ArtPlantae Today

The past two weeks, we’ve looked at the critical role families play in reinforcing the value of the arts and at how the arts can be used to take advantage of how we learn and make meaning. This week, we take a look at tools and techniques demonstrated to improve observation skills and enhance learning.

Earlier this Spring we learned of the work by professor Joe Dirnberger and his colleagues when they wrote about reviving the use of naturalist journals in the classroom. In a follow-up paper, Dirnberger (2006) brings attention to the similar approach scientists and artists take when observing the world and suggests seven ways learners can be encouraged to keep a naturalist’s journal. Citing examples of how his students have benefited from documenting their experiences in the field and the lab, Dirnberger (2006) provides insight into how journals can be used effectively, how to encourage students to record and synthesize information, and how to grade student journals. Dirnberger’s recommendations can be viewed in Drawing on Nature.

In Journals of Discovery, Cathy Livingston cites the power of visual thinking. Livingston (2005) openly shares what she and her students have experienced about how students learn while recording observations and thoughts in a journal. Livingston’s students did more than just draw plants, animals and things. They drew what they read. Students visualized their vocabulary words to enhance their understanding of these new words. When reading Livingston (2005), you may also want to read about the six fundamentals of visual note taking to help you visualize the types of learning that could take place if pictures were used to describe words. Translating vocabulary words into pictures is extremely helpful, especially in disciplines drowning in terminology like botany. If you have a copy of Plant Identification Terminology by Harris & Harris (2001), just think about how much you rely on this extremely helpful book that pairs each botanical term with a descriptive illustration. It doesn’t get any better than this.

Are you bored with spiral-bound sketchbooks? Try scrolls!

Educator Jessica Levine will help you think beyond 9″ x 12″ pieces of paper in Scrolls as Science Journals. Levine (2004) explains how scrolls allow observers to record changes over time and how the format of the standard sketchbook can interfere with learning. She suggests topics lending themselves to documentation in a scrolling format and provides examples of a scroll created with photographic images and a scroll created with original drawings and written entries. Imagine if Maria Sibylla Merian recorded her observations about metamorphosis on scrolls. Would she have noticed patterns never before recorded?

Levine (2004) also provides examples of how she has used scrolls with students and includes instructions on how to make three types of scrolling journals. Her instructions can be adapted to use the papers, paints, pencils and other supplies favored by botanical illustrators and sketchbook artists.

The articles by Dirnberger, Levine and Livingston are available at college libraries and available for purchase from the National Science Teachers Association (99¢).

Literature Cited

Dirnberger, Joe. 2006. Drawing on nature. Science Scope.
29(8): 47-48. Summer 2006.
Buy online or visit local library


Levine, Jessica. 2004. Scrolls as science journals. Science Scope.
27(9): 18-20. July-August 2004.
Buy online or visit local library


Livingston, Cathy. 2005. Journals of discovery. Science and Children.
43(3): 52-55. November-December 2005.
Buy online or visit local library

Rayala, M. 2011. Teach students visual note taking. andDesign. Web. <http://anddesignmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/06/teach-students-visual-note-taking.html> [accessed 6 October 2011]

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Intended to serve as an example about how to incorporate the arts into the classroom, Why Arts Integration Improves Long-Term Retention of Content written by Luke Rinne, Emma Gregory, Julia Yarmolinskyaya and Mariale Hardiman is an informative guide to research addressing how the arts can aid the retention of information. Citing studies from 1932 through 2010, Rinne et al. (2011) describe how the arts can be used as a methodology that can enhance learning in the classroom.

In their paper, Rinne et al. (2011) explain “long-term memory effects” and how the arts can be used to take advantage of these effects. What follows is a brief review of each effect.

The Effect of the Repeated Rehearsal of Information on Retention
It has been demonstrated that the “repeated rehearsal of information” has a positive effect on long-term retention (Rinne et al., 2011). Rehearse more, remember more. Well, almost. Some researchers think it isn’t how often one rehearses information that matters, but instead how information is elaborated upon or how it is linked to other information (Craik & Watkins, 1973), as cited in Linne et al., 2011). Rinne et al. (2011) make the case that activities from the arts can be integrated into classroom content and used as prompts to “elaborate rehearsal” thereby generating “sustained attention” and motivating students to learn.


