability to connect artist, period, society etc.
- Place a work of art in its historical and stylistic context
- Problem Solving
- Apply the first four to "unknown", unfamiliar art works outside of the survey's scope
- Ability to recognize, describe, compare, and analyze key works of art and significant artists
- Ability to make meaningful conclusions about works of art never seen before
- Develop an understanding of how to look at art and talk or write about it, as well as establish connections of art/architecture to everyday life
- to understand that art is a visual language that conveys meaning in a very unique way
- Visual literacy
- Images and objects have meaning and their language can be read and interpreted--forms, signs, and symbols have signification.
Linear development of Art History (13)
(+)
- Develop a knowledge of art and its development throughout history
- Develop and understand the overall chronology of art history (at the introductory level)
- Identify and explain the key factors about the development of styles, practices, and canons.
Critical Historical Research (6)
(+)
- Ability to read primary textual sources and make meaning out of them with respect to works of art
- Read and write creatively and critically about the arts and understand research methods and principles
Communication / Group Work (4)
(+)
- in-class discussion
- Students are able to work productively with one another in a small group setting, sharing knowledge and entertaining differences of opinion.
- Oral presentation
- Students are able to formulate and respond to questions concerning art and ethics.
- Develop an ethical responsibility to be good stewards of art and visual culture.
Why is this particular content important to cover in this course and ranked as such in terms of importance?
Based on open-ended responses, the following themes were produced in answer to the question. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data relating to the theme.
Foundational knowledge listed first with possible more advanced content last
(+)
- I take content outcomes to mean learning outcomes or competencies. I have ranked higher-order competencies last.
Foundational knowledge for future study in art history/design
(+)
- they are evidence that a student has achieved the foundation of the skills and knowledge necessary for art historical inquiry on a higher level.
- I do think one needs to consider the institution where the art history survey is taught and how that course functions within that institution. For instance, at an art and design school art history is NOT a humanities course and must be separate from general education courses. At my institution, there is not general education world history (or even Western history) and so the art history survey is the students only exposure to art as history. And since many freshman come into college with little to no knowledge of history, the art history survey is one of the most important early classes.
Content covered supports desired skill outcomes
(+)
- Students ought to be able to develop and apply the skills listed earlier in a variety of ways: through critical reading, writing, and speaking, both in the broader context of the class and in small groups. This varied approach encourages syncretic learning, and gives students different paths to success.
- These outcomes are necessary and important because they indicate the acquisition of the skills.
"Basic content for an art history course"
(+)
- basic outcomes given for any art history or survey course.
- The content is specific to the course, i.e. Survey I, II or non-Western
- I would say all of these are equally important to give students the knowledge that would be expected of a 3-credit undergraduate art history course.
Applicable content for non-majors
(+)
- I have different goals and thus desired learning outcomes for students who are art or design studio, art education, and art history majors and those who are non-majors. I believe that this means there should be two different types of art history survey courses. For non-majors this might be the only time they are exposed to art and art historical concepts. I want them to become visually literate individuals, who value art and art history, realize it does communicate meaning, is based within history, which must be taken into account, and that knowledge is constructed. Part of my mission for non-majors is to develop an avid and passionate audience for art that believes in its cultural importance for humanity and that art history can help us to understand who we are as people. Because of this the content outcomes I have outlined are not applicable to one specific period or type but are broad.
- They reflect the mastery of skills transferable far beyond the discipline of art history as part of a general, liberal arts education.
- I do think one needs to consider the institution where the art history survey is taught and how that course functions within that institution. For instance, at an art and design school art history is NOT a humanities course and must be separate from general education courses. At my institution, there is not general education world history (or even Western history) and so the art history survey is the students only exposure to art as history. And since many freshman come into college with little to no knowledge of history, the art history survey is one of the most important early classes.
- Many non-majors have different attitudes and belief systems they bring to the class versus majors, although this is not always the case. Most majors do not need to be convinced that art is important or that it has some type of value while non-majors run the gamut from actively disdaining it to really wanting to understand its role within cultures. It seems that to best serve these different constituencies that different courses are needed. I think that's something I'm not hearing as much about as I'd like right now as there seems to be a more monolithic understanding of how do we treat THE SURVEY.
Content for wide applicability and utility
(+)
- The outcomes have wide applicability and utility.
Content driven by the specialization of the instructor / Interdisciplinary perspective
(+)
- This is very difficult for me to answer, because it may depend on the strengths of the faculty composing the department. Complexities can be seen in any period and in any culture, so it depends on the individual faculty expertise to choose content that best reveals them. I am a Western art historian who covers all the department needs, has no art history colleagues and no surveys devoted to non-Western art, so to my regret I cover mostly Western art. However, I would guess in larger departments and different climate faculty with diverse expertise team-teach the course, and that provides multiple perspectives.
- Perhaps interdisciplinary approaches - could the course be inserted within a team-taught humanities class to help students see a broader picture? Given the huge chronological span, how to do that?
- The need to approach all material in interdisciplinary manner with the works of art as the material from which to do interdisciplinary study of history of human culture.
- I do not believe that there is any content area that must be covered in an Introduction to World Art class other than the course must include significant works that enable the students to be introduced to the breadth of global artistic traditions. I have been attempting to make sure there is as much Asian, African, South Pacific, and Latin American content in the course as there is European/N. American.
- A thorough understanding of the vocabulary of art is essential to competently describing, comparing, and evaluating works of art, as is the ability to understand the context.
- Because it's a survey I think some content addressing the western narrative is crucial
- I move from the basic information of art history to interpretation, privileging cultural art history. The basic information is important because students have to know this before progressing to interpretation. I privilege cultural because it is the broadest mythology in scope and touches student interest most completely.
- A survey should also give the students a bit of visual literacy of art works that have been especially influential in history or today.
- The first four categories are the main premise of a survey course: the instructor is giving a who/when/how/where/why understanding to the visual arts through history. A survey course moves fast, and so we cannot really "delve" into a time period or theme in the same manner than an upper-level undergraduate or graduate-level course can. We are introducing students to the visual arts, a "chronological sampler platter" (without sounding too crude or flippant).
- Knowledge of canonical works of art and artists
Formal / Art Historical Terminology
(+)
- A thorough understanding of the vocabulary of art is essential to competently describing, comparing, and evaluating works of art, as is the ability to understand the context.
- The first outcome is particularly important in response to the dominance of the image, which has resulted in reducing art and architecture to forms. (I would have put a lower emphasis on it 50 years ago)
- I believe in my situation working with fields of study where students utilize art, the more we insert application and its relevance to artistic development the better.
Historical / Thematic Knowledge
(+)
- A thorough understanding of the vocabulary of art is essential to competently describing, comparing, and evaluating works of art, as is the ability to understand the context.
Art Historical Writing
(+)
- The ability to read/write creatively and critically is the basis for all college-educated students. Students need to learn how to organize complex information into a coherent argument, choose appropriate language using an art historical vocabulary, and understand primary/secondary sources
Critical Understanding of Art History as a Discipline
(+)
- Many survey courses use standard survey texts that are highly descriptive and present the notion of a logical, chronological development of art and culture. Since students tend to believe what is in these very expensive books, it is important that the content be critically evaluated, even if that means covering fewer objects and raising more issues about what is covered.
- Understanding the methods of art history provides students with the tools art historian use to analyze works throughout history.
- I think it is always important to have students look or question what is not in the course/textbook and why.
- I think we also need to address the building blocks of the canon with our students through looking closely at objects and texts and how we interact with them, how they were interacted with in the past, and how that's changed. My course should demonstrate that our relationships with works of art can't be codified in a textbook.
