With the single descriptive case study reported on here we aimed to explore incorporating indigenous knowledge (IK) into the teaching of graphic design (GD) as a part of Grade 9 Technology lessons. Incorporating IK into GD could make the topic more meaningful -- especially for indigenous learners. The "Curriculum and Assessment Policy…

Background: Health message design plays an important role in knowledge acquisition and changes in attitudes towards a nutrient or substance, such as caffeine. To foster the effectiveness of health education, greater attention should be paid to the gist-based design of health messages that include visual representations. Fuzzy-trace theory…

We introduce a choice-based assessment strategy that measures students' choices to seek constructive feedback and to revise their work. We present the feedback system of a game we designed to assess whether students choose positive or negative feedback and choose to revise their posters in the context of a poster design task, where they learn…

This study examined the thinking processes students engage in while constructing graphic representations of textbook content. Twenty-eight students who either used graphic representations in a routine manner during social studies instruction or learned to construct graphic representations based on the rhetorical patterns used to organize textbook…

What excites the author the most is finding something new and turning it into a lesson her students will enjoy and learn from. Lately, she has been most inspired by the work she finds on one website. The lesson began with a brief PowerPoint based on an artist's website. This particular artist--Jennifer Schmitt--does reduction prints using several…

We introduce an educational game-based assessment that measures the choices students make while learning. We present Posterlet, a game designed to assess students' choices to seek negative feedback and to revise, in which students learn graphical design principles while creating posters. We validate our game-based assessment approach with three…

Most students enjoy the printing process. Some may have experimented with printing in the past using found objects or cutouts made of cardboard. In this article, students create a design on a pie-shaped piece and then repeat it to make a radial design.

Look for ways to take students on virtual journeys to faraway places, and then connect the experience to something they can relate to on a more personal level. In this article, the author describes a block-printing unit inspired by Japanese printmaker, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849), and his series of art prints, "Thirty-six Views of Mount…

The author could have chosen any ancient symbolic language, such as Egyptian or Pre-Columbian, but being from Denmark, she developed a unit that would introduce American students to artwork familiar to northern Europeans. Looking at examples of ancient art from Denmark and Sweden, students were to think about the use of symbols in ancient time and…

This printmaking unit will get students excited about geography and history. In this article, the author describes how her eighth-grade students created a report and a linoleum print of a famous "landmark."

A sky fading from blue to white to red at the horizon, and water darkening from light to midnight blue. Strong diagonals slashing through the image, drawing a viewer's eyes deeper into the picture, and delicate trees poised to convey a sense of beauty. These are the fascinating strengths of the ukiyo-e woodblock prints of Japanese artist Ando…

Standing in awe in Xian, China, at the Terra Cotta warrior archaeological site, the author thought of sharing this experience and excitement with her sixth-grade students. She decided to let her students carve patterns of the ancient soldiers to understand their place in Chinese history. They would make block prints and print multiple soldiers on…

Every year at Oakland Hebrew Day School (OHDS), a dedicated group of middle-school students comes together to study the Holocaust through art. This study culminates in an installation piece to be displayed at community commemorative events. The art curriculum at OHDS is choice-based, requiring students to assume responsibility for their art…

It's funny to think of the way an idea for an art lesson begins and how it has a way of changing into something completely different. That is what happened with this lesson, which was originally going to be about a springtime garden. In this article, the author describes an art lesson on collograph printmaking inspired by the poem "A Vampire's…

Graphic storytelling is a medium that allows students to make and share stories, while developing their art communication skills. American comics today are more varied in genre, approach, and audience than ever before. When considering the impact of Japanese manga on the youth, graphic storytelling emerges as a powerful player in pop culture. In…