Teaching for Transfer through Integrated Online and Traditional Art Instruction

Abstract

This is an exploratory, design-based study of the development and implementation of an online art unit designed to teach for transfer. Secondary art teachers implemented a traditional and then a revised Web version of the unit. Four kinds of knowledge (content, procedural, strategic, and dispositional) provide the structure for reporting: a) teachers' observations of transfer, and b) an analysis of characteristics of Web design that may influence transfer. Anecdotal student data from written pretests and posttests and individual interviews illustrate teachers' observations. Emerging research issues center on prior computer experience, student writing, computer independence, graphic icons, practice, teacher and peer interaction, and features of hybrid online-offline art instruction that increase meaningfulness of art activities for students.