- Critical theory
- Critical thinking allows students to make connections between the complex elements of art history - the artists, society, etc.
- I see a tendency toward labeling decisions (not always under the styles), which is by definition reductive. Somewhat acting against itself, my ideal course on art/architectural history shows styles as themselves creations of a historical moment for a particular ideological end.
- They should be encouraged to always consider the context of production, reception and look at how historical works influence their world now
- Describing and explaining are basic thinking outcomes.
- The ability to identify, analyze and evaluate major works in the history of art is the foundation for all art historical inquiry
- Students need to be able to recognize basic methods and materials, develop a vocabulary, and refine critical analysis skills by comparing works across time and cultures.
Problem Solving / Doing Art History
(+)
- My main goal in an art history survey course is to teach students how to view art, talk about art, and critique the ways in which that's done.
- based on what they learn in a survey course, they can evaluate and apply their knowledge to an art work not discussed in class (e.g., when visiting a museum).
- The chronological approach to the art history survey allows students to understand the visual information and not only connect it to a cultural context, but see the development of art through culture.
- Understanding of progression of artistic styles
- I think that a course like an art history survey improves awareness of diverse cultures, ethics, values, and aesthetics.
- I do not believe that there is any content area that must be covered in an Introduction to World Art class other than the course must include significant works that enable the students to be introduced to the breadth of global artistic traditions. I have been attempting to make sure there is as much Asian, African, South Pacific, and Latin American content in the course as there is European/N. American.
- Interpreting art as an expression of cultural/historical circumstances allows students to integrate factual information about specific cultures into broader concepts, assess the role of an object in relation to the cultural context, and compare circumstances and processes across cultures.
- avoiding a romantic view of "creativity." To think out of the box, an artist/architect needs to first see the many biases that inform her/his decisions and seeing the examples in history is very helpful for that.
- I move from the basic information of art history to interpretation, privileging cultural art history. The basic information is important because students have to know this before progressing to interpretation. I privilege cultural because it is the broadest mythology in scope and touches student interest most completely.
- Art plays a fundamental role in our understanding of the world. I believe the students should understand from the very beginning its relevance. I believe the survey should not be as Eurocentric as it had been most of the times. Art can take many forms, address different challenges, and the students should be introduced to as many as possible.
- I think that a course like an art history survey improves awareness of diverse cultures, ethics, values, and aesthetics.
- My survey courses have a diversity designation, so I have to make sure that my students can analyze similarities and differences within or across cultures, examine the role of social factors (e.g. race, gender, etc) in shaping social interaction
- The need to approach all material in interdisciplinary manner with the works of art as the material from which to do interdisciplinary study of history of human culture.
- Art, art museums, and the discipline of art history have traditionally been perceived as the epitome of 'high culture', the domain of the elite. It is urgent we work to enable students to see themselves in art's history and to give them the skills and confidence to have a stake in our conversation. Art is a means of empowerment.
General Considerations
The following themes presented themselves as general considerations when considering the choice of instructional techniques for the Art History Survey course. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data related to the theme.
- Prior to class:
- No training necessary
- I fear that this problem may be less specific to my particular institution, and more applicable to undergraduate education in general: The alarming number of students who do not possess college-level skills in reading, writing and even listening put considerable strain on the instructors of introductory courses such as these.
- During the semester:
- Often success is dependent on students being prepared for the class activity (e.g. having completed assigned reading)
- Students must be prepared for class and willing to speak up.
- Scaffolding: More complex topics and assignments so that students have guidance in doing the work.
- Students must already be familiar with the key characteristics of the time period/artist in order to make an informed analysis and contribute to the activity.
- Training in effective speech making, tutoring in speech, writing center support.
- Students must be able to read carefully, critically, and be able to understand what they read.
- I teach World Art in two radically different contexts. First as a large-lecture intro to 200 students, second as an upper-level seminar to 25. Hence the techniques, activities, and assignments vary greatly depending on the audience.
- Class size preferably smaller than 30 students.
- Not sure this would work with 200 students in a lecture class, but might be adapted for TAs for sections.
- (Lecture) provides shape and structure, and introduces students to the discipline of art history through its use of vocabulary, and its modelling of art historical thinking and methods.
- Some modeling is nice- using Smarthistory or conversations in class about works of art.
Student Enfranchisement
(+)
- Goal is to enfranchise students to become participants
- Students today like games, like cosplay, they like doing something with what they are learning
- With a growing number of international students, support on how to engage non-English speakers would be helpful.
- Graduate students of art history are scarcely trained how to teach to a general audience, much less how to help students with learning disabilities, academic disadvantages, or who do not speak English as a first language.
Support Considerations
The following themes presented themselves as general considerations for supporting instructional techniques. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data related to each theme.
- Including close-up/details. Help to train the eye.
- Students need to know how to take notes in class and on their reading as well.
Quality of the Instructor
(+)
- Strong understanding of the broad context of art, not simply an "art appreciation" approach
- The professor needs, of course, to have an advanced degree in art history, preferably a PhD. Finally, he or she needs to be able to run a discussion.
- Training: it definitely takes the instructor out of the comfort zone of standing and lecturing so it may not appeal to those instructors who are more formal or who prefer a quite, note-taking classroom.
- Non-traditional instructional techniques require courage on the part of the instructor
- The time to develop really, really close looking capabilities and to begin to become familiar with the terminology that art historians employ. Without this, students feel less enfranchised as participants in the act of interpretation.
- A digital platform is certainly helpful in introducing a variety of narratives.
- An average digital proficiency should be enough on the student side.
- Con:
- I don't like to have students using computers in class as I feel it is too easy for them to wander. The purpose is to provide focus.
- I have decided to ask students to keep their laptops in their backpacks and instead have paper and pen. After doing that 1-2 semesters ago, I noticed an increase of student attention. For 75 minutes, they have a 'vacation' from technology. I handle the technology needed.
- I believe in technology, when used properly. However, if the course instructor become so focused on the 'special-effect' and not in pedagogy, then course content and activities may not be as well connected and students' attention and performance may diminish.
- Pro:
- A computer lab classroom allows for students to both see as a class and look at images individually.
- Students individual laptops are good enough to provide access to the information as we discuss.\Clickers for large classroom environments
- PowerPoint and a projector
- Consistency of pedagogy: A class that includes multiple reacting units, rather than one interspersed amongst other pedagogical approaches.
Instructional Techniques Described by Participants
The following techniques were described by the participants and are listed with a brief rationale for their incluson. Click on any (+) sign to view the direct response data related to each technique, which will also show the percieved support required for success
Lecture
(+)
Not to be used as an exclusive technique, the lecture must be purposeful, engaging, interactive, and model historical thinking and methods such as analysis and research.
- Rationale:
- When used exclusively lecture can be counter-productive, but in purposeful doses and combined with other instructional techniques and assessments, it serves as a necessary backbone to an introductory art history survey course: it provides shape and structure, and introduces students to the discipline of art history through its use of vocabulary, and its modelling of art historical thinking and methods. Students need to learn to think visually, and describe what they see clearly using appropriate art-historical language.
- Effective lectures by which the instructor performs critical visual and historical analyses. It provides a model that might be embraced by the student
- Lecture and in-class discussion efficiently conveys content with enough interaction to prevent passivity.
- Lecturing, in most circumstances. When it is student-driven, in response to student inquiry, a lecture (of 10 minutes or less) can lead to important learning, but that is rarely how lectures are structured.
- Support:
- High-quality visual presentations are key, with a variance between in-depth discussions of key works and less intensively-discussed supporting examples. Students need to see a lot of works including close-ups/details. They need to train their eye.
