Awakening Student Ownership: Transitioning to a Student-Centered Environment

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¹ Documenting student dialogue was an integral part of my qualitative research study, as I wanted to know how my students would react to a student-centered environment. Data were collected through surveys, observations, interviews, and student work. I handed out survey questions on the first day of class asking students to rate their experiences of last year's projects in reference to their personal investment, their freedom of choice, and their exploration of ideas, materials, and techniques. Observations were recorded daily in a journal and included student interactions with their peers, student reactions to lesson presentations and exemplar artists, and student attitudes toward their work. I chose five students of varying abilities to participate in a semi-structured interview where I questioned them about their artmaking process. Last, I collected various samples of student work including brainstorming activators, sketch sheets, written reflections, and completed projects.

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Jacqueline S. McElhany

Jacqueline S. McElhany is a Visual Arts Educator at Emory H. Markle Intermediate School in Hanover, Pennsylvania. E-mail: [email protected]. Blog: www.ehmisartstudio.weebly.com