麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院 art history students deepen learning through 鈥榦bject-based learning鈥櫶�

Teaching her first course in her first semester at the 麻豆影院, art historian Stephanie Su decided to make use of literally hundreds of unusual teaching 鈥渁ssistants鈥�: 238 objects of Burmese and Chinese art that make up the听听at the CU Art Museum.听

Students in Su鈥檚 first course, Art and Architecture in East Asia, visited the collection, which was donated in 2012 by Warren and Shirley King, who live in Hong Kong.听

The students are asked to spend no less than 10 minutes in 鈥渃lose looking鈥� 鈥� silently observing objects from the collection and taking notes.听

鈥淭he close-looking exercise is sort of a guide to give students access to really start looking at the materials,鈥� says Hope Saska, curator of collections and exhibitions at the museum, who designed the exercise based on elements used at other institutions. 鈥淚t鈥檚 based on a teaching technique fundamental to museum education, using visual-thinking strategies. 鈥� The students can have immediate relationships with materials that are a little more informal and a little more impromptu than what you鈥檇 find in a curated exhibition.鈥�

鈥淭hey get a sense of the shapes, colors, functions, materials and textures of the objects and try to construct meanings by themselves鈥擶hen was it made? What is it for? What does it mean? What does (the object) tell us about the culture in that historical period?鈥攔ather than having to rely on someone else鈥檚 interpretation,鈥� Su says.听

Under Saska鈥檚 model, once students have closely examined the requisite pieces from the collection, they form small groups to exchange observations and ideas about the meaning of the pieces.

鈥淚n the small group, they come up with three to five elements that they think are the key elements they have observed about the piece. The exercise helps guide conversations to develop students鈥� understanding of the content,鈥� says Saska, who previously has worked as a lecturer in art history and with museum collections at the Detroit Institute of Arts and Yale University.听

Once the close-looking exercise is complete, the groups make presentations to the rest of the class. Finally, they are asked to write analytic papers incorporating both the class鈥檚 observations and secondary sources to refine their arguments.

鈥淚t is a student-centered learning approach that uses objects to facilitate deep learning,鈥� Su says. 鈥淚t uses objects as multi-sensory thinking tools to stimulate students鈥� imaginations. They learn to observe the objects and construct meanings.鈥澨�

For this semester鈥檚 course, Su has asked students to focus their papers on 鈥渢he shifting notion of the afterlife in ancient China,鈥� comparing, for example, the famous, full-sized terra cotta army created by China鈥檚 First Emperor to the miniature figurines in the King Collection鈥攃hickens, horses, stoves, attendants, theaters, houses鈥攆rom the Han dynasty, which immediately followed the First Emperor era.听

鈥淔or the First Emperor, the afterlife was a continuation of current life, so everything was life-sized, emulating the palace aboveground,鈥� Su says. 鈥淏ut in the Han dynasty, the notion changed. The miniature figurines, vessels and architecture not only substituted for the real human world, but also constituted a world operating in its own logic, free from the natural laws of the human world. In this way, life could be extended in perpetuity. This notion of the afterlife had enduring impact, even on contemporary Chinese society.鈥�

Although she鈥檚 just begun teaching at CU, Su has seen the benefits of object-based learning on other institutions鈥� graduate students, whose observations and ideas have opened her eyes to new interpretations and understandings.

鈥淥ne student鈥檚 research paper on the technology of glass during the Han dynasty explored the emergence of new objects and colors, particularly purple, within Taoism,鈥� she says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 something I had never thought about, so I can learn things from my students鈥� interests, too.鈥�

Alice Kain,听academic initiatives coordinator at the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, notes that object-based learning can give students confidence in the classroom.

鈥淚t can encourage students to begin to look in depth at the artwork together; I believe that there are听benefits of students communicating to each other rather than being told听what to look at,鈥� Kain听writes听in the online journal Art History Teaching Resources.听

鈥淚 have noticed that some students new to art history can be intimidated by making observations; that they may be looking at something 鈥榠n the wrong way鈥� or that they are missing language to deal with what they are seeing. Certainly, teachers are able to provide insight into the vocabulary, but small group work allows for students to deal with some of these other larger insecurities together.鈥�

鈥淭his indeed is something new in the field of art history鈥� Su agrees. 鈥淚n the post-war period, study was focused on iconography, looking at images and being told what they mean, but not really looking at the objects themselves.鈥澨�

鈥淭his object-based learning approach allows students to apply what they have learned to new situations and solve the problems by themselves. This process enhances students鈥� close looking, critical thinking and writing, which are invaluable skills for their future careers. They will become more culturally sensitive, being more aware of how images and objects convey meanings in different contexts.鈥澨�

But close-looking exercises aren鈥檛 just for art history. This semester, two to three undergraduate classes a week, in disciplines ranging from history to English to classics, have been visiting the CU Art Museum to engage with objects from the collection.听

To boot, the museum has been busily evangelizing the gospel of close-looking and object-based learning.

鈥淲e have the resources in both materials and objects, and also staff expertise,鈥� Saska says. 鈥淪o we鈥檙e working with colleagues across the states. We are deeply invested in creating exercises in the museum field and how museums can help develop education.鈥�

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