Using multimedia to train pre-service art teachers in the graphic design context area

Abstract

This study investigated the use of a web-based multimedia teaching tool about graphic design and related careers with pre-service art teachers. The study examined attitudes and beliefs of 30 pre-service art teachers from Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado about including graphic design content in the high school fine art curriculum. The respondents’ attitudes about jobs and availability of jobs for artists, as well as the importance of technology in the art curriculum were also surveyed. Instruments developed by the researcher for the study included an attitude scale, an objective test, and a web-based multimedia teaching tool. A quantitative associational design was used for the research, and the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations.

The findings indicate that pre-service art teachers believe graphic design should be taught in high school fine art programs and that artists and art teachers need to know how to use and teach with technology. A correlation was found between a self-reported level of technology expertise and a need for further technology training. Another correlation was found between the self-reported level of technology expertise and the need to know how to use technology.

The American education system is currently undergoing major reform as a result of new computing technologies. Teachers are encouraged to be ready to use and teach with technology, and teacher training programs must address this issue The art curriculum is not an exception to this initiative, and art teachers who use technology will find there are many ways to present and expose students to art content. The multimedia teaching tool about graphic design developed for this study is but a beginning in the exploration of possibilities of technology integration with the arts.