College Students' Learning Outcomes in an E-Art Education / 大學生在線上通識藝術教育中的學習成效

Abstract

The art courses in college general education programs are usually separated from other disciplines and only beneficial to small groups of enrolled students. In the study, an open online general art education (e-art) program in an informal, cross-disciplinary learning environment (Baker ＆ O’Neil, 2006) is constructed for providing a complement to general education. Applying Schiller’s (2004) aesthetic notion of freedom, the purpose of this study is threefold: (a) to offer a new paradigm of general education beyond formal curriculum framework, (b) to assess the pedagogical effects e-art brought to general art education, and (c) to quantitatively investigate user outcomes to this e-art education experience. By collecting 737 college students for a comprehensive survey, the study has four major findings. First, there are more significant differences among behavioral variables than demographic variables, implying that the program implementation plays a critical role to influence its pedagogical effects. Second, the campus art collection in the program was more attractive to the college students than famous masterpieces. Third, art activities in this particular e-art education enhance student’s self-reported creativity and imagination. Finally, in the early stage of general art education, it is more important to immerse students in artistic appreciation than rush their own artistic creation process.