Artist in Residency
ACHF Arts Access
1. Adult Basic Education students will learn the use of the ruler, estimate size, and demonstrate precision in measuring. 2. English as a Second Language learners will create Zines incorporating stories relevant to their adult lives, but within their reading level (high content/low skill level). 3. Students will experience pride in their work and increased engagement with their schooling. 1. Adult Basic Education (Adult Basic Education)/diploma students will have demonstrated applied math skills (ruler use, estimate size, precision in measuring and accompanying vocabulary) by creating a hand-made book. 2. English as a Second Language students will have increased literacy skills by writing, revising, and rewriting stories relevant to their adult lives, but within their reading level (high content/low skill level) by creating zines. The zines can then be used by lower level English as a Second Language learners to improve their reading skills. 3. Instructors will express confidence in using project-based activities for increasing literacy and math skills. 4. Students will experience pride in their work and increased engagement with their schooling. 1. Bookmaking: We will create a pre- and post-test covering relevant measurement skills and math terms; Test of Adult Basic Education pre- and post-tests. 2. Students will reflect on their zine-making experience. 3. Students will write a qualitative review of the projects. 1. We will assess the Adult Basic Education students by creating a pre-and post-residency test to determine if they have gained a better understanding of measurement and math skills. We'll observe student performance using measurement skills in their book-making. We also use federally-mandated pre- and post-Test of Adult Basic Education to determine level gains. GOAL: 10 students complete residency activities; 70% show level gains. 2. English Language Learner students will most likely do the Zine project in both Fall and Winter, therefore allowing them to refine their creative skills and see a difference in their reading and writing skills. They will be asked to reflect on the project and their improvement over time. We also use the federally-mandated pre- and post- Comprehensive Adult Student Assessment System to determine literacy level gains. GOAL: 15 students complete residency activities; 60% show level gains. 3. Post-residency debrief session with instructors, artist, and staff to future modifications, gauge students engagement, and to weigh teacher confidence in future project-based instruction. 4. We are also hoping to inaugurate a year-end student survey of program satisfaction. If launched, this will incorporate questions relevant to the residency activities. Student engagement is also measured through attendance.
We used pre- and post-residency tests to determine educational gains. An instructor designed assessment was used to measure student's applied ruler use. We also used federally mandated assessments in reading and math to assess level gains in those areas. The results are as follows: MATH CLASS participants showed only slight gains in ruler reading, 35% showed math level gains; however, of the four students that repeated the class, all showed level gains. ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS: there were 23 unique participants and 48% showed level gains; however, of those that repeated the class, 67% showed level gains on the federal reading assessment. The feedback from the ELL students include an average 4.3 out of 5 in rating their enjoyment of the project. 70% of the students would like to do more art projects. Most students appreciated making a book. One comment that stands out is "I learn how to wrote sentence and how to match pictures and the word and I learned many things." This response triggered an idea for improving future projects by simply matching imagery and vocabulary, the students could warm up to the ideas of visual information and creativity. We also learned the following: 1. The Somali-American students call Munsinger Gardens "The Garden of Love" because there is one back in Somalia. 2. The students gained confidence with the collage and Zine making by repeating it in the semester. 3. One student from China was married to an artist at one time. She had a mature artistic eye, softer in color and aesthetic, allowing for the conversation to gravitate towards global aesthetics and sensitivities. 4. When a male artist volunteer came (Christopher Zlatic), two women started working with him on their collages. He was able to connect to them in his natural creative environment, breaking down communication and cultural barriers. Key words in written evaluation: pictures, books, the arts, history, design, interesting, art project. Qualitative evaluation was not created for Book Making/Math aspect of the residency.