While the development of pedagogy and curriculum is an ongoing process, making course work enticing to students has always been a challenge for me as an educator. Although I consider myself quite open to new means of effective teaching, if someone had told me three years ago that I was to use computer technology as an educational tool, I would have laughed and dismissed the idea. I would never have guessed that I would be, at this point, completely swept away by the potential of technology.
I have found that using technology not only enhances academic performance but also serves to provide social support for my students. Most of our students struggle with multiple roles and significant time pressures. By allowing students to access course materials and each other from their homes and other sites, my classroom has expanded beyond the walls of the college, exposing them to a community that fosters mastery through connectedness.
Since the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) was relocated into our community while a new museum building was being constructed, we had a very valuable resource immediately available to us. The semester-long project described below was designed to take advantage of this opportunity to enrich students' experiences while applying technology and broadening their knowledge through art. This project still continues, now using resources available through the new MoMA in Manhattan. The study of psychology focuses on the scientific knowledge we have attained about human behavior. Art reflects and expresses the spirit and passion of the human experience. One aspect of psychology in practice is the art of living life fully and satisfying our spirit. Thus, it is only natural that psychology and art have many connections, parallels and relationships. The use of technology, especially Blackboard and my website for the MoMA course project (http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/psychology/moma) gives students access to each other, to electronic resources, and to the professor. Technology enhances the General Psychology experience. Online resources from the MoMA collection allow students to gather digital images of work done by the artist they select. This project creates a stimulating environment where students learn how to write term papers, acquire research skills, integrate Psychology and Art, engage in providing and receiving peer critique, and relate their academic work to personal experience.
Activity Overview
First students visit the Museum with a guided tour by a MoMA educator. Upon revisiting the museum individually, they select an art piece that they saw on exhibit. Then, having selected a psychological concept from the course materials, they create a thesis question about the relationship between the psychological concept and that piece of art. Students may examine the piece of work itself, or the artist's personality, personal background, philosophy - or whatever captures the students' interest in connection with their study of psychology. The students' personal experience during the project is woven throughout their term paper.
Below are the five basic stages of the project and resources and materials:
Stage I: Understanding Art: What does it mean to examine art and make reflections on a work of art?
- Second week of class: Low-stakes assignment "Warm-Up Exercise for the MoMA Project."
- Third week of class: MoMA educators provide a guided visit to MoMA.
- Third week of class: Students visit MoMA independently.
Stage II: Selection of Art and Psychological Concept and Beginning Background Research
Using the "Warm-Up Exercise" format, students are required to hand in a one-page reflection paper on the piece of art they selected. They are instructed to include the title, a reproduction of the artwork, the artist's name, the year it was created and the list of key words related to the chosen psychological concept. This paper is due the fourth week of class.
Stage III: Researching the Psychological Concept
- Fifth week of class: Students are required to participate in one of the Library's research skills classes.
- Fifth through seventh weeks of class: Students begin compiling and reading through research sources such as journal articles, books, etc. that they would use when writing their research papers.
- Seventh week of class: Students engage in peer-critiquing their research sources. They are asked to bring in copies of all sources they plan to use in conducting their research. Working in pairs, students use the "Peer-Critique of Research Worksheet" to help each other evaluate the sources they have chosen.
Stage IV: Draft of the Research Paper
In the ninth week of the semester, students are required to bring in two copies of their paper with a cover letter, and copies of their research sources. In the cover letter students respond to the following guide questions:
- Which part of the paper are you satisfied with?
- What specific sections or questions do you need help with?
- Are there any other issues that concern you? Using the Peer-Review Worksheet, students read and discuss each other's work. They are required to return their feedback to their partners within one week.
Stage V. The Revised Paper
Due the 12th week of class, the final paper has to be typed, double-spaced (font size 12), and eight to ten pages in length, following the APA writing format. Students are instructed to also turn in a portfolio containing work done in previous stages of this research project, including:
- The "Warm-Up Exercises"
- The one-page reflection on selected art and psychology topic
- Pictures of the art and artist they selected
- The peer-critique of research sheet
- The peer-review sheet
- All previous drafts and notes
- Copies of all the research sources
- The cover letter
- The MoMA ticket stub
Examples of students' papers are listed below and available at: http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/psychology/moma
- Dali's The Persistence of Memory (1931) and the Process of Alzheimer's Dementia
- vanGogh's The Starry Night (1889) and the Role of Spirituality in One's Happiness
- Rauschenberg's Bed (1955) and the Function of REM Sleep
- Warhol's Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times (1963) and the Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Materials and Resources
A. Warm-Up Exercise for the MoMA Project
DO NOT LOOK AT THE TITLE OF THE PAINTING!
This exercise is designed to get you started on our MoMA project and help those of you who may be apprehensive about analyzing art. Please read the instructions below one step at a time.
Step 1: Please look at the painting at right - without writing - for about five minutes. Let your eyes wander around the entire painting and closely examine the details.
Step 2: Write your immediate reactions, thoughts, associations or insights on a piece of paper for another five minutes.
Step 3: With your initial written reactions in hand, look at the painting again. This time you may want to consider some of the following questions, if you have not already. Feel free to take notes.
- What's happening? Are there any unusual things happening?
- Who might some of the characters in the painting be? Can you make inferences about their actions, feelings and thoughts?
- Where do you think this scene is taking place? What season and time of day?
- Imagine being in this picture. What would that be like?
- What are some of the elements in the painting that attract you the most? Why?
- List some of the psychological concepts that you know of that relate to this painting.
Step 4: Finally, write a brief essay on your personal reflections about the posted painting. This part of the exercise should not take more than 15-20 minutes.
Step 5: The name of the painting will be revealed once you hand in your essays to see if your impressions about the painting change.
Remember: This exercise is designed to help you only with one part of the MoMA term project, that is how to develop analytical, personal reflections. The other part - library research of a psychological topic and how to relate it to the painting - is still the "meat" of the project that needs to be carefully put together.
B. Peer-Critique of Research for MoMA Term Paper
Student reviewed:_______________ Reviewer:_______________
In your review, please describe the articles being considered for the term paper. Since the quality of the research is one of the major components of this project, make sure you examine the articles carefully. For each article, please note any significant concepts and check whether they are from a scholarly and/or peer-reviewed journal. Abbreviate the title of the article by writing down the first three words if it is too long to fit in the space.
Title Scholarly Journal Peer-Reviewed Not
Article #1
Article #2
Article #3
Reference Books:
*What advice would you give to your colleague about his/her sources?
C. Peer- Review of MoMA Term Paper
Student reviewed:_______________ Reviewer:_______________ Date__________
1. Write out the name of the art piece, the artist and the psychological concept, problem, or issue that this paper addresses.
2. Using a highlighter, highlight all places where you got confused as a reader.
3. Does the author incorporate his/her own reflections and reactions to the art piece in the beginning of the draft? Is it extensive?
4. Using a red pen and writing the word "transition" in the margin, identify where the writer makes the transition from the art to the psychological concept in the paper.
5. Summarize the author's thesis statement. (Note: If you have trouble with 1 and 2, concentrate on helping the writer clarify the concept and thesis.)
6. Using a red pen, underline all of the parts where the thesis makes the connection between the art and a psychological concept.
7. How frequently does the writer use the art to support the psychological concept? Refer to all places where this occurs (e.g., "3rd page 2nd paragraph", "top of the first paragraph on the 2nd page", etc.). Or does the paper, instead, read as though it is written about two distinct topics: art and psychology?
8. Does this paper meet the expectation that it be about psychology? Or does it read more like an art paper?
9. Does the writer meet the expectation that art, also, is an important tool in his/her research? Or does he/she ignore art considerably?
10. Does the author provide enough detail with regard to the psychological concept?
11. How well does the author cover the researched topic, questions, etc.? For example does she/he offer sufficient detail to support the argument (paraphrases, quotations, textual references, data, statistics, etc)? If so, where?
12. Does the author need to do more research? Does the author support his/her claims with citations using the APA style? Does the author provide a separate reference page with the citations?
13. Write down at least two things that you think are particularly strong about this paper.
14. Keeping the cover letter in mind, make three or four directive statements recommending specific changes that the writer should make in the revised paper.
15. Would you recommend that the author take the paper to the Writing Center? Why or why not?
D. MoMA Term Paper Grading Guide (Total: 100 points)
Quality of Ideas (25 points)
Range and depth of argument; logic of argument; quality and quantity of research or original thought; appropriate sense of complexity of the topic; appropriate awareness of opposing views. Following are some of the considerations:
- How thoughtful is the paper?
- How adequate is the thesis/topic/argument?
- Does the paper show originality?
- Does the paper examine its topic in a full and interesting way?
- Does it have an appropriate degree of complexity?
- Does the argument make sense?
- Is there evidence of extensive library research?
Organization and Development (25 points)
Effective title; clarity of thesis statement; logical and clear arrangement of ideas; effective use of transitions; unity and coherence of paragraphs; good development of ideas through supporting details and evidence. Following are some of the considerations:
- How well organized is the paper?
- Does the paper have a thesis?
- Does the thesis address itself to an appropriate question or topic?
- Is the paper free from long stretches of quotations?
- Is the paper free from summaries that exist for their own sake and remain unanalyzed?
- Does the paper stick to the point?
- Does every paragraph contain a clear topic sentence?
- Are the transitions well made?
- Does it have a real conclusion, not simply a stopping place?
Clarity and Style (20 points)
Ease of readability; appropriate voice, tone and style for assignment; clarity of sentence structure; gracefulness of sentence structure; appropriate variety and maturity of sentence structure. Following are some of the considerations:
- How well is the paper written?
- Is the style efficient, not wordy or unclear?
- Can I hear a lively, intelligent, interesting human voice speaking to me as I read the paper?
Sentence Structure and Mechanics (10 points)
Grammatically correct sentences; absence of comma splices, run-ons, fragments, absence of usage and grammatical errors, accurate spelling, careful proofreading, attractive and appropriate manuscript form.
- Are the sentences complete sentences?
- Is the paper free from basic grammatical errors?
- Is there evidence of careful proofreading, spell checking, etc.
Participation in Peer Review (10 points)
Participating in the peer-review process and providing thorough written feedback on another student's work.