Abstract
This study examined the self-efficacy in science, art, dance, and music; attitudes concerning contributions of people of various ethnic/cultural groups; and science learning of students involved in an after-school arts-integrated science enrichment project. Students dramatized three traditional animal legends from African, Native American, and Mexican cultures to drum beats while wearing student-made papier-mâché helmet crest masks of the animal characters. They learned the structure and functions of the featured animals through slide shows, embedded explanations in the play scripts, and hands-on form and function analogy materials that related the form and function of animal body parts to manufactured items. Although at least 40 students participated at times in the after-school program, matching pretest and posttest data were only available for 13 students. Results showed positive changes in students’ art self-efficacy with a medium effect size, improvements in knowledge of animal form and function with a large effect size, and a trend toward greater appreciation of the cultural contributions of different ethnic groups. Photographs of student-made masks and the animal legend scripts with added form-and-function content are provided.
Citation
Gray, P., Rule, A. C., Kirkland Holmes, G., Logan, S. R., Alert, A. L., & Mason, C. A. (2016). Learning form and function by dance-dramatizing cultural legends to drum rhythms wearing student-made animal masks. Journal of STEM Arts, Crafts, and Constructions, 1(1), 75-97. Retrieved from http://scholarworks.uni.edu/journal-stem-arts/vol1/iss1/7
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Art Education Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Engineering Education Commons, Music Commons, Science and Mathematics Education Commons, Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons