From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students

This paper considers the two-year-long process of redesigning Art Theory: Modernism, the initial core art theory course at The University of Newcastle in Australia, with the aim of increasing the academic engagement of first year fine art students. First year students are particularly vulnerable to...

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Main Author: Messham-Muir, Christian
Format: Journal Article
Published: University of Wollongong 2012
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18084
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author Messham-Muir, Christian
author_facet Messham-Muir, Christian
author_sort Messham-Muir, Christian
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper considers the two-year-long process of redesigning Art Theory: Modernism, the initial core art theory course at The University of Newcastle in Australia, with the aim of increasing the academic engagement of first year fine art students. First year students are particularly vulnerable to dropping out if they feel disengaged from the University. This paper does not present any grand solutions for teaching today’s first year students. It does, however, consider ways of designing authentic assessment items that acknowledge the new conditions of pedagogy today. This paper offers ideas for engaging first year students, by creating multidimensional resources that include online material that supports yet provokes students; by challenging them with assessments that demand students produce knowledge and not simply retrieve information and; by reconsidering how faculty present information in lectures. The redesigning of the Art Theory: Modernism course was informed by current and ongoing research in teaching and learning and guided by student feedback administered by the Planning, Quality and Reporting unit a t the University of Newcastle.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-180842017-05-30T08:11:14Z From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students Messham-Muir, Christian This paper considers the two-year-long process of redesigning Art Theory: Modernism, the initial core art theory course at The University of Newcastle in Australia, with the aim of increasing the academic engagement of first year fine art students. First year students are particularly vulnerable to dropping out if they feel disengaged from the University. This paper does not present any grand solutions for teaching today’s first year students. It does, however, consider ways of designing authentic assessment items that acknowledge the new conditions of pedagogy today. This paper offers ideas for engaging first year students, by creating multidimensional resources that include online material that supports yet provokes students; by challenging them with assessments that demand students produce knowledge and not simply retrieve information and; by reconsidering how faculty present information in lectures. The redesigning of the Art Theory: Modernism course was informed by current and ongoing research in teaching and learning and guided by student feedback administered by the Planning, Quality and Reporting unit a t the University of Newcastle. 2012 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18084 University of Wollongong restricted
spellingShingle Messham-Muir, Christian
From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title_full From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title_fullStr From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title_full_unstemmed From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title_short From tinkering to meddling: Notes on engaging first year art theory students
title_sort from tinkering to meddling: notes on engaging first year art theory students
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/18084