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Past research has indicated that art education can benefit students' education by increasing their learning and memory abilities. However, these studies typically occur with children rather than adults. Moreover, these studies do not examine what effects different types of art exposure have on people's memory. The current study examined these effects by exposing participants to various conditions involving writing, viewing works of art, a presentation of shapes, tracing, and active art engagement. Results showed a significant difference in memory scores between conditions, with the drawing condition yielding the best memory scores. Implications for these findings are discussed.
Education sometimes seems to be a matter of analysis of statistics and test scores. In order to gain a more personal perspective, let us consider a little boy named Oscar. Oscar is having difficulty in his studies at school. His teachers say that he is very disruptive and that he is not interested in his studies. The only activity that Oscar seems to be interested in doing is drawing. It is important to note that drawing is not a valued skill where Oscar is from, and the curriculum does not offer any art classes in which he can express his creative interests. This frustration in Oscar's life came to a climax when he decided to skip his finals and head offto pursue his dreams. Had Oscar been provided a creative outlet in school, he might have been able to more easily express his creative abilities. In spite of all the odds against him, Oscar did become a great artist, whom we all know better as Oscar Claude Monet (Losiowski, 2009). Although Monet was able to overcome the odds against him, how many great artists have been lost to history because they had no creative outlets in school?
Education is one of the most important experiences in a child's life, and learning is often emphasized as the primary means by which one is able to excel or achieve success. Not surprisingly, there is substantial emphasis placed on subjects that can be assessed in standardized tests such as mathematics and English (Roher, 2005). Alternatively, when one considers important educational goals, the arts may not be perceived as a priority. Indeed, the arts may often be the first areas to...