MA THESES

IN ART EDUCATION

WITH AN EMPHASIS IN SPECIAL POPULATIONS

• INTEGRATING THE ARTS IN THE MATH CURRICULUM

• THE EFFECT OF TEACHING LITERACY THROUGH THE ARTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS CHILDREN

• THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ART ROOM ENVIRONMENT AND THE BEHAVIOR OF STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISTURBANCE IN AN INNER-CITY HIGH SCHOOL

• THE EFFECT OF INTEGRATING POP CULTURE IN TEACHNG PRACTICES IN INCLUSION ART CLASSES

• WHAT COLLABORATIVE STRATEGIES CAN BE USED TO ENGAGE URBAN STUDETNS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

• DETERMINING IF INCLUSIVE ART EDUCATION PRACTICES IMPROVE THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS WITH AUTISM IN A DIVERSE HIGH SCHOOL

My Students

Research Questions

Data Collection Methods

Unit of Analysis

How does integrating aspects of pop culture and graphic arts improve the academic performance of students with special needs?

•  Qualitative questionnaires

•  Observations •  Formative &

Summative Assessments

•  IEP Students •  Typical Students

What aspects of a graphic arts curriculum appeal to students with special needs attending an urban elementary school?

•  Qualitative questionnaires

•  IEP Students •  Typical Students

The Philosophy of Andy Warhol From A to B and Back Again

“What’s great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same thing as the poorest. You could be watching TV, and see Coca-Cola, and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola, Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola, and just think, you could drink Coca-Cola too. A coke is a coke and no amount of money can get you a better coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking.”

- Andy Warhol

•  The quality of work was fairly consistent between the students with IEPs and typical students.

•  Many of the students chose pop culture images with which they were familiar.

•  There was consensus among the students that the project was fun because they could chose their own pop culture image, however, there was critism that the project was tedious.

•  The grid style animation became laborous because each square in the grid had to be colored in.

•  Once the students became comfortable with using the My Four Walls program, the processors of the computers began to freeze due to inadequate processing speeds and overheating.

•  An alternative to the problem was drawing a regular floor plan by hand, using interior design templates, rulers, and protractors.

•  The only student that held interest in the floor plan project was Student 4. This project was an excellent way to demonstrate fine motor skills. Eventhough she has trouble gripping the pencil, she endured and diligently worked until her project was completed. Some of the details in her drawing included computers in multiple rooms, play-based spaces including pop culture icons such as Playstation 3, and appreciation for color.

•  Student 5, who is known for completing assignments on time, began his drawing with enthusiasm and fine-detail. Consequently, the manualization of the project caused Student 5 to completely lose interest in finishing the assignment.

Student 4 (C)

•  The students were put off by the cartoonish look of the Mark Kistler video lesson website.

•  Using the stop and go capabilities of the video, the students worked at their own pace and ability.

•  Students became so comfortable with their drawing capabilites, that they began to implement the drawing strategies for pop culture images found through GOOGLE image search.

•  The drawing had direct similarities with the pictures that were demonstrated on the video.

•  The lesson was so inspiring and easy to learn that it got the student to seek out other forms of pop culture images to draw by hand.

Student 7 (K)

Student 1(J)

ResearchQuestions DataCollectionMethods

UnitofAnalysis

HowdoestheartroomenvironmentimprovethebehaviorofstudentswithEBD?

ObservationOpenEndedQuestionsDocumentAnalysis

Students

Whatspecifictherapeuticfactorsdoesastudentrespondtointheartroom?

ObservationOpenEndedQuestionsDocumentAnalysis

Students

Whatbehaviorsarethesamestudentsexhibitinginotherclassrooms?

ObservationInformalInterview

Teachers

Whatfactorsmightbeimplementedinotherclassroomsettings?

DataAnalysis Data

*Data from Teacher Survey responses

*Data from Teacher Survey responses

* Data from Teacher Survey responses

*Data from Teacher Survey responses