The Effect of Elaboration That Adds Meaning on Retention
Help learners think deeply. Rinne et al. (2011) suggest teachers call upon students to write a story, a poem, a song or create a piece of art incorporating the information they want students to learn. Placing information in some sort of context requiring learners to process information at a deeper level aids memory because it establishes a more “elaborate memory trace” (Rinne et al., 2011).


The Effect of Generating Original Information on Retention
When learners are prompted to generate information in response to some sort of cue, they remember the generated information better than if they only read the same information (Rinne et al., 2011). There are many thoughts about why this is the case. Some think custom-generated information requires a deeper level of processing and more cognitive effort, while others think it is the uniqueness of the information generated that aids retention (Rinne et al., 2011). Whatever the reason, the authors suggest teachers encourage students to generate their own information — both verbal and visual — to aid their retention of new content.


The Effect of Enactment on Retention
Acting out is a good thing. Evidence suggests translating material into actions helps learners recall information. There are a couple ideas about why this might work. One has to do with motor encoding and the fact that acting out requires learners to use motor encoding and verbal encoding during physical movement (Rinne et al., 2011). The other idea cites the “unusualness” of the actions that makes information easier to remember (Rinne et al., 2011). The value of using the performing arts as a learning tool is proposed and Rinne et al. (2011) suggest teachers pair “novels, stories, or poems with (the) enactment of key segments” to enhance student learning about the literature or topics discussed in class.


The Effect of Oral Presentation on Retention
Talk to yourself. Speaking words aloud results in better retention than reading words in silence. This works because when reading aloud, the spoken words are made distinctly different from the words that are read in silence (Rinne et al. (2011). The authors recommend that arts activities requiring students to write songs or take part in some type of theatrical performance be used as learning tools to take advantage of this effect.


The Effect of Effort on Retention
When a certain amount of effort is required for a learner to make sense of new information, retention of this information is enhanced (Rinne et al., 2011). The interesting thing about this effect is that learners are not consciously aware of the fact that they will have achieved comprehension after exerting effort because all they tend to see is another learning goal before them (Rinne et al. (2011). To turn ho-hum learning goals into activities requiring some effort to comprehend, Rinne et al. (2011) suggest teachers turn to the arts and call upon students to find content embedded in some type of art form. The aim is to present learners with an art form “that requires interpretation or ‘decoding’ by the observer” Rinne et al. (2011). One of the examples Rinne et al. (2011) offer is the use of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans to bring attention to commercialism in American culture. The thinking here is that effort spent on interpreting will lead to better retention. Some researchers, however, think it isn’t the amount of effort exerted, but the uniqueness of the effort. Are you beginning to see a trend? The distinctiveness of a thought or action appears to be central to the arguments made by some neuroscience researchers.


The Effect of Emotional Arousal on Retention
Emotionally charged content is easier to remember than content linked to events that leave emotions parked in neutral (Rinne et al., 2011). To take advantage of this, Rinne et al. (2011) recommend teachers replace “fill-in-the-blank” type of activities with activities from the arts promoting the “expression of emotional content.”


The Effect of Pictures on Retention
Information presented as pictures is retained better than the same information presented as words (Rinne et al., 2011), so the authors recommend teachers use images when images can be used to convey information that could just as well be presented as words. Using pictures as a learning tool will lead to better retention in older children and adults (Rinne et al. (2011)). However, this appears not to be the case with young children. The authors cite a study where researchers (Defeyter et al. (2009), as cited in Rinne et al., 2011) found that content retention is not achieved in children age 7 and younger. Defeyter et al. (as cited in Rinne et al., 2011) hold the opinion that image use does not result in content retention in young children because their “capacity for recollection” is still being developed.

Why Arts Integration Improves Long-Term Retention of Content is a concise practical reference and is recommended to educators who want to incorporate the arts into their curriculum and to parents, artists and advocates of the arts wishing to articulate the value of the arts to others.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Literature Cited

Craik, F.I.M. & M.J. Watkins. 1973. The role of rehearsal in short-term memory. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior. 12(6): 599-607.
[buy online or visit local library]

Defeyter, M.A., R. Russo and P.L. McPartlin. 2009. The picture superiority effect in recognition memory: A developmental study using the response signal procedure. Cognitive Development. 24(3): 265-273.
[visit local library]

Rinne, Luke and Emma Gregory, Julia Yarmolinskyay and Mariale Hardiman. 2011. Why arts integration improves long-term retention of content. Mind, Brain, and Education. 5(2): 89-96.
[buy online or visit local library]

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Families are in the best position to promote the arts to children.

