Action/Problem-Based Learning in a General Education Art Course

Abstract

In a diverse, complex age when information is easy to obtain, using a one-way instillation teaching method no longer motivates students to learn, or to obtain good teaching interactions and effective learning. This is especially true for aesthetic and creative learning, which cultivates diverse abilities by connecting the lesson to the students’ experiences. This study’s methods combine “Action Learning†(AL) with “Problem-Based learning†(PBL) to solve problems, and emphasizes learning-by-doing in a general education arts course. Through an eight-stage plan of action, students form groups and exert their collective creativity to create art. The researcher (teacher) takes on a guiding role by guiding students through collecting information, asking questions, participating in discussions, finding problems, solving the problems, reflecting, and revising until a viable program is created for collaborative practice. With “art representation†as the theme, the class begins with art appreciation and cycles through imitating representational art (AL), representing creative activities (PBL), and representing results (problem solving). Observations of the course, discussions between the students, and the process of art representation, reviews, specific reproduction, and quantitative and qualitative data collected from questionnaires show that students benefit from the course. The course helps the students to develop diverse abilities such as self-learning, communication, cultivation of aesthetics, creative thinking, problem solving, and collaboration, which allows them to gain a deeper understanding and the ability to re-interpret art. Overall, this art course helps students combine knowledge, feelings, and meanings, and become a “whole person,†which is the objective of an arts education.

Keywords: Creative learning, Action/problem-based learning, Art representation, Diverse abilities.