An experimental study of three aids in the teaching of drawing

This study investigated the effectiveness of three drawing aids, the photograph, the glass plane, and the mirror, for use by students working with three-dimensional space representation.Four groups of eight students each were formed from two classes of AED-100 (Drawing and Painting). They were freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior students, all of whom were non-art majors enrolled at Ball State University.Students in each of three experimental groups worked with a drawing aid, and students in a control group worked under the same studio-lab conditions but without aids. During the experiment, each student worked individually and completed a total of five drawings of two different still-life models. The models were simple three dimensional forms painted different shades of gray forbetter visibility.The general objectives of the research were related to the experimenter's expectancy that he would arrive at a -better understanding of the drawing process through the experience of observation and reflection during, as well as after the completion of, the experiment. This was the "soft" research and was the part ". . . conceived of by him whom it (was) not conceived of . . ." as mentioned in the Kena-Upanishad (D. T. Suzuki, Zen Buddhism, 1956). More specifically, the research was directed toward four major objectives:1. the use and evaluation of a particular application of the drawing aids, along with a comparison of the effectiveness of the aids in teaching perspective drawing,2. the rating of the instructional aids by comparison of gains within and between experimental categories,3. the investigation of whether or not participation in the experiment noticeably influenced student preference for Renaissance linear perspective, and4. the evaluation of the drawing experiment from the student's point of view through an interview.The findings of the study follow:1. The control group working without technical aids improved the most on the drawing task. This was true when the student was compared to all others in the study and when his pre-test was compared to his post-test drawing.2. Of the three aids tested in this study, the glass plane was the most helpful. The students in this group showed the most improvement when compared to all others using aids as well as when each individual's pre-test was compared to his post-test drawing.3. The students found the glass plane and mirror techniques easiest to learn.4. The mirror and glass plane appear to be useful aids for demonstrating 5. This study indicates that the students who looked at the model directly and simply drew did better than those who used the three aids. Therefore, it was concluded that the drawing aids as used in the context of this study were of no benefit.6. The study suggests novelty, surprise, freshness, and the feeling of doing something significant are conducive to drawing improvement.7. The attitudes of the students toward the study were positive. Students were highly motivated and interested in improving their drawing competencies. The investigator believes that the circumstances of this study would be ideal "routine" conditions for teaching and learning in art.8. Participation in the experiment did not noticeably influence student preference for Renaissance linear perspective.9. In exploring student preferences for drawing styles, a general preference for linear perspective was indicated when sixty-two percent of the students' choices were in favor of linear perspective and thirty-eight percent in favor of distorted perspective.10. The variation of responses found in relation to "standardized directions" along with the students' inability to describe a troublesome ellipse problem suggest a relationship between descriptive verbal ability, perception and drawing ability--a relationship worth more investigation.The researcher believes the three drawing aids investigated in this study might be valuable in the regular classroom for direct instructional purposes. The experimenter noted many "openings" for instruction while students worked in the lab. It is possible that the drawing aids would be useful in clarifying a student's problems in drawing, thus enabling the instructor to be of assistance.As for the open-ended aspect of this research, the investigator's notions of "arriving at a better understanding of the drawing process by way of reflection and observation"--it can be said that this was achieved, in part. Although "The butterfly flits from branch to branch With the changing of the breeze."—AnonymousThesis (D. Ed.