This is the message delivered by Susan H. Magsamen in The Arts as Part of Our Everyday Lives: Making Visible the Value of the Arts in Learning for Families.

While schools, parents and the community need to work together to reinforce the value of arts education (Magsamen, 2011), Magsamen says parents are the most important part of this effort because a child’s first experience with the arts happens in the home. Magsamen (2011) states parents need help understanding the association between creativity and cognitive development and need help recognizing when normal everyday events can be turned into teachable moments in the arts. For example, she explains that parents would not necessarily view a child’s rap song about a broken heart and a lost love as a lesson in “communications, creativity (and) emotional development” (Magsamen, 2011). Nor would they consider a conversation about Fall colors as a lesson that “art is everywhere and it is through observation we see new things” (Magsamen, 2011). Citing several studies in neuroeducation, Magsamen (2011) provides insight into research about cognitive development and how students learn in the arts. When referring to “the arts”, Magsamen and other researchers are referring to the visual arts, music, architecture (design) and dance (Magsamen, 2011).

One of the research studies Magsamen (2011) cites is a study revealing that listening skills and concentration are enhanced when a person participates in “attention-focusing art forms.” This made me think about what would count as an attention-focusing art form the average person might find themselves doing. Then I thought, well doodling of course!

Doodling for efficiency
I searched the archives for a review of an article about doodling research posted long before this weekly column was launched. I would like to refer to this article again today.

Jackie Andrade of the School of Psychology at the University of Plymouth in the UK, wanted to know if doodling improves or hinders one’s attention to a primary task. To find out, she created a study in which 40 participants were asked to listen to a rambling telephone message about a planned birthday party. Participants were divided into two groups – a control group and a doodling group. The doodling group was placed into a “doodling condition” (Andrade, 2009) where they were given a pencil to shade squares and circles on a sheet of paper while listening to the phone message. The control group did not receive materials for doodling. All participants were asked to recall information about who would be attending the birthday party.

Andrade’s results show that doodlers recalled 29% more information than the participants in the control group. This study is the first test of the idea that doodling aids concentration. Andrade proposes that doodling may be enough of a stimulus to prevent boredom and reduce the likelihood of daydreaming.

To research these findings further, Andrade (2009) says more research is necessary to understand boredom, daydreaming, and the activities alleviating these conditions.

Continuing the conversation about art and learning
Magsamen (2011) states future discussions about learning and the arts is dependent upon neuroscience researchers and educators clarifying research results so that teachers and parents are no longer confused by conflicting reports. She adds what is also needed are examples of practical ways teachers, parents and the community can integrate the arts and learning in daily life. Examples of successful education and outreach projects can be viewed in Magsamen (2011). Magsamen’s article is available online for free, compliments of the journal Mind, Brain, and Education (see link below).

Literature Cited

• Andrade, Jackie. 2009. What does doodling do? Applied Cognitive Psychology 24: 100-106. (View abstract or find this article at a local college library.)
• Magsamen, Susan H. 2011. The arts as part of our everyday lives: making visible the value of the arts in learning for families. Mind, Brain, and Education. 5(1): 29-32. Web. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1751-228X.2011.01107.x/pdf>>. [accessed 22 September 2011]

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Clip art is familiar to many people and is readily available in software programs and on the Web. Clip art images represent easy-to-interpret images and scenes on a broad range of topics. One would assume clip art images are easy to remember. However this is apparently not the case when it comes to plants, as professors Elizabeth E. Schussler and Lynn A Olzak discovered in It’s Not Easy Being Green: Student Recall of Plant and Animal Images.

Schussler & Olzak designed a study around the recall of clip art images in the Microsoft Office PowerPoint program (2003) out of concern for the public’s preference of studying animals over plants (Kinchen (1999) & Wandersee (1986), as cited in Schussler & Olzak, 2008) and the fact that teachers use animal examples in class to teach concepts more than plant examples (Uno (1994), as cited in Schussler & Olzak, 2008). In designing their research, they created two studies — a pilot study to test plant and animal images and a study in which student recall of these images was tested. They hypothesized students would recall more animal images than plant images and that botany students would recall more plant images than psychology students. One hundred thirty-three psychology students participated in the pilot study and 327 psychology and non-major botany students participated in the recall study.

What Schussler & Olzak (2008) found was that all students recalled a higher number of animal images and that botany students did not recall more plant images than psychology students. They also observed that female students recalled a statistically significant higher number of plant images than male students.

