Kelly Donahue-WallaceUniversity of North Texas

TEACHING ART HISTORY

ONLINE

Asking questions to design a successful course: Building the house.

Your choice:Testing OnlineView UNT’s Art History Survey I Online

TODAY’S SESSION PLAN

95% rule

TEACHING ART HISTORY ONLINEDESIGNING AN ONLINE ART HISTORY

COURSE

Everyone. The only thing that unites them is that they engage the course alone.

All reassuring hallway conversations, classroom chit chat, on the fly questions are gone.

They don’t seek help from peers, instructor, or others.Online students have high “poop-out” rates and high

DFWI rates.

This puts a HUGE burden on the instructor to plan, organize, structure, and anticipate…

…and to be consistent in every way.

WHO IS THE ONLINE ART HISTORY STUDENT?

Reflections InfrastructureAssessmentArchitecturePedagogy

GETTING STARTED

What do I want from/for myself?How much time do I want to dedicate to the course?

Now? As the course runs? In perpetuity?How much reward comes from this eff ort? Is writing an online course really for me?

REFLECTION & HONEST CONVERSATIONS WITH YOURSELF

Who will own the course as intellectual property?What is the institution’s policy on the use of images,

including those legitimately protected by copyright?How small can I keep the class?Who will be teaching the course? How many sections?

Expectations for me to revise, update, maintain the course?

Is there fee money or other source for purchases or part-time assistance?

Will this course generate new funds, who will have access to them, and with what restrictions/parameters?

INFRASTRUCTURE & HONEST CONVERSATIONS WITH YOUR

INSTITUTION

What outcomes have been attached to this course, either alone or as part of the art/art history program?

What type of data am I required to collect? How often? What methods of collection are preferred?

How is the data reported? What feedback should I expect?How am I supposed to respond?

INSTITUTIONAL ASSESSMENT

How long is the semester/quarter? When does “add” period end?

How many units/modules? What is the students’ responsibility in each unit and

how will this be assessed? Will students work alone or in groups?

How do I scale things appropriately to the length of time for each unit?

How do I move students through the content within a unit and from one unit to the next?

ARCHITECTURE

What do I want from/for my students?Who or what will be the “content expert” delivering

the information?How will I communicate with students and motivate

them?How do I craft assignments that require students to

work with as much of the content as I want them to?What additional resources will I off er, why, and what

are my expectations for their use?

PEDAGOGY AND ADJUSTING YOUR METHOD OF TEACHING

What are my course-specific learning outcomes?How am I testing for these learning outcomes?How do the assessments test for learning rather than

information finding?

IN-COURSE ASSESSMENTS

Installing the art (content) into your online class.

Student ranking of importance in online course design (in order):

Clarity, organization/structure, simplicity, attractiveness, excitement.

NOW YOU CAN FINALLY GET STARTED!

Writing test questions for online courses.

Walk through ART2350 Art History Survey I.

YOUR CHOICE

Is it feasible to require use of a testing center? Probably not.

How are tests adjusted for an online class? Forget slide IDs, replace with obscure unknowns.

Application questions rather than regurgitation.Synthesis questions drawing conclusions.

WRITING TEST QUESTIONS

Which period style addressed in this unit is best described as reserved? a. French Rococob. American Neoclassicismc. British Romanticismd. Spanish Colonial

Which object best embodies the principles of the Enlightenment?a. An Experiment on a Bird in the Air-Pump b. Salon de la Princessec. Pilgrimage to the Island of Cytherad. Mission San Xavier del Bac

SYNTHESIS AND APPLICATION

Based on what you have learned in this unit, why was this structure built?a. Because the god ordered the king to honor him.b. To celebrate the god and glorify the king.c. To provide a spectacular setting for the king’s burial.d. To house the king and the royal court.

Which answer BEST explains the meaning of the following sentence from your textbook: “The clarity and stability of this painting epitomize High Renaissance style.”a. The painting’s composition is stable and the forms are clearly defined.b. The painting’s linear perspective is stable and its sfumato is clearly rendered.c. The painting’s theme is stable and the subject represents historical clarity.d. The painting is clearly viewed and hangs stably like other High Renaissance works.

ENSURING UNDERSTANDING

Briefly identify the two objects, including culture and approximate date. Then compare and contrast their formal, iconographic, and functional characteristics, noting similarities and diff erences.

In what way are these two objects SIMILAR?a. Both were found in a necropolis.b. Both employ cuneiform.c. Both use hieratic scale.d. Both picture Anubis.

In what way are these two objects SIMILAR?a. Both picture off erings.b. Both picture funerary rites.c. Both picture Shamash.d. Both picture Anubis.

ART2350 Art History Survey I Online at UNT 45 students Fully online 7 units/modules plus Introduction Problem-based learning approach (modified)

Role-playing: Research Assistant to art historian Honour and Fleming, Visual Arts: A History is content expert

Chosen for global approach Gate-keeping reading quiz, assignment released after quiz

passed. Discussions to promote success on assignment, early

mandatory, later voluntary PBL Assignments

Solve murder mystery Create an exhibition Use clues to find criminal traveling around globe Analyzing ancient art in fi lms (Hercules, Gladiator), adding new

scenes

ART2350 ART HISTORY SURVEY I ONLINE

American Association of University Professors on Copyright and Intellectual Property http://www.aaup.org/AAUP/issues/DE/

American Journal of Distance Education

Teaching Art History with New Technologies: Reflections and Case Studies , eds. Laetitia LaFollette, Andrea Pappas, Kelly Donahue-Wallace, 2008. Available at amazon.com.

Florida Gulf Coast University “Principles of Online Design” http://www.fgcu.edu/onlinedesign/index.html

RESOURCES