How to create powerful teaching tools for diverse results.
Having a project sample is a double-edged sword. It can easily lead to “convergent projects” where they all look like your sample. They are commonly called “Cookie-cutter” projects which are actually destructive to the art experience. More about that HERE.
Assuming you understand and agree that convergent projects are pedagogically bad practice, does that mean samples are unhelpful?
No.
A sample can lead students in a direction of “success” while assuring individuality. We have all heard, “Seeing is believing” or “a picture is worth a 1000 words.” A sample can help students envision where they need to go when exploring a new idea.
Lesson Prompt: Make a milk carton in the style of an artist so show off their style without copying their work. This was the prompt for a very successful lesson of mine, but hard to imagine where to begin. Having a sample, of a Jean-Michele Basquiat style milk carton like THIS (<--click link) will make you go “Oh! I get it!”
To make sure no one copies my example, I will forbid them from even choosing the same artist. I actually had students sign up for an artist based on a list I provided, and they could write in someone not on the list as their choice. This way EVERY STUDENT had a different selection. You can see the full lesson HERE.
I could use that same example later for another lesson tied to artist’s styles. Perhaps I ask students to reimagine ANY object in the style of a famous artist. Or If I wanted to focus on Jean Michele, I could ask them to use him as a theme but pick a personally symbolic object o transform. When you think more openly about your sample, to consider “divergent projects” where successful products are all different, your examples become powerful teaching tools.
The top image from this blog post is a double example I created. I needed to make 3D forms and choose cartoons from my childhood I enjoyed. THEN I drew the forms to show shadows and highlights. Without examples of all these steps, students might have been overwhelmed or confused by the lesson. You can see that exploration HERE.
Below are some more teacher-made examples I have used. Some are very simplified versions of projects so students get the idea or direction to explore without giving too much away. Hover over each image to see what the prompt was.
Assuming you understand and agree that convergent projects are pedagogically bad practice, does that mean samples are unhelpful?
No.
A sample can lead students in a direction of “success” while assuring individuality. We have all heard, “Seeing is believing” or “a picture is worth a 1000 words.” A sample can help students envision where they need to go when exploring a new idea.
Lesson Prompt: Make a milk carton in the style of an artist so show off their style without copying their work. This was the prompt for a very successful lesson of mine, but hard to imagine where to begin. Having a sample, of a Jean-Michele Basquiat style milk carton like THIS (<--click link) will make you go “Oh! I get it!”
To make sure no one copies my example, I will forbid them from even choosing the same artist. I actually had students sign up for an artist based on a list I provided, and they could write in someone not on the list as their choice. This way EVERY STUDENT had a different selection. You can see the full lesson HERE.
I could use that same example later for another lesson tied to artist’s styles. Perhaps I ask students to reimagine ANY object in the style of a famous artist. Or If I wanted to focus on Jean Michele, I could ask them to use him as a theme but pick a personally symbolic object o transform. When you think more openly about your sample, to consider “divergent projects” where successful products are all different, your examples become powerful teaching tools.
The top image from this blog post is a double example I created. I needed to make 3D forms and choose cartoons from my childhood I enjoyed. THEN I drew the forms to show shadows and highlights. Without examples of all these steps, students might have been overwhelmed or confused by the lesson. You can see that exploration HERE.
Below are some more teacher-made examples I have used. Some are very simplified versions of projects so students get the idea or direction to explore without giving too much away. Hover over each image to see what the prompt was.
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