Argues that art education is basic to school learning because it develops three levels of visual communication skills: the use of visual symbols to communicate at a very general level; to communicate accurately and specifically; and to communicate uniquely and expressively. (Author/SJL)

Divides visual literacy into three categories: basic, artistic, and aesthetic. Maintains that this expanded conception of visual literacy contains the potential to significantly alter the content and methods of art education. (JDH)

This article urges teachers to guide gifted students in constructing meaning through creating and viewing non-print texts. It discusses how visual images can be used to capture symbols of leadership, record and celebrate leadership in action, interpret the attributes of leadership in new ways, and recognize leaders in the community. (Contains one…

The state of Colorado has set forth five content standards for visual arts education in its public schools: (1) students will recognize and use the visual arts as a form of communication; (2) students will know and apply elements of art, principles of design, and sensory and expressive features of visual arts; (3) students will know and apply…

This brief survey of successful visual literacy programs designed for students at the elementary and secondary level outlines projects to teach visual communication skills in Ohio, Indiana (Project Visual Understanding in Education/VUE), Virginia, Iowa (Media NOW), California, Canada, England, and Australia (Visual Education Curriculum Project).…

The arts program in the Attleboro, Massachusetts, public schools is an interdisciplinary attempt to communicate the basic knowledge structures used in most subjects through nonverbal visual means. An evaluative study showed Attleboro seventh graders' gains in visual concepts as significantly higher than those of traditionally taught students. (JM)

The purpose of this in-progress study is to try to find commonalities between visual proficiency and artistic performance. In order to assess visual proficiency, a test of spatial ability is being developed and pilot tested. Student performance on the test will be recorded and examined in relation to two traditional measures of student art…

Discusses the relationship between aesthetic value and the improvement of perception of visual artwork. Recent experiments have attempted to improve visual perception of school children, and to study their developmental preferences in art. But art has moral dimensions, and aesthetic education must also facilitate the appreciation of aesthetic…

This one-hour documentary on videotape reveals how computer technology and interactive media rely on the languages of the arts--images, sounds, colors, and movements--to engage children in new ways of learning about the arts and other subjects. Students are shown using educational software that encourages development of knowledge and skills in…

This volume contains 53 articles grouped under five headings: (1) Research (14 papers on such topics as cognitive style and cognitive strategies, visual literacy training, and the impact of diagrams, type styles, and computer graphics on learning); (2) Theory (nine papers on such topics as the development of visual literacy concepts, cognition and…

Two bibliographies of publications from the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) are presented. The first covers the period from 1983 through 1989 and lists 261 publications from the IVLA at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. The second covers from 1990 through 1993 and lists 201 publications. The comprehensive…

This book introduces preservice art educators to the power of art in creating meaning. Each chapter emphasizes different aspects of art education, identifies concepts and research, and outlines the advantages and challenges of making the suggested choices. Part 1, "Teacher as Choice Maker," includes two chapters. Chapter 1 invites…

This paper highlights how introductory textbooks on Egyptian art inhibit understanding by reinforcing student preconceptions, and demonstrates another approach to discussing space with a classroom exercise and software. The alternative approach, an active model for spatial representation, introduced here was developed by adapting classroom…

This document contains selected papers from the 25th annual conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA). Topics addressed in the papers include the following: visual literacy; graphic information in research and education; evaluation criteria for instructional media; understanding symbols in business presentations;…