Art Exhibit Survey

At the school art exhibit, we hear praise from parents, staff, and administrators, who see strong evidence of effective teaching and learning.  But what do the artists think about their art show?  I decided to ask my grades 1-4 students through a simple survey.

My questions for students:
1. Do you like to choose your artwork for the exhibit or do you prefer your teacher to choose for you?
2. Did you visit the show with your family or just with your classroom?
3. Were you satisfied with the location and presentation of your artwork(s)?
4. Do you like having an artist statement with your artwork?
5. Did you look at everything in the show, art by friends, or artwork that is like your own?
6. Did you write any letters to the artists?

Each student is given six stickers: red for girls and green for boys.  For each question, students pick place one sticker next to the answer that best fits their opinion.  In the photograph, second graders clearly demonstrate satisfaction with the location of their artwork.

For each grade level, responses were tallied for girls and boys.  I like to make charts with the percentages because, being a visual person, it makes it easier for me to understand the data. In the chart below, students indicate strong preference for selecting artwork themselves to put on exhibit.

 

From my action research, I learned that:

• All grades prefer to select their artwork for exhibit, versus me selecting for them.
• More girls than boys looked for artwork by their friends and siblings. Almost no students looked for artwork that reminds them of their own work.
• More girls than boys visited the show with their families, especially in the lower grades. 
• Grades 1-3 responded favorably to artist statements; grade 4 students responded less favorably.
• Students in grades 1-3 were very satisfied with the location and presentation of their artwork in the show; fourth grade students were less satisfied.
• Girls wrote more letters to the artists than boys. 

This information provides me with a lot to think about for next year!

Diane Jaquith
Burr Elementary School
Newton, MA
didij@aol.com