Schussler & Olzak (2008) state their results imply the following:

• Students forget information about plants quickly.
• Students do not give plant images the same type of attention they give animal images.
• Student experiences in a one-semester botany class may not be enough to make students more aware of plants.
• The socialization of women in western society may explain why female students recalled more plant images than male students.

Schussler & Olzak (2008) express concern that “student knowledge about, and attitude toward, plants compared with animals may be ingrained (either cognitively or culturally)” and that this presents a serious challenge for botany educators. They suggest teachers find out which plants their students know by name and to use these plants as examples in class. They also recommend teachers use an equal number of plant examples and animal examples in their classrooms to counter student attitudes towards plants and to prove that plants are alive and relevant to our lives. The challenge for educators, according to Schussler & Olzak (2008), is to create experiences that “increase conscious consideration of plants” at a time when the education system is accommodating the public’s preference of studying animals over plants.

Learn how Schussler & Olzak (2008) designed their pilot study and how they administered their recall study by picking up a copy of their paper at your local college library.

Literature Cited

Kinchin, I.M. 1999. Investigating secondary-school girls’ preferences for animals or plants: a simple “head-to-head” comparison using two unfamiliar organisms. Journal of Biological Education. 33: 95-99

Schussler, Elizabeth E. and Lynn A Olzak. 2008. It’s not easy being green: student recall of plant and animal images. Journal of Biological Education. 42(3): 112-118

Uno, G.E. 1994. The state of precollege botanical education. The American Biology Teacher. 56: 263-267

Wandersee, J.H. 1986. Plant or animals – which do junior high school students perfer to study? Journal of Research in Science Teaching. 23: 415-426

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In The Importance of Naturalists as Teachers & the Use of Natural History as a Teaching Tool, James J. Krupa discusses the demise of naturalists in academia. He expands upon a conversation started by biologists Reed F. Noss (1996) and Douglas J. Futuyma (1998) in the late 1990s about the concern that “keyboard” ecologists are replacing traditional field ecologists and that there is an urgent need to cultivate a new generation of naturalists (Krupa, 2000). In response to their concerns, Krupa (2000) proposes an approach teachers at all grade levels can use to use natural history as a teaching tool in their classrooms.

Krupa (2000) suggests teachers…

• Bring their own field experiences into the classroom.
• Create outdoor experiences on campus.
• Go on a day trip not too far from campus.
• Take students to a biological field station.
• Plan a weekend field trip for their students.

If organismic biology was part of your upbringing in college (especially if you are of a certain age), Krupa’s suggestions will hardly be revolutionary. His suggestions will be very familiar and you probably have your own stories about memorable field trips and weekends spent at biological field stations. However at a time when outdoor experiences are being replaced by multimedia and Web-based classroom activities (Krupa, 2000), the seemingly obvious suggestions above are perhaps not so obvious at all.

In his own classroom, Krupa’s goal is to turn his students on to natural history by creating firsthand experiences either through his slides and personal stories or through live experiences in the field (Krupa, 2000). He wants students to feel nature before they read about it. He calls this first experience an “awareness exercise” (Krupa, 2000) that can only be achieved through observation. Krupa (2000) argues that his traditional approach allows for “spontaneity, discovery and awareness”, experiences that are not possible through the use of “pre-planned, question-oriented exercises” (Krupa, 2000).

Are you a naturalist?

Krupa (2000) defines a naturalist as someone with “extensive knowledge of the organism’s behavior, ecology, distribution, systematics and life history.”

Do you think of yourself as a naturalist when you draw or paint?

When you work…

You study your subjects in great detail.

You observe and document how they grow and how they move.

You are mindful of each phase of your subject’s life cycle.

You look up what you do not know about your subject.

Then you tell your subject’s story through your work.

Are you a naturalist?

If you’ve never thought of yourself as one, why not?

One of the possible causes behind naturalists’ declining numbers is that the word itself stirs up negative imagery (Futuyma (1998) as stated in Krupa, 2000). Biologists don’t want the “naturalist” label assigned to them. How about you?

What are your first thoughts and emotions when you hear the word naturalist?

You do not need a physical classroom or be fully employed teaching the “how to” lessons of botanical art to teach people about plants or to create the “awareness exercise” Krupa (2000) speaks about. There are many ways to be a teacher.

How do you teach people about plants through your art?

