Date Approved
5-18-1995
Embargo Period
9-11-2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in Subject Matter Teaching: Art
Department
Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math Education
College
College of Education
Advisor
Levinowitz, Lili M.
Subject(s)
African American students--Education (Primary); Art--Study and teaching; Cognitive styles
Disciplines
Art Education
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the interactions between the aesthetic criteria for evaluating art and learning styles between cultures. The problems were to investigate differences among learning styles and aesthetic preferences for painting styles between Black and Euro-American students.
Fifty-five undergraduates of Black-American and Euro-American descent from a state college in rural southern New Jersey participated in the study. The Group Embedded Figures Test was administered to determine the learning styles of field-sensitive or field-independence for each student. Students were instructed to find and trace the given simple figure within the given complex figure. Section one consisted of seven problems completed in two minutes, section two and section three each consisted of nine problems for which students were instructed to complete each in five minutes. The total time for the test took twelve minutes.
On the same day, the Art Preference Test was administered. Students were asked to view nine slides of paintings representing two styles. With two minutes to view each slide, students rated their feelings toward each of the paintings using a semantic differential of twenty bipolar adjectives.
Four 2 X 2 factorial designs (race x learning style) were organized for each of the dependent variables, Evaluative, Evaluative-Affective, Descriptive-Unique and a Total of all Three Dimensions. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to reveal significant differences and interactions between and within groups for race, learning styles and painting styles.
The researcher failed to find statistically significant mean differences for main effect and the interaction between cultures for learning styles and preferences for painting styles.
Recommended Citation
Graziano, Jane E., "A comparative study of Black and Euro-Americans' learning styles and aesthetic preferences for painting styles" (1995). Theses and Dissertations. 2246.
https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/2246
