Misty Long
ART 211
24 March, 2010
Karen A. Hamblen got her PhD at the University of Oregon in 1981. She has taught at Louisiana State University since 1985 in the department of Educational Theory, Policy, and Practice. Her journals and books discuss instruction in education. She received awards such as: Recipient Art Education Journal award,1996, Research Studies award,1997 and Visual Arts Research Journal selection, 2005. Karen is also a member of the NAEA and has received the Manuel Barkan award 1984, Mary Rouse award 1985, June McFee award 1995, Lecture Aesthetics award 1998 (Marquis).
The article I choose to read is called “ Don’t you think some brighter colors would improve your painting?” (Hamblen, 12).It is about learning, as a teacher, to form and use more effective questions in your classroom. Hamblen argues most teachers do not challenge their students through their questions and/or in class discussions; effective questioning results from well formed questions.
The questions stated at the beginning of the article only prove the student knows definitions rather than concepts and overarching themes. It is important to allow student time to think about a response to a question rather than firing at a “rapid rate.” This ensures more participation because students are actively forming a response and creating their own interpretation and application of a concept instead of repeating what their teacher has already told them. Allowing students to create their own answers to questions improves their critical thinking skills, which helps them become a better student. Some common sense applicationsinclude the setting rules for students to follow. While this may seem small and insignificant, it allows everyone in the class to understand what activity and behavior is to be expected.
I thought this article was well written, but was mainly a restatement of common sense. The problem I had with this article was how Hamblen downgraded questions pertaining to definitions and also how she ignored when these types of questions were applicable to certain grade levels (do her conclusions apply to every grade level or just a certain level?). I agree questions are sometimes not effective, but disagree they are completely useless-in their proper place, simple questions (like a definition) can be quite useful and pertinent. The questions at the beginning apply to different levels of art development where they are useful and necessary as part of the education process. In a higher level art class (e.g. college) such basic questions are ineffective.
References
Hamblen, K. A. (1984). Don't you think some brighter colors would improve your painting? or, constructing questions for art dialogues. Art Education, 37, 12-14.
Marquis Who’s Who. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2010, from