Literature Cited

Futumya, Douglas J. 1998. Wherefore and whither the naturalist? The American Naturalist. 151(1): 1-6. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/an.1998.151.issue-1>

Krupa, James J. 2000. The importance of naturalists as teachers & the use of natural history as a teaching tool. The American Biology Teacher. 62(8): 553-558. http://www.nabt.org/websites/institution/index.php?p=451>

Noss, Reed F. 1996. The naturalists are dying off. Conservation Biology. 10(1): 1-3. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1996.10010001.x/abstract>

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Senna bahama /
Senna mexicana var. chapmanii
(Artist: R. Aristide)

This year, a special book was published.

This one-of-a-kind book was published by the botanical artist club at William Jennings Bryan Elementary in Miami, FL. Illustrated by botanical artists ranging in age from 6-11, The “Greening” of W.J. Bryan Museums Magnet Elementary School features 20 plants of the more than 300 native and non-native plants donated and planted at the school by Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden.

The partnership between W.J. Bryan and Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden has enhanced the student’s outdoor learning environment, increased the tree canopy at the school and has created a rich environment in which to cultivate an appreciation for nature. The plants on campus are mostly Florida natives and Caribbean plants adapted to the Florida climate.

This collaborative gardening project began in 2008. A large-scale planting party involving students, staff, community organizations and volunteers followed in 2009.

The W.J. Bryan Elementary Museums Magnet School formed their botanical artist club during the 2009-2010 school year. Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden paid for two botanical artists to lead a one-day workshop for students. Inspired by their new way of seeing, students drew plants throughout the school year to fine-tune their illustration skills. During the 2010-2011 school year, a group of students created 14″ x 20″ colored pencil drawings. The drawings were photographed, the images reduced and printed with pigmented color ink on archival paper. They were then inserted into a hand-bound book.

The Director of Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden and the Director of Education were impressed with the book when it was presented to them by Rosemarie Wolfson and Susie Morton, lead teachers at the school. The Director of the Garden wanted to feature the book in the gift shop and this is where it is now available for purchase. Proceeds from each sale are donated to W.J. Bryan Elementary School.

Today students help to maintain the school’s new botanical garden. Plant labels were installed and the garden now looks a little like the tropical garden at Fairchild. The garden has been a great learning tool and is an extended classroom for the students, faculty and staff at W.J. Bryan. All have become more environmentally aware and more concerned about their own carbon footprint.

About W.J. Bryan Elementary Museums Magnet School

What is a museums magnet school?

In 2004 and 2007, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) received two multimillion dollar grant awards from the United States Department of Education for funding under the Magnet Schools Assistance Program, which afforded the creation of museums magnet schools in the District. Museums magnet schools forge strong partnerships with local area museums and cultural institutions in Miami-Dade County. Museum educators work side-by-side with classroom teachers, interfacing the standards-driven curriculum with the objects and artifacts in their respective museums, as well as visiting historic buildings and sites throughout the county. This integrated curriculum, focusing primarily on object- and project-based learning, emphasizes problem-solving, communication, exploration, invention and inquiry through on-going visits to museums and cultural institutions.

Instruction at W.J. Bryan follows the principles of object-based learning. In this type of learning environment, teachers do not tell students what an object is, what it does or how it’s used. Instead, students are given objects to investigate. Students investigate an object’s physical features, construction, function and design then assess its value to society. They then decide if the object’s design fits its function.

Everything students do at the magnet school establishes a connection to society and the world’s ecosystems. As the school’s ambassadors, students lead docent tours of the school’s historic buildings and members of the botanical artist club lead tours of the gardens.

Federal funding for W.J. Bryan Elementary ended in June 2011. The school seeks to supplement funds currently provided to them by the M-DCPS office of School Choice & Parental Options. Sales of The “Greening” of W.J. Bryan Museums Magnet Elementary School assist the school’s efforts in becoming a self-sustaining entity.

Copies of this unique collection of botanical drawings can be purchased at The Shop at Fairchild and ArtPlantae Books for $18 plus shipping. Proceeds benefit W.J. Bryan Museums Magnet Elementary School.

How to purchase this special collection:

• Call The Shop at Fairchild at (305) 667-1651 (x3305).
• Order online at ArtPlantae Books.

(Note to International Readers: Shipping for one copy of this book costs $13.95. If you place an order at ArtPlantae Books, please select the “W.J. Bryan” shipping option. If your order contains more than one copy of this book or other items in addition to this book, standard international shipping charges apply. Please choose the shipping option that applies to your region of the world.)

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