- None other than attending every lecture is necessary
- Note taking skills are vital
Interdisciplinary Instruction
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Interdisciplinary instruction highlights various influences and is more engaging/applicable to the diverse student audience.
- Rationale:
- Interdisciplinary: use of history, philosophy, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, economics, cultural studies. Because works of art are always products of a myriad of influences. Interdisciplinary analysis is also more engaging for general undergraduate students.
- Support:
- Sound understanding of broad context of works of art, not simply "art appreciation" approach.
Course Blog/Hybrid Model
(+)
Good for larger classes where discussion is difficult. A course blog extends the classroom to the students' world and brings to the course a variety of engaged perspectives.
- Rationale:
- In the large lecture class, we have replaced the traditional visual analysis paper which required students to develop a piece of formal writing and develop a thesis statement with several 'In Your Own Words' blog posts they generate over the semester that requires them to go into the local community and identify what it is they want to add to the 'canon' of the course, what work of art they deem is important for us to consider, and why. The 'In Your Own Words' assignment allows students to develop their analytical writing skills over time and enables them to perceive the history of art as open and malleable, the canon ripe for intervention. It also enables them to see the connections between the local 'artworld' and the global history in which they're engaging.
- Support:
- The time to develop really, really close looking capabilities and to begin to familiar with the terminology art historians employ. Without this, they feel less enfranchised as participants in the act of interpretation
Experiential Learning (Doing Art History / "Art Lab")
(+)
In smaller sections, allowing students to interact with the course material, exercising analytical and research skills directly under the guidance of the instructor. This allows student to act in the process of making/doing art history, a bottom up approach, counteracting the traditional hierarchical and authoritative structuring, giving students the tools and confidence to start making informed interpretations about works of art on their own and recognize that the discipline of art history is founded on questions, many of which remain open-ended.
- Rationale:
- We also now employ an 'art lab' method for our weekly recitation sections for the large auditorium class in which students exercise analytical skills and develop arguments/interpretations about works of art as the semester unfolds. The art lab sections are designed to solicit student curiosity, to show them that without ANY prior knowledge, they can begin to allow the work itself to convey meaning through descriptive analysis. Slowly introducing more and more contextual information then leads to a more informed understanding, but we end with asking students to identity that which they still do not know. If, in the lectures, the perception is often that there is a circumscribed set of knowledge that experts know and that we will attempt to allow them 'in' to this knowledge by telling them what's important about particular works of art, then the art labs work from the bottom up to counteract this hierarchical and authoritative structuring, giving students the tools and confidence to start making informed interpretations about works of art on their own and recognize that the discipline of art history is founded on questions, many of which remain open-ended.
- But a technique might be asking students to create histories rather. a more complex format could be a mixture of reading and doing history: Readings, lectures and the project focus on different aspect or narratives of the subject to complement or at times conflict each other. While the reading incorporated in the map are arranged chronologically, the assignment focuses more on making history of geographical areas. students are asked to create regional history exploring the interface through the global history view, or through tags. It more focuses on critical thinking skills and avoiding master narratives (not an outcome on its own). the main idea is to look at history as something made not a reality. Using the same data but creating different narratives through this, ideally, can draw attention to historiograohy as a construction. but at a more basic level, doing history basically asks students to analyze a mass of data a put them in a coherent narrative. the discussions on what to choose and what to leave out... can underline different issues with the content as well.
- Support:
- The time to develop really, really close looking capabilities and to begin to familiar with the terminology art historians employ. Without this, they feel less enfranchised as participants in the act of interpretation
- A digital platform is certainly very helpful in introducing a variety of narratives. also in order to use a database (a map with buildings marked on it) from which they can make histories, the digital platform is almost necessary. An average digital proficiency should be enough, on the student side.
Museum/Gallery Field Trips
(+)
Engaging students with real works of art, rather than digital slides aids in students’ visual analysis skills and increases engagement and empowerment.
- Rationale:
- When possible, it is helpful to have students complete early, lower-stakes assignments that develop their visual analysis skills, verbally or in writing, through observation of actual works of art, such as in a gallery setting. Students are more engaged with work they behold in person; they are more aware of issues of context and how this shapes their interpretation of the work; exposure to a local gallery or museum makes them feel more a part of the local art "scene."
- Museum visits should be of course done if possible, not by individual students to fulfill some simplistic assignment, but to teach in situ. Unfortunately, this is rarely done for administrative reasons.
- Support:
- Access to live works of art, either public works or in a gallery context, is obviously vital.
"Less-is-more" approach
(+)
Instead of clicking through a broad canon with hundreds of slides, limiting the number of images to "very" important works maintains attention and allows more time to model necessary art historical skills.
- Rationale:
- Less is more. I attempt to show students a smaller number of slides and discuss the minimal yet VERY important works for my students. It maintains attention and diverts from a content overload as many who took a traditional art history course might experience.
- Support:
Class Discussion
(+)
In-class discussion requires student preparation, but engages students in the practice of analysis and the lecture. This allows the instructor to gauge the learning and level of the audience and helps to maintain an open dialogue, allowing students to learn how to ask questions and seek answers.
- Rationale:
- Discussion in the classroom. Students read prior to coming to class and then there is a discussion on the historical context of a period before looking at the art. Students then practice analyzing the formal elements of a work of art and thinking about why the work looks the way it does based on it historical context, and then sometimes theories about it function. Students are brainstorming ideas, summarizing in their own words the historical context, and then connecting the art object with that historical period. They are engaged and making sense of the information on their own terms.
- Classroom discussion. Students provide input, and are less likely to "tune out."
- Discussion with slides. I can follow my students' progress as they are learning. I can direct their learning. Most of the learning happens in my classroom and not from homework and I can gage that they are learning in the classroom.
- Lecture and in-class discussion efficiently conveys content with enough interaction to prevent passivity.
- The technique that I use was developed for small classes and I have used it for classes as large as 50 (but this is really too big).
The best technique to convey the outcomes is interactive and therefore I teach in through lecture-discussion. My class sessions typically begin with a brief introductory lecture outlining the main historical points of the class. I then engage students in a discussion on how the formal qualities of works of art (composition, line, color, etc.) generate meaning in the context of the culture under consideration. Here I weave in a discussion of readings, particularly primary texts. This method both entices students to learn actively and sharpens their skills of analysis and verbal communication. In fact, by the end of the semester students often help direct discussion by asking important questions of me and their classmates. This technique makes students actively engage in the class material--they help construct the content. They are also accountable at any moment, because they can be called upon. They can also ask questions if issues are unclear, and they can argue meaning and disagree with classmates and the professor. But they have to support their arguments from the images and their readings.
- While lecture is important to get content, it must be participatory and inclusive. Because I involve the student and allow them to take ownership of the learning process.
- Support:
- Often success is dependent on students being prepared for discussion (e.g. having completed assigned reading).
- Students must be prepared for class and willing to speak up in a discussion format. I don't like to use technology (having students use computers in class) as I feel it is too easy for them to wonder. I like to get them to focus on the discussion and works of art. With the growing number of international students, support on how to engage non-English speakers would be a great help.
- I teach in a computer lab with a screen + projector. This allows students to see as a class and to look at images individually during class
- A class, preferably smaller than 30 students with digital projection and a large screen and lights that can be progressively dimmed to total darkness. The professor needs, of course, to have an advanced degree in art history, preferably a Ph.D. Finally, she or he needs to be able to run a discussion.
Group Work
(+)
Group work allows students to engage with peers in the act of discovery of knowledge. Students become active in the development of knowledge and in explaining their understanding with their peers. Group work requires a positive working environment, where everyone’s ideas are listened to and considered.
