Author(s): Jenette Noe

Presentation: oral

The purpose of this study was to explore and qualitatively analyze the impact of a weekly journal writing regimen on high school art classes. The study was inspired by the researcher's prior experiences of student resistance to literacy activities in the art room. As an action-research investigation, the researcher instituted weekly art journal prompts in a high school art classroom for one semester. Data were collected through field-observations, pre-/post- attitudinal surveys, student interviews, and student journal entries. Field-observations suggested a negative student response to the journaling, while surveys and interviews indicated significant neutrality of student attitudes. Twelve journal prompts were designed to promote critical thinking about art and the development of visual literacy, though students did not explicitly make the connection to learning taking place. Findings suggested that student negativity toward art journal writing stemmed from dissonance and disequilibrium based on Kotter's Change Theory. The researcher recommended further longitudinal research to investigate long-term attitudinal changes and the regimen's effect on art vocabulary.

The College of Idaho     2112 Cleveland Blvd Caldwell, ID  8360     USA 208-459-5011    800-2C-IDAHO