An Action Research on the Learning Effectiveness of Using Creative Drama in the Senior High School “Arts and Life” Curriculum

[[abstract]]This research was to explore the learning effectiveness, including five abilities such as concentration, imagination, perception, expression, and creativity, via using of creative drama onto the “Arts and Life Curriculum” for senior high school students in Taipei. It took total 68 students of two classes for the subjects and two units for the action study focused on the performing skills of “imitation” and “role-play”. Two rating scales, one for observation of teaching activities and one for students’ attitude self-evaluation along with teaching journals, were used for data collecting. Conclusions were stated as follows: First, for the “imitation” unit, the learning effectiveness of students’ five abilities performed quite well although the average of students’ self-evaluation was less than the rating of the observer. Second, for the “imitation” unit, the instructor’s reflections were: 1) Different strategies of “imitation” could promote the learning effectiveness but the time control of processing wasn’t going smoothly. And 2) the using of creative drama could be helpful for the relaxation of students’ pressure from schoolwork and the promotion to learning motivation. Third, for the “role-play” unit, the learning effectiveness of students’ five abilities performed excellently well and the average of students’ self-evaluation was high than the previous unit. Fourth, for the “role-play” unit, the instructor’s reflections were: 1) The integrate experience from stage-skills could promote the more learning effectiveness as well as the time control was still difficult due to the instant needs of students. And 2) the “role-play” processing of creative drama performance should base on the experiences from students’ daily lives thus to bring out their sympathy and emotion. According to the conclusions, the researcher also proposed suggestions for the Art-Life Curriculum development, the implementation of teaching, and the future related studies.