“I am quite proud of what we achieved,” said Rose. “The course goals are fully congruent with every activity and assignment, and the assessment approach we took provides students with very specific feedback for improvement. The focus, scope and organization of the course are clear and tight, well-aimed at a general education student. But what makes this course work so well online are the video demonstrations that Lori Levan and Cody Goddard [multimedia specialist] produced. The guidance is just tremendous.”
While the modules are unique, the core of the instructional approach remains constant. Every module uses a three-phased approach to learning: Sketch and Reflect, Experiment and Technique, and Bringing it all Together. As Rose explained, the goal is to make learning the concepts easier by initially separating the application of technique from the creative process, then bringing them back together.
Sketch and Reflect, the first activity, requires students to draw from observation, relating the concepts to something concrete in their immediate environment. In the reflection part of the exercise, the part Levan considers the “biggest breakthrough,” students write about their work. By learning something about their design and thought processes, she is able to provide better feedback. Her goal is to make assignments relevant to the students’ everyday lives, while helping them see the world in new ways.
“Observational drawing and storytelling became an important part of the course,” explained Levan, who asked her students to use their phone cameras for a scavenger hunt to find different types of marks, look at the environment through a viewfinder, and discuss different points of view.
Experiment and Technique is considered “the messy part of the module,” during which students are asked to use various materials and tools in specific ways that will help them to understand what those materials and tools can do. Not only are students building confidence in what they are doing, but they are also developing critical thinking skills that will help them to make creative decisions throughout the course. Levan also makes the connection between drawing and mark making (marks being the physical elements that make up a drawing), asking the students ‘what kind of marks will you use?’ She stresses that making marks is not “a random activity, but a focused and mindful action that affects everything one does when making a drawing.”
“There is a lot to learn about the materials, and I offer them a process of discovery through guided experimentation,” said Levan. “I ask the students a lot of questions throughout the assignments so that they are prompted to think about what they are doing at every stage. Once they understand the materials, they can link what they learn to concepts that have to do with actually creating a drawing – such as composition, point of view, and fooling the eye.”
Bringing It All Together is the comprehensive part of the module. Students combine skills from the previous two segments to display their grasp of the concepts of drawing. Themes and concepts connect the assignments, and in turn, the assignments reinforce the themes and concepts. Another way in which Levan brings it all together is through her teaching methodology. She includes diverse examples of artists’ work from different time periods and styles and assigns a textbook about contemporary drawing, written by a woman artist and teacher. The next step is creating a gallery of students’ work from the course to share with the class.