- Rationale:
- Especially since I teach a relatively large class (95-112). Often I have them share with a partner to encourage discussion. I use clickers so I have some sense of what information students understand and what I might need to address in another way. (They also serve as a way to take attendance and award participation points.) If students are struggling I often "throw out" one or two answers and have them debate or discuss the remaining answers. The most engaging thing is that we listen to each other. I work to create a positive atmosphere and typically respond with a yes, and... or let's follow that up with... in order to get them to work their way to better analyses. I'm rarely at the lectern and walk around the room to talk individually with students. While this does elicit responses, sometimes students don't think of this as part of the "lecture."
- Annotated reading -- I'll often have students group annotate either a work of art or text, set up discussion questions about it, and then come back to the group with their observations. I've done this in brick and mortar classes with pieces of paper and online with different tools. It encourages students to look (or read) and engage with ideas in their groups at their own pace. Students are then doing a form of "slow looking" and coming to their conclusions without my intervention.
- Class debates, student presentation, inclass activities that involve a couple of questions that students can work on in groups and then present for a larger class discussion, having students work in groups and develop the questions that they think are important to answer for whatever the movement/period/culture is under discussion. Once students are given the time and opportunity to think about what they are reading/hearing and identify what is important or interesting or relevant to them about the subject (which is why this cannot be done in the same time slot as the lecture because they do need time to think), they come up with their questions and issues. That is what will make the material relevant to them.
- I am intrigued by the use of Wiki collaborative spaces to develop assignments and conversations for students to share perspectives. I tried a group project with an upper-division class, but it became very messy at some point. For this reason, I am curious about pedagogical approaches that may have been successfully implemented by instructors of world art history survey.
- Support:
- Having a room I can navigate and get close to the students is important to me. The clicker technology is important since I have no TA or GA, teach a 3/3 (40% teaching) and am at an R1 with a 40% research load. Frankly, I would love to have an assistant or smaller classes so I could do more flipping and have more in and out of class assignments that really achieved the content outcomes I've set.
- Some modeling is nice -- one place we can find that is Smarthistory, or even just conversations in class about works of art. I also will sometimes seed/scaffold more complex topics with questions so that students can have guidance in doing this work.
Participatory / Student Driven
(+)
The lecture and direction of the course material becomes driven by the level and interest of the students. This requires a flexible course design and continuous interaction between the students and the instructor.
- Rationale:
- Classroom discussion. Students provide input, and are less likely to "tune out."
- The technique that I use was developed for small classes and I have used it for classes as large as 50 (but this is really too big).
- The best technique to convey the outcomes is interactive and therefore I teach in through lecture-discussion. My class sessions typically begin with a brief introductory lecture outlining the main historical points of the class. I then engage students in a discussion on how the formal qualities of works of art (composition, line, color, etc.) generate meaning in the context of the culture under consideration. Here I weave in a discussion of readings, particularly primary texts. This method both entices students to learn actively and sharpens their skills of analysis and verbal communication. In fact, by the end of the semester students often help direct discussion by asking important questions of me and their classmates.
- In-class debates. They allow students to creatively demonstrate their mastery of primary source readings.
- Support:
Guiding Questions
(+)
Guiding questions open up lectures by providing outcomes and help students to comprehend the material they encounter by framing their thinking. This also helps to model art historical thinking as it is a process of asking questions and seeking answers.
- Rationale:
- Assigning questions about the reading, due in writing or in a quiz, before class so students are prepared to discuss in class. The teacher is not telling the students what is in the text, but facilitating what students learned by reading the text, first, themselves.
- The most straightforward technique is to ask questions and follow-up questions of the students and give them time to think and answer. Sometimes I have them write or even draw so they are "forced" to articulate what they see or understand and then they feel more confident and empowered to share their thoughts,
- I ask them to compare two art works and determine which one is better and why. I generally give them some parameters to take into account: from a formal point of view, practical point of view (this is especially important for ancient, classical and medieval art, which always had an utilitarian purpose); and from an ideological point of view, that is, how effective they are in conveying an ideological value, whose ideology do they serve, and how is that message or value conveyed in concrete specific choices made by the artists. There is not a right answer, and the whole purpose is to make them reflect and reason their opinions. Since they know from the beginning that they cannot choose "the wrong art work", students feel confident to express their opinions. Generally I choose work that are pretty ambivalent, so students can argue cons and pros. Students generally appreciate to be able to make arguments and discuss works that they have not previously seen. It also gives me an opportunity to force them to articulate their thoughts precisely, and to provide facts to support their arguments.
- Support:
- They must be able to read carefully, critically and be able to understand what they read. They probably need to know how to take notes on their reading, too.
- Powerpoint and a projector, or the students individual laptops are good enough.
"Unkown Artwork" Discussions
(+)
Engaging students with an "unknown" work requires prior knowledge of foundational material and allows students to practice art history by applying art historical skills. This is also a good technique to engage students in discussion and may be coupled with various other instructional techniques.
- Rationale:
- Discussion of an "unknown": I show students an image of an art work not discussed in class and not in their textbook. Based on what they've learned, they can identify the time period (and sometimes the artist!) in which the work was created. I ask them to sight as much evidence as possible to back up their claim. Examples of evidence range include subject matter/iconography, media, style (regional, chronological, personal), formal qualities like light/line/color/texture, the level of naturalism/stylization/abstraction, and so forth. I do this as a classroom activity and so it provokes discussion. Students will respond to their peers' responses. I use the Socratic method to provoke more discussion and help the students to draw their own conclusions. Good moments include when students misidentify a work (e.g., saying that a painting is Italian Renaissance instead of Northern Renaissance)--I then will get them to think and critically argue why Option B is correct rather than Option A, based on the visual evidence.
- Support:
- No technology is needed. However, the students must be already familiar with the key characteristics of the time period and/or artist, in order to make an informed analysis.
Role Playing
(+)
Having students role-play art history engages students in the content and forces them to think critically and contextually. This pulls students out of the passive comfort zone and asks them to participate with the material and their peers. This method is also fun, engaging, and allows them to develop communication skills.
- Rationale:
- Students are divided into groups, given an 'identity' to research and then come together in class to act out what they think about the work/s in question. While most of the identities are historical in relation to the work (renaissance portrait/painter/painter/subjects/ audience/), I always include a contemporary person (art historian/curator/feminist/art collector/average museum goer/person of a different race/culture) so that they understand that while the work does not change, its interpretation, audience, and influence has/does.I have done this for years and assess students informally and formally (the latter through mid-semester evaluations that ask them to identify the best ways that they can learn) and role playing is always at the top of the list. They say that it makes them more willing to read/research and practice defending their positions or changing others' minds. It involves the application of what they are reading and hearing.
- Reacting to the Past historical role-playing games are extended (multi-class-session) units that place students in historically-specific roles at a specific moment in time. Each role is provided with the motivations that influenced their character at that moment, and then the game begins. Core questions inspire debates on various issues, and students employ evidence derived from key primary sources that inform those debates. Students must occupy the roles and inhabit the personae of specific individuals in history. They have to learn about history subjectively from the inside rather objectively from a distanced outside. The motivation to learn more related to the course, particularly the primary source documents, in order to make more effective arguments is heightened because of the game structure. Students have fun and lose themselves in their roles, accomplishing a depth of immersive learning that they would never have attempted in a more traditional classroom context of lectures and exams.
- Support:
- Not sure this would work with 200 students in a lecture class, but it could easily be adapted by TAs for sections. Students today like games, like cosplay, they like doing something with what they are learning. It does not need any special technology beyond projection (although I have had students bring in music, props to better make their identities). Training...if definitely takes the instructor out of the comfort zone of standing and lecturing so it may not appeal to those instructors who are more formal or who prefer a quiet, note taking classroom. Mostly, it takes courage on the part of the instructor; never had a student who did not want to go along.
