Sunday, June 10, 2012

What Works? Chapter 7


1.  Mindwork: Create a Time Line
Make a timeline for your research.
Consider:
Observing, Interviewing, Gathering materials, Reading, Writing, Analyzing and interpreting, and Revising
Structure: Month by Month
Identify the most challenging parts (take the most time)

September:
Find a partner to collaborate with on the project
Gather materials/Equipment
Find student(s) to follow
Get permission from schools, teachers, students, parents, etc.
Plan out schedule for filming/documenting students inside and outside of class

October:
Formulate Questions to help guide the footage and narrow down the research
Begin filming weekly
Interviews?
Keep a weekly reflection log

November:
Continue filming
Hopefully the research is taking a specific direction
Weekly reflection log

December:
Continue filming
Hopefully the research is continuing to follow direction
Weekly reflection log

January:
Assess progress of footage for documentary
Make revisions
Change direction if needed

February:
Resume filming
Resume weekly reflections in journal

March-May:
Film, film, film
Hopefully the footage is coming to a resolution/ending for the school year
Realizations
End filming

Summer:
Edit, cut, edit, cut
Hopefully finish a rough cut of the documentary


After creating the timeline…
Are there Temporary adjustments you’ll need to make in your personal life to accomplish this research?
I’ll need to be faithful to the schedule I plan out for filming so that I have footage to work with from each week of the student’s life/school year/experience.  So this may mean cutting personal and social plans down.

2. Mindwork: Find a Grant Source
Go online and find a funding agency you think might offer a grant for a classroom research project like yours.

Who/what is the agency?
National Endowment for the Humanities
What are its goals?
NEH serves and strengthens our republic by promoting excellence in the humanities and conveying the lessons of history to all Americans. The Endowment accomplishes this mission by awarding grants for top-rated proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers.
With whom does the agency associate?
NEH grants typically go to cultural institutions, such as museums, archives, libraries, colleges, universities, public television, and radio stations, and to individual scholars.
What other kinds of projects have they funded?
Since 1965, the Endowment has opened new worlds of learning for the American public with noteworthy projects such as:
                Seven thousand books, 16 of which have won Pulitzer Prizes, and 20 of which have received the Bancroft Prize.
                The Civil War, the landmark documentary by Ken Burns viewed by 38 million Americans
                The Library of America editions of novels, essays, and poems celebrating America’s literary heritage
                The United States Newspaper Project, which cataloged and microfilmed 63.3 million pages of historic newspapers, paved the way for the National Digital Newspaper Program and its digital repository, Chronicling America
Annual support for 56 states and territories to help support some 56,000 lectures, discussions, exhibitions and other programs each year.
What criteria do you meet?
Collaborative Research Grants support interpretive research undertaken by a team of two or more scholars, for full-time or part-time activities for periods of a minimum of one year up to a maximum of three years. Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; field work; applications of information technology; and technical support and services. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to the appropriate scholarly and public audiences.
Eligible projects include
                Research that significantly adds to knowledge and understanding in the humanities;
Conferences on topics of major importance in the humanities that will benefit scholarly research
What are you missing?
A Collaborative partner!
What assumption does this grant have about education?
Advance the humanities!

3.  Mindwork: Write a Working Proposal

Background (or Position Statement):
In what ways does a community’s perception of an artist and art education affect a middle school art student’s self-proclaimed identity from one school/community to another? And what approach allows teachers to sufficiently understand their student’s individual abilities, aptitudes, and needs in a digital visual culture?

Data Sources:
-Access to students inside and outside the classroom (first, an entire classroom (or a few classrooms), then chose focal students from each classroom)
-Surveys given to entire classrooms

-Student journals – include weekly or monthly responses on:
How do they feel they are seen by their community/peers?
How do they see themselves (as an artist, or otherwise)?
How does the community/peers view art?
Do they feel successful as a student?
What is success?
How do they feel they perform in their other classes?
How do they view art? What is its purpose? Different than art education in the classroom?
Who is art for?
How do they feel they learn best?
What qualities do they value in a teacher?
When/how/in what way do they learn best?
What type of art do they create/desire to create in the future?

-Student Artwork
-Student interviews and observation through film documentation
-My own field notes

Related Research:
Web 2.0 and Social Constructivism
Melanie L.  Buffington, with Kathryn R. Helms, Jan A. Johnston, and Sohhyoun Yoon
From: “Inter/Actions/Inter/Sections: Art Education in a Digital Visual Culture”

New Media Arts Education: How Community-Based Programs Can Reshape Teaching and Learning in The Age of Web 2.0
David Darts, Juan Carolos Castro, Anita Sinner, and Kit Grauer
From: “Inter/Actions/Inter/Sections: Art Education in a Digital Visual Culture”

Saving Bullies and Dropouts
Lynn Stoddard
From: The Salt Lake Tribune

Methods and Analysis:
Student-Centered
Survey students in art classrooms of each community/school type within Columbia, MO
Pick a focal student from each classroom
Film them inside the classroom and outside the classroom
Observe how their background affects their behavior at school
Observe how their community affects the way in which the students view themselves/view art/view success
Draw conclusions based off of observations and interviews/journals of the students
Formulate conclusions into hypothesis/results of sorts

Time Line: (One school year of filming students)
September:
Find a partner to collaborate with on the project
Gather materials/Equipment
Find student(s) to follow
Get permission from schools, teachers, students, parents, etc.
Plan out schedule for filming/documenting students inside and outside of class

October:
Formulate Questions to help guide the footage and narrow down the research
Begin filming weekly
Interviews?
Keep a weekly reflection log

November:
Continue filming
Hopefully the research is taking a specific direction
Weekly reflection log

December:
Continue filming
Hopefully the research is continuing to follow direction
Weekly reflection log

January:
Assess progress of footage for documentary
Make revisions
Change direction if needed

February:
Resume filming
Resume weekly reflections in journal

March-May:
Film, film, film
Hopefully the footage is coming to a resolution/ending for the school year
Realizations
End filming

Summer:
Edit, cut, edit, cut

Possible Findings:
I’m prepared that after I start filming, my research may take a different direction, but as of now I hope to find out how to best understand middle school art students and their identity during a time when art education is drastically changing (and will drastically change) due to 21st century digital visual culture and its continuous development. 

Dissemination:
Documentary – film festivals, website, school showings, etc.

Budget/Resources needed:
-A Partner!
-Film/audio equipment
-Possible extra editor to help make cuts and edits

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