Art-based Evaluation in Research Education

Abstract

Art-based course evaluation could serve as a rich source of information about how a course has affected the educational journey of students and achieved its goals. This study used art to evaluate an allday seminar for graduate students on research methods, to explore students' feelings about research concepts, and to foster understanding of those concepts in a holistic and relevant way. At the seminar's beginning and end, participants made art that expressed their feelings about research, wrote down word associations about research, and rated their desire to do research. At the end, they analyzed their own and the group's artwork. Comparisons of the artwork and other measures suggested that the seminar was able to reduce most participants' anxiety about research without a loss of creativity and energy. Artmaking in the context of research education was thus supported by the study.

From Therapeutic Factors to Mechanisms of Change in the Creative Arts Therapies: A Scoping Review

“…This is particularly true regarding closer connections between joint CATs factors and their impacts on clinical skills such as intentionality, presence, and evaluation in distance-learning contexts (Vega and Keith, 2012 ; LaGasse and Hickle, 2015 ; Beardall et al, 2016 ; Blanc, 2018 ; Sajnani et al, 2019 , 2020 ; Pilgrim et al, 2020 ). Some studies can contribute directly to pedagogy in areas such as the student experience and student development (Orkibi et al, 2021 ), curricular and program development (Moon, 2003 ), field training approaches and models (Fish, 2008 ; Landy et al, 2012 ; Orkibi, 2012 ) and program evaluation and assessment protocols (Julliard et al, 2000 ; Cruz, 2013 ). For example, CATs educators can associate the change process to certain CATs models, such as the five domains of change (Koch, 2017 ) and the Expressive Therapies Continuum (Lusebrink et al, 2013 ).…”

Aesthetic presence: The role of the arts in the education of creative arts therapists in the classroom and online

“…Cahn (2000) specifically addressed the use of studio-based art therapy education. Julliard et al (2000) discussed the use of arts-based evaluation in research education. Deaver's (2012) mixed-methods study pointed to the personal and professional importance of the consistent use of the arts across the curriculum.…”

The Limits of Rehabilitation and Recidivism Reduction: Rethinking the Evaluation of Arts Programming in Prisons

“…Julliard et al (2000, p. 188) suggest that in order to develop appropriate ABE questions, we might ‘begin with freeing ourselves completely from the mode of thinking imposed by Likert scales and instead [look] at both the questions we might best answer using art and the ways to gain information naturally from the artwork.’ By using ABE, then, evaluators can encourage multiple modes of expression and allow space for complex ideas and feelings to emerge. Part of this is made possible because ABEs express value primarily through metaphor, which can be communicated through a range of artistic mediums, including theater, visual art, poetry, music, and photography (Charlton, n.d.…”

“…The distance inherent in metaphor—that meaning is not explicit, but rather implicit through symbols, images, and comparisons—enables those providing feedback during the evaluation to explore ‘concepts and ideas that might be difficult or uncomfortable to communicate in other ways’ (Charlton, n.d., p. 4). The nature of the data collected through ABE is thus unique, often times relying on the artist/researcher’s interpretation of the resulting artwork (Julliard et al, 2000). With ABE, researchers can further disrupt the scholar-participant dichotomy in ways that challenge ‘the idea of knowledge creation as value-free, recognize the importance of the co-construction of knowledge with research participants, offer new ways to make meaning of the human condition, emphasize reflexivity, and embody great potential for consciousness raising and critical dialogue’ (Osei-Kofi, 2013, p. 137).…”

“…Nevertheless, we wanted to employ this approach as we found it to be the most appropriate and feasible for our evaluation of the women’s art program. ABE was especially useful for us because, as noted, it acknowledges the researchers’ involvement, not just in the collection of data, but in its generation and creation (Finley, 2014; Julliard et al, 2000; Leavy, 2015). Within this framework, ABE researchers can focus on cultivating a ‘disciplined subjectivity’ (Simons & McCormack, 2007, p. 298).…”