- Training in effective speech making, tutoring in speech, writing center support, consistency of pedagogy (a class that includes multiple Reacting units, rather than just one interspersed amongst other pedagogical approaches).
Multi-Modal Engagement
(+)
Also considered "Transmedia storytelling," the instructor utilizes various techniques to tell the story and engage the audience with various methods of engagement. This method demonstrates the diversity of art historical application and maintains attention.
- Rationale:
- Alternate course content with short videos (Smarthistory work very well). Have students respond to a question on the video in an index card while watching it. Pair share and then class discussion. Call them, keep them on their toes. Integrate what found by students with the analysis and contextualization of the piece in question, moving from the detail back to the big picture, so you model behaviors you want them to learn. Due to the amount of technology available, you can lose your student to distractions almost immediately, so it is paramount to work on their attention span. Students are obviously more engaged with short videos - visuals - than with tons of words from the instructor. However, while watching they have to do an activity that requires them to think and write; otherwise, it will be back to their smartphones.
- Support:
- I have decided to ask students to keep their laptops in their backpacks, and instead have paper and pen. After doing that 1-2 semesters ago, I noticed an increase of student attention. For 75 minutes, they have a 'vacation' from technology. I will handle the technology needed.
Ineffecitve Instructional Techniques Described by Participants
The following are the general themes regarding ineffective instructional techniques or perceived empediments to learning. Click on any (+) sign to view the direct response data related to each technique.
- I don't believe there are, generally, ineffective instructional techniques. I think their application is crucial to meeting learning outcomes.
- Anything can work if it is approached creatively. A great deal depends on the skill of the instructor.
- Any instructional assessment that measures art historical practice through rote memorization of facts and/or dates.
- Traditional exams
- Regurgitating names, dates, titles, and memorized arguments does not help them understand how to apply the knowledge.
- re-presenting factual material (identifications) that might be found in texts.
- Rote memorization and simplistic "art appreciation"-type, intellectually vapid approaches which is the norm today.
- To show them the art work and only provide them a description and the basic whereabouts of the work. It does not provide any intellectual stimulus, nor does it exercise their analytical skills. Students also just limit themselves to take notes, instead of looking closely at the art works and wondering why the artists made their choices. It does not invite to a response from the students, it is too passive.
Modeling success by providing examples of student work
(+)
- Using examples of student work for any exercise, even if the students are not enrolled in the course. The power imbalance becomes too stark, and this discourages participation.
- Straight lecturing from worn out notes is never engaging!
- Lecture is the most ineffective instructional strategy for today's learners.
- Lecturing, because students are less likely to pay attention and be engaged.
- Lecturing a lot in the class. Sitting and listening and writing down all new information is not the way that our students learn best today.
- Lecturing, in most circumstances. When it is student-driven, in response to student inquiry, a lecture (of 10 minutes or less) can lead to important learning, but that is rarely how lectures are structured.
- Lectures from the podium. Students are bored with "art in the dark" and need interaction. It is a fine line on how to deliver information and engage the student as well.
- Lecture. I don't know if they are learning or if they have questions. It is so passive.
- Strict lecture and online delivery.
- I have tried to approach the survey thematically, in mini units, but have found this approach to be very unsuccessful. Students at an art and design school need a chronological foundation.
- I have managed to convince administrators that the 189 student enrollments, with no TA/GA, were not producing ideal student learning experiences. Now classes are capped at 130 students and are generally around 95-112 depending upon classroom capacity.
- Starting with students making history without any guideline at an undergraduate level was almost impossible.
- I do find that the majority of the students will not purchase a book. As of next semester I am only going to "recommend" it for students who want that choice rather than requiring it. All the images I use are available through our MDID site.
- I am still struggling with finding successful group activities. Students at my college run the gamut when it comes to study skills, responsibility, and active engagement with seeking student success (the "slacker" phenomenon). Groups often fall into a situation where 1-2 do all the work, and the rest sit back and do nothing. I am still seeking effective group activities in the art history course that engage everyone yet allow us to stay on track to complete the chronological survey over the semester.
Less-is-more approach
(+)
- I also strongly disagree with the model of "1 or 2 art works, discussed in-depth, representing the essence of a chronological period." How can an art history instructor conscientiously argue that only Picasso and Warhol embody the 20th century? It's irresponsible. A survey course is exactly what it sounds like--a BROAD SURVEY.
Course Assignments/Assessments
General Assignment-Related Themes
The following themes presented themselves as general considerations when considering the choice of assignments and/or assessments to support learning outcomes and instructional techniques for the Art History Survey course. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data related to the theme.
The traditional exam is an ineffective assessment
(+)
- I am growing increasingly suspicious about the efficacy of the exam, at least as it is traditionally employed. For years, I have ceased requiring that students memorize names and dates. But even so, I'm unsure whether the quick regurgitation of facts to demonstrate content knowledge that is often required of short-essay identification and long essay comparison essays is effective or connected to the broader learning outcomes for the course.
- I'm not thrilled with giving scantron exams but under the circumstances it's what we do in the non-majors survey.
- Exams (Multiple choice, short answer, slide ID, slide comparison) are the traditional methods of assessment in this course. They are problematic because of the high-stakes pressure that in-class exams place on students, and are not necessarily a fair reflection of their learning.
Projects should support visual analyisis / critical thinking skills.
- Tips for improving writing
- Guiding questions to structure thinking and writing.
- Modeling the process/skills in-class.
- Metacognition, a deep thinking strategy that makes students aware of the learning process and helps them to think.
- Student’s completion of reading assignments, homework, attentiveness, and participation in class.
Clearly organized projects
(+)
- Several respondents describe the detail of the project structure, and methods used to scaffold students toward success and the project expectations. These are seen by these respondents as important for successful project completion and meeting course expectations.
- Allowing opportunities to rework, gain feedback, review the project with others allows for students to evaluate their thinking critically and better meet project expectations.
Faculty have issues facilitating peer review and group work
Emphasis on projects that are experiential / doing art history
- Engaging students in unfamiliar topics allows them to reach outside of their zones of comfort and engage in new concepts/ideas.
- Different art historical methods: Analysis, comparative arguments
Instructors trying new things
(+)
- Several respondents describe that they have not tried this particular assignment.
- Willingness to break away from traditional approaches and allow the learning to be more organic.
Projects are context specific
(+)
- Access to museums / galleries
- Class size is a consideration
- Institutional mission: Art /design schools versus community colleges and universities. The student demographic will allow for different projects / project success.
- Scavenger hunt
- Trading card game
- In-class debates. They allow students to creatively demonstrate their mastery of primary source readings.
Support Considerations
The following themes presented themselves as general considerations for supporting course assignments and assessments. Click on any (+) sign to view direct response data related to each theme.
- Providing time in class to model, scaffold, and provide feedback on the project.
- Allowing access to the project outside of class, students need to devote time to the project/process.
- Clear rubrics
- Writing intensive projects require more work than some faculty/TAs want to do.
- Personalized feedback.
- Course website or school’s LMS to house blogs/journals and peer interaction.
- Learning Management System (Blackboard, or other).
- Librarians helping students to generate bibliographies that will enable them to complete the tasks at hand and get as close as they can to in-depth understanding of the artwork they have selected.
- Access to primary source material
- Effective writing center
- Projects that require access to original works of art.
