Why a History of Photography course has to be a theory based class?
Is it possible to add the creative component, such as photogram, black&white film based photo project, to class ?
Will it make a different by adding the creative component into this type of class?
A conceptual paper was presented to the Academic Conference at Fulbright University Vietnam, 20-21 Apr 2019, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Research Title: Creative Art as a Creative Learning Outcome in a History of Photography Class:
A classroom research experimenting on theory-based versus practice-based teaching modules in an Art History related class
Topic of Interest: Teaching Contemporary Literature, Art, and Cinema in Asia
Author: Buddhaporn Srisupawat
Media Communications Department, Webster University Thailand
Abstract:
Art and creativity are seen as going hand-in-hand. However, the current research reveals that the majority of art history related classes such as art history, art appreciation, film appreciation, music appreciation, etc., have still been conducted as theory-based approaches focusing on lecture format and cognitive and analytical learning assessments resulting in minimal creative thinking on the part of students. Based on Bloom Taxonomy’s Creative Learning Module, creativity is a critical component of making sense of learning experiences resulting in “Create” as the highest order of thinking skill; Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate and Create.
It is a general assumption that not all students who take art classes will go on to work in arts-related fields, but all will need to think creatively for future careers as well as livelong learning experiences. Presumably, the study of the creative learning module on practice-based learning in art history related courses would probably yield a significant impact on students toward their learning growths; not only in the short term during the current class as creative learners but long term even after graduation as problem solvers in their workplaces and in real-life scenarios.
Is it mandatory that History of Photography must be a theory-based class? This classroom research in History of Photography class will examine comparative learning outcomes between theory-based and practice-based classes to discover which teaching method will result in more efficacious learning as well as a better learning experience. The theory-based module will mainly focus on lectures, class discussions and a few demonstrations, while the practice-based one will consist of lectures and will also integrate more demonstrations, hands-on experience as well as adding creative arts toward assignments and the final project with a combination of both film and digital photography. Pretest and Posttest in each module will be conducted to measure the learning outcomes from the two different teaching approaches.
