Art in the Classroom
For me, I always tend to include a lot of images and videos in my presentations, lectures, and demos - as an art instructor I tend to use this more than most I would imagine. What images or videos, if any, do you include in presentations? Is there a go-to intro video for your class? Or an inspirational speech? I think Steve Job's 2005 Stanford Commencement speech (stay hungry, stay foolish) is a great way to start off a term.
Hi William,
I am also an art instructor and I agree about the importance of images, especially in this creative discipline. One way that I engage my students is with hand-outs of reproductions of master works of art that are relevant to the topic we are covering in class that day. Working from a 17th century drawing from Rubens, for example,can be both challenging and interesting to art students. Supplemented with some good historical background information and this assignment can transcend the traditional drawing project...it becomes educational on multiple levels. This has also been a successful exercise in fine art classes since the earliest days of the Renaissance. It's also a great way to change up the rhythm of the course.
So, to summarize: I have found that working from a great image of a master drawing or painting and briefly discussing the history of the artist and the period before starting (and even while the students work), really engages different kinds of learners at the same time.
-Tom
Megan,
Examples like those you mentioned really help students to grab a hold of and retain needed content. The more examples that are unusual the greater they will be to connect those examples with specific topics.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I agree. I have an art backgound and see that other resonded better when they see "out of the norm" examples. I know it always helped me remember some of the tougher materials
William,
As you know students stay engaged at a much higher level when they are receiving information via multiple senses. The use of videos and images really help to focus the students in on the content being covered.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