- Time / transportation
- Modelling the process in-class
Assignments/Assessments Described by Participants
The following assignments were described by the participants and are listed with a brief rationale for their incluson. Click on any (+) sign to view the direct response data related to each assignment or assessment, which will also show the percieved support required for success
Writing Journal/Blog
(+)
A writing journal may be conducted electronically or as an assigned weekly task to be delivered to the instructor/peers in-class. This assignment supports engagement with the course material, lecture, and discussions, models the question/answer process of art history, and engages students with their thinking process critically. Peer-review can open students to the diversity of thought. Writing, research, and communication skills are supported.
- Rationale:
- A weekly writing journal where students select one (preferred) work from that week's classes and write a short visual analysis (1/2 page). The rubric is provided and explained (with samples) and referred to in the assessment with tips for improving writing. Journals are posted on the course website and visible to all. An added layer is the possibility of peer review/editing of a select number of entries. This short weekly writing practice carries a number of advantages: it promotes academic writing competency without fatigue on one topic, and repeatedly reinforces the genre. Overall it maintains student engagement with the course from beginning to end (rather than mad rushes to study only at med-term and final time).
- Identify and post (my students all use electronic portfolios) an image from (pick a movement, period, culture) and explain why you selected that one, what you know about it and how you know that. Then, do some research (text, Smarthistory, Heilbrunn Time Line, databases like Ebsco or Proquest), and write down what you found out about this work. Identify and explain what you think are the most significant fact/issues about the work and how what you learned changed your mind from your initial position or caused you to think differently about the work. This kind of assignment is one I use all the time and students have a rubric for written communication, critical thinking, and information literacy that they/I use. We also go over one or two in class so they learn how to critique/interpret works. It really helps them identify how/why they accept information as valid; how interpretations change depending on the priorities/theories/background of the viewer and why it is important to ask questions and evaluate sources. These are skills that do not just apply to art history and I always stress that.
- I like journal entries through blackboard. They always involve some critical thinking, apaplication of information they learned in class and that they have to apply to a different art work. The journals force them to put their ideas in writing and provide me with an opportunity to give them personalized feedback. If the entries are really bad, they need to keep re-writing them until they are up to par. In order to write their entries they need to look carefully at the art work and to be able to see what is interesting about them. They also have to articulate their ideas clearly and connect what they see with what they know about the contexts in which the art works were created and consumed.
- Developing a question, to be answered in writing before class, that would require students to read, digest, define and construct a reasonable answer. Because students would be encouraged to work with others in constructing their answers, I believe they are developing their own learning skills while also learning the content.
- Support:
- A course website where journal entries are posted to the full class; this ensures accountability and encourage a high standard of writing and completeness.
- I do this as homework which means that I comment/grade so that may be more work than some faculty/TAs want to do. Their work is in electronic portfolios, but this assignment could be posted in any number of CMS platforms.
- A computer and blackboard are the technology needed for this assignment.
- Practice in and out of class. Students develop significant skills when given time and support to practice their reading, thinking and writing.
Research Project of an "Unknown"
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Students engage with artistic artifacts that are unknown to them, carefully chosen to stretch the student beyond their memorized understanding of the canon, asking them to "do art history." This project engages students with issues of cultural and intellectual diversity, critical application of course material, research, argument, and may be reinforced through group-work.
- Rationale:
- The course centers on works of art and sites that are particularly charged contact zones, points of encounter between different groups or cultures that often arise from or generate conflict. The central learning objective of that course is to enable students to think more explicitly and reflexively about cultural difference and how 'culture' itself is defined and understood, and often contested. I ask students at the very beginning of the semester to identify those parts of the world about which they feel less familiar and then require that they select an unknown work of art from this region for their semester-long research project. They must thus encounter that which seems most strange or 'foreign' to them. I'm teaching this version of the course for the first time now so have not yet seen the full results of this endeavor, but I ask that students not only present a paper that provides information, contextual understanding and an informed interpretation of the work in question, but that they also report, self-reflexively, on the process of research itself. What are the difficulties that arise when we attempt to learn more about something produced by people who are radically different from ourselves, either due to historical distance, geographic distance, or both. This exercise is thus directly connected to the learning outcomes on 'understanding diversity'.
- On the first day, I often give out works of art and break them into groups. They have to figure out things about the work. Who made it? When? What? Where? all based on just looking at the work. They then make decisions asa group and present this to the group for discussion. It works really week in a non-western art surveyor where I also through in some contemporary or modern works such as Martin Puryear or Brancusi. It teaches them to think and ask questions and use this information. Discussion of an "unknown": I show students an image of an art work not discussed in class and not in their textbook. Based on what they've learned, they can identify the time period (and sometimes the artist!) in which the work was created. I ask them to sight as much evidence as possible to back up their claim. Examples of evidence range include subject matter/iconography, media, style (regional, chronological, personal), formal qualities like light/line/color/texture, the level of naturalism/stylization/abstraction, and so forth. Students are forced to verbally communicate (although on assessments, this takes on a written form). They must apply terminology correctly. They must also critically analyze and assess an object based on their understanding of art movements, artists, styles, subject matter/iconography, media, etc.
- A comparatively brief analysis of a work of art (assigned) that draws on critical looking, simple historical research, and cogent argumentation It draws upon the desired skills the course is endeavoring to foster
- I developed a class activity that I feel worked particularly well. We had a mini-research activity where I put up a slide of an earthward dish/plate produced in Samarquand in the 9th-10th-c., and asked them in groups to 'research' this object and report back to the class as a whole what they were able to find. I gave them a series of websites that would be reliable and useful for them, but otherwise provided no 'framing' or introduction. This object was selected because it was something completely strange, probably unrecognizable to most and stretching the limits of what they traditionally regarded as 'art'. The plate is encircled by black, highly decorative script in Arabic. Hence language access is also a key issue. Samarquand is located in present-day Uzbekistan, a part of the world with which most in the class are very unfamiliar. Hence, from a very early point in the semester, they become art historians, faced with something about which they must learn something about and begin to understand. But it also highlighted the difficulties of this endeavor. The initial impenetrability of the object (the language was unrecognizable) contributed to this endeavor. This activity accompanied our reading of Geertz on Thick Description, what 'culture' is, and how one navigates misunderstanding (if not able to fully avoid it).
- Support:
- I'm finding that strong support from resource librarians is very important, helping students to generate bibliographies that will enable them to complete the tasks at hand and get as close as they can to an in-depth understanding of the art work they've selected.
- For the faculty member, you need to be willing to break away from traditional approaches and allow learning to be more organic.
- Student completion of reading assignments and homework, attentiveness and participation in class.
- none other than a careful selection of images
Analysis of a Personally Viewable Artistic Artifact
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Engaging students with a personally viewable artifact provides a form of experiential learning that engages close looking, analysis, application of content knowledge, and helps to break down the power barrier assumed by visual art. Access to artistic artifacts is necessary.
- Rationale:
- Research essay coupled with a museum visit It asks them to think critically while also providing a form of experiential learning.
- Short (2 or 3 pages) visual analysis paper on a single work of art which they are able to view in person, and about which they are not allowed to do any internet- or library-based research. The limitations of the assignment hones their focus to the formal elements of the work, itself. I feel this assignment is in fact most effective with abstract works, in that they have to get beyond describing recognizable content.
- I have students in survey I (prehistory-Renaissance) write a formal analysis paper. We go to the museum, they pick of work of art that they must see at least 3 times. We practice analyzing works in class, and I reviewing outlines and drafts of their paper as they work through the process. In survey II (Baroque-Present) they write a paper that takes a formal analysis and builds it into a basic research paper, so that they are then prepared to move into upper-level courses. I have also done an assignment where students need to pick three works exhibited at a local international art exhibition, then without any research they need to fully describe it and connect it with an historical style. This shows art and design students that nothing is new, it is just a re-thinking of past styles. It gets students in front of works of art (and not just digital images), it helps them develop visual literacy, communication skills, and critical thinking.
