Report #4
FIPP Activity Report
Funded by the Basic Skills Initiative
Name Jacqueline Freedman
Date 12/09/09
FIPP Partner Matt Cheung
Section #5000
Activity /Strategy Designing Homework
Category 5
Briefly describe the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction The experience of actually seeing "real" art in a museum context is
critical to an appreciation of both high art and art museums. Students were
asked to go to the Getty Center and choose one work of art to analyze for a 3-5
page written analysis.
2. Set up & Supplies A hand-out with specific guidelines for writing the analysis
was handed out.
3. Directions Write a 3-5 page analysis of one work of art seen at the Getty
Center. If the Getty Center was not geographically desirable, students were
asked to see me for a recommendation of another art venue that was more
accessible to them.
Conclusion This is the only formal written assignment due for this class, so it was a
very important indicator of how much students are able to critically think for
themselves outside of class in an art museum. From the comments on the
survey sheets, it seems that most of the students thought that it was a worthwhile
experience. For some this was the first time that they had ever been in a
museum, so that alone makes this assignment worthwhile.
What worked well? I think that having the students experience art in a museum as
opposed to in the text, in slides during lecture, or on the internet gets them to
understand the difference between "simulated" and "mediated" images and looking at
"real" art; interfacing with the actual, real world, I think, worked well for this assignment.
What would you change? This assignment followed a webquest assignment search for
two museum exhibitions that each student would select and go to write about for their
journals. I think next time, instead of limiting the museum assignment to the Getty
Center, I will give them the range of museums that were listed on the webquest
assignment handout. This willl allow them to make a personal choice to go to an exhibit
that they have already established a personal interest.
Also, a big mistake that I made was not giving them a sample essay in class and
putting them in to groups so that they could establish what a successfully written
analysis would look like. Although the handout for the museum paper was very explicit,
I can see that many of them needed more guidance; since for most of them, they were
writing about art for the firist time.
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes, this is an important
strategy; it requires students to get out of their comfort zone and go to a museum to
apply what they are learning in the class.
Please describe any student learning outcomes/changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. From reading the papers which resulted from the
assignment, I could tell that most of them were able to use formal elements and
composition principles to analyze one art work of their choice. They were also able to
discuss how visual elements in an art work communicate content. Most students were
able to complete this assignment satisfactorily; although
I think next time giving them a sample essay and going over thesis statement
requirements, will result in a higher success rate.