- Support:
- In-person access to works of art
- They need to have the free time and transportation required for the museum visit.
- Modeling the process in class, being available to read drafts and walk students through the process, and a writing lab that is available to students. I place many documents and links to other websites on Blackboard to help students with the process as well.
Creative Re-interpretation
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A research project that engages students in the endeavor of recreating or developing a personally influenced creative piece based on an art historical theme allows students to make connections to artistic practice, theory, and history while engaging their own personal creative direction.
- Rationale:
- Students are given a final assignment which they are to pick either a famous work or artist style and recreate it, or create their own work based on the artist or style. It helps students make the connections and see how art history can be applied to their own area of study.
- Support:
- Most is supplied by my institution, sometimes students are self-supporting when it come to needed technology.
Scavenger Hunt
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A scavenger hunt asks students to apply their understanding of the historical content to their present context. This can be done in an art museum, or by asking students to apply the terminology and ideas from history to look for where it may be applied or influences the present-day. This assignment gets students outside of the classroom and teaches them the broader impact of the knowledge they are obtaining. The project also increases general awareness, close-looking/analysis, and can be reinforced through group-work.
- Rationale:
- Last semester our new art museum opened and I gave a "Looking at Art, a.k.a. Scavenger Hunt" assignment. I took the students down to our "old main" and we discussed the campus using the background from the class section on Ancient Greece. We also discussed the "conversations" newer buildings had with older buildings and accounted for gaps or jumps in the conversations as well as reprises. It was a lot of fun for them and me. It got the students into an art museum, something many had never done before, and they had to apply their skills in visual analysis, considering contexts, and relate certain works in the museum to concepts we discussed in class. One question asked what they found the most challenging, but left what that meant open to interpretation, and the students gave some really thoughtful answers to that. The students liked getting out of the classroom and seeing that the old Greco-Roman traditions and boring terminology came to life and could be applied to something they see everyday.
- Support:
- Although we have a small collection, it is wonderful to finally have access to art that the students can see in person rather than just on a screen.
Comparison Essay
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Comparison arguments are common within the practice of art history. A comparative essay allows students to apply visual analysis skills while employing the vocabulary and knowledge gained from the course to form critical thinking, communication, and research skills. Comparisons get beyond the regurgitation of facts by showing the interconnectedness of artistic and cultural traditions.
- Rationale:
- A comparison paper in which students must describe and compare two works of art. Develops skills in critical thinking and writing. Students must employ the vocabulary of the visual elements and principles of design, and considering the context of the works.
- Definitely, the term paper. I ask students to start from one artwork of their liking in the course/textbook, visually analyze it, find out a larger theme correlated to the piece and choose a few other works to compare-contrast and see the evolution of that theme across time or cultures. I provide examples of themes/titles that are too wide or generic to be thoughtful, or that are in violation of the course's parameters. Students are given both freedom and responsibility: they have to cast a vision and be persuasive. The assignment must be somewhat integrated into the teaching. In class, students do not only learn content that may come useful for their papers, but also approaches to tackle their assignment. When I teach, I point out at specific approaches we run into that could help them in reflecting on their own papers' approach, so that the course models the assignment. The techniques I adopt are modeled on Metacognition, a deep thinking strategy that makes students aware of the learning process and helps them think.
- Essay writing. My students will learn to demonstrate the course outcomes/skills through writing essays. It forces students to arrange their thoughts and use the skills we practice in class
- Support:
- Completing assigned readings, and participating in classroom discussion about the elements and principles, as well as discussion of medium/technique.
- Thinking can use as little as pen and paper - provided that students see images/videos on a screen, so a smart class equipment is obviously needed.
- We write bits of the essays in class. I explain each part several times over and there is time for students to ask questions. I also do in-class peer review.
Critial Analysis Essay
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Analyzing a single artifact or source material allows students to learn how to critically think about the content that they are engaging with. This assignment engages students with the practice of asking questions and forming arguments about a single artifact or source and look for answers that help to place the material within the broader context/conversation of doing art history.
- Rationale:
- Essay assignment: Watch Crash Course History: The Renaissance. In 400 – 800 words, discuss the following topic: The Renaissance: Was it a Thing? Based on the argument in the video above, do you agree or disagree with John Green (the narrator)? Why or why not? To support your answer, make reference to at least one work of art or building in our textbook and quote from at least one primary source document from previous homework assignments. It requires them to make convincing arguments using art historical evidence, including primary textual sources, in a context that they (probably surprisingly to them) have an opinion about after finishing a third of the course.
- Written essays that provide format for student to include various historical issues into his/her explication of important issues and questions in human cultural history. I suggest this because I have used it of more than 15 years and it works.
- Support:
- Internet access; homework assignments that employ primary textual sources.
- Better analytic and writing skills that are now lacking in undergraduate students.
Art History Games / Role Playing
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A project in the form of a game may engage students with the material in an experiential/role playing manner that differs from traditional course projects. Games require a clear objective and set of rules, thus requiring advanced preparation on the part of the instructor to implement.
- Rationale:
- I like to play an art trading game with my students wherein they basically become art collectors; sometimes we'll build a collection together. The assignment ends in a presentation about why they chose their top works. Students can take several approaches to the game, some of them using purely financial incentives and others buying what they like. Most of the goal is just to get them thinking about distribution channels of art and that validation often involves money, so this illustrates that art objects are often not just valued for their beauty.
- I assign students a term paper. The assignment is for students to assume the guise of an artist discussed in this course and to write from the perspective of the artist (1st person), in a journal-like format, as the artist completes the work. Research is required: students must investigate the working process of working in particular medium (carving marble, painting in oil or fresco, casting bronze, making a mosaic, building a church or temple, etc.), while also investigating the historical circumstances at the time the work was made. The paper gets students thinking about a) how to manipulate materials, b) the outside influences affecting an artist's work, and c) the length of time it would actually take to complete a work of art or architecture. As a soft skill, it helps them improve written communication. Challenges include the lack of historical context for ancient works of art, due to lack of documentary evidence.
- In-class debates. They allow students to creatively demonstrate their mastery of primary source readings.
- Support:
- I assign some readings on the art market before this assignment so that students have a basis for some ideas.
Note Taking
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Note taking may be approached as a gradable project. The purpose is to engage students in the skill of listening and engaging with the lectures/reading and forming their own critical notes that reinforces other course projects and outcomes.
- Rationale:
- I think the most important activity to support the content and meeting the skills is the class meeting. Then, I think what some call journaling, but what I can a personal textbook, which is essentially rewriting notes, inserting images and including notes on readings. It is a great write to learn technique, but I do not assign or require it. I strongly encourage students to use this technique to prepare for their exams. It forces students to essentially review in their own words the material covered in class and in their readings. The class lecture-discussion is structured to accomplish the outcomes and skills.
- Support:
- If I were to grade the project, time is needed. Anyone who successfully completed and advanced degree should be able to do this project and therefore teach it.
Group Research Project
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Group/team research projects bring together students under a particular theme to engage in peer interaction with the goal of forming a broader understanding of that theme built from the respective foci of the group/team members. Group research projects, engage students in experiential, "doing history" while learning skills such as research, communication, and critical thinking. Group/team projects also bring students together to engage with the diversity of thought and questions that are developed in doing art history.
- Rationale:
- "doing history" as the final project: Focused on selected cities, this group project is at the scale of a city and must study a length of time, which reflects change of cultural norms but not a complete replacement. after the initial reading on the subject, each member of group selects10 building that they consider as the best representative of the city’s architecture. In the next step, the group is asked to select half of the structures from the list provided by its members. After making a general narrative, each student works on 2-4 structures or sites. In the last step, instead of implanting the buildings within the first narrative, the group gathers to discuss different narratives of framing their buildings, each of which must include 40 to 90 percent of the buildings. NOTE: I have not used this assignment in any classes. I believe asking a question is often more effective than lecturing. In addition, when a number of students work in a group, they need to discuss their own understanding/narrative of the material. In this particular assignment, supported by readings and in-class discussions, students are invited to reflect on the mechanisms of history and the many necessary biases within the discipline. For example, the rather wage definition of the project leads to the question of the scope of the project. It invites the students to engage with a discussion on what is architecture? (What is inside and what is out?) it can pose questions regarding architectural theory, canons, patronage. Working in group is useful for discussion; at the same time, when at the end they create different narratives, instead of one for the group, they have individual responsibilities.
- Support:
- For this particular assignment, a digital platform can help avoiding the ready-made stories of the textbook
Course Content / Reading
What suggested course reading do participants believe is important and effective for this course? Why?
The following themes presented themeselves in answer to the question of course reading suggested by participants to meet their expressed content outcomes. Click on any (+) sign to view the direct response data related to the theme.
Traditional Survey Textbook
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- I use Fred Kleiner's "Gardner's Art Through the Ages". Kleiner has made marked improvements to Gardner's formalist approach, bringing in discussions of context, reception, techniques/tools, patrons and patronage. His additions help students better understand the circumstances of artistic production in history.
- A traditional art history survey textbook, as it will provide key information and a variety of images for reference. Or access to similar information online.
- I am a firm believer in the traditional art history textbook (Gardner or Stokstad). While many scholars blame the textbook as being the source of many problems, I believe it provides a foundation for the student. I have tried to teach the survey without the book, and students were lost and request a book. While the art history survey textbook may be overwhelming, I make sure I convey to student that we will not cover everything in the book and we spend time discussing how to selectively read and use the book as a resource.
- Any survey of history of art is good for the very basics, but I think for an introductory survey of world art history, reading is not the most important requirement. I prefer the students to keep looking at more images of the art work, or similar art works that we did not have time to look at in class.
Traditional Survey Textbook with Supplemental Readings
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- Stokstad/Cothren (2)
- We use the text in survey (Garner's) with additional readings of primary source materials.
- The survey book or notes are a starting point. I also believe that an art history method book would be very useful, especially for students from other majors taking this as their very first course in the visual arts. I have a book by Anne D'Alleva on library reserves for this class.
- I believe reading the textbook overview of topics before class is important to prepare students for the content to be covered in class. The book introduces technical terms, artistic concepts, historical and geographical background, as well as the art works. Students then come more prepared for discussion. Also primary texts are also important, and these are often included as excerpts in the text. Primary texts allow students to contextualize art works and expand analytic possibilities in the classroom.
- Art History: A Very Short Introduction by Dana Arnold and The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler.
Reserve Material (No Textbook)
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- I do not use a survey textbook (other than to review one to explain why a standard survey text is not the art history we are striving for). Rather, I compile a series of high-quality online resources and make a hyperlinked course syllabus with readings held within the course website or Google docs.
- I do not use textbooks so all the readings come from database articles or .edu/.org websites and some PDFs that I post online. I also write some of the material (lectures/podcasts) that are online.
- A broad secondary source overview of the content being covered, not necessarily a textbook; in fact, textbooks typically cover far more content than is manageable in a survey course. This should be coupled with selected primary source readings.
- Unfortunately current survey textbooks are extremely inadequate. Perhaps academic articles on specific issues depending on approach of instructor. If instructor actually teaches and lectures as he/she should, then no textbook is actually necessary given the options. There is need for a new textbook on art history that is not simply pictures and simplified description of artworks, which is the case now.
- So far the most significant impact has been from watching the Rape of Europa. Most students won't watch the whole movie but will watch enough to get rather proprietary about the stolen objects.
- I actually find the videos from the Khan Academy incredibly useful. The reason why I like them so much is that students keep looking at the art work while they are listening to the information. Students tend not to look at the art works when they are reading about them.
Critical understanding of various historical viewpoints
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- I certainly avoid one textbook which is too easy to be confused with the account of reality. Each subject should have different sources. in addition to readings on different topics, I include some on historiography itself.
Primary Source Materials
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- Such as Van Gogh's letters or treatises from artists.
- Primary sources so that students can realize the varied intentions of selected artists
- Primary source readings in translation. Hearing the actual words of the people we study allows the students to understand how historians work.
- Primary texts are also important, and these are often included as excerpts in the text. Primary texts allow students to contextualize art works and expand analytic possibilities in the classroom.
- I try to give my students minimal reading, due to the fact that most students will not read.
- Articles and videos from Khan Academy/Smarthistory, though I think that many of my students to not do the homework.
Consider the reading level of the sources and the experience of the audience
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- I include other writing that engages the lay audience, but also include two or three short essays written for an academic audience.
- I like to start them out with a level appropriate article (these are lower division students) that addresses interpretation/art history like "Practices of Looking" from Sturken and Cartright Ways of Seeing.
How to Write (Scaffolding readings)
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- As most students do not have a strong writing background, I include some readings on how to write an essay in art/architecture history.
Cultural Identity/Encountering Others' Work
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- Mary Louise Pratt, "Arts of the Contact Zone"
- Kwame Anthony Appiah, Cosmopolitanism, particularly the chapter "Whose Culture is it Anyway," Clifford Geertz, portions of "Thick Description," from An Interpretation of Cultures.
- While difficult for undergraduates, it's also possible to isolate portions of David Summers Real Spaces to help students build key analytical capabilities.
- I augment the student's readings throughout the semester with a number of articles about art and ethics (for example, the 2003 looting of the Baghdad Museum, which raises questions of cultural stewardship) written for lay audiences (say, an article from the New York Times).
- I'm still working on something transformative for this survey. So far the most significant impact has been from watching the Rape of Europa. Most students won't watch the whole movie but will watch enough to get rather proprietary about the stolen objects. I had good luck with a response assignment but very poor luck with a summary since 10% of the class plagiarized their work. Having the students find an article about contemporary cultural heritage destruction also resonated with them as the wrote about it.
Other Areas for Consideration?
Digital Art History
Digital art history can support the goal of fostering critical thinking and analysis for it can support high-quality visuals, e.g.: 3D modelling. Its principle challenge is the labor involved in creating these resources, and training users in those applications.
The Art History Exam
What do others do with the traditional art history exam? Is it too tired? What is its purpose? Is it still needed? If so, what types of exam questions are most effective?
Interactivity
In what ways have faculty been able to make the course more interactive and engaging for students? Perhaps with methods such as virtual or augmented reality?
"Flipping the Classroom"
Flipping the classroom is very popular now, but do people actually use it? Does it actually work?
Class Size/Audience
Though touched upon earlier, it is important to consider the various types of survey courses (audience and purpose) and the number of students enrolled in the classes (scale). What I can do in my smaller classes of 25 cannot always be easily replicated in a class of 100.
Teaching Philosophy
Do you have a developed teaching philosophy? If so, please describe it and provide any relevant literature that informs your philosophy if applicable.
What pedagogical philosophy informs someone's teaching, choice of techniques and building assignments? That seems to be missing. I offered an example on p.4, talking about Metacognition, which comes from a school of thought in psychology. I attended several workshops, read books about it, and envisioned integrated approaches in higher order thinking. It is not a technique, it is an overall transformative view of pedagogy that informs subsequent approaches. My suggestion would be, if technically possible in future sessions, to create a page or question on pedagogical philosophy, for instance by asking which specific readings on pedagogy have informed the course instructor and how?
Delphi Dissertation