Content area
Abstract
This study investigated whether two approaches to microcomputer graphics, LOGO turtle graphics programming and Paint graphics software, had any differential effects on the responses of sixth grade students to color, line, and shape. As a result of the analytical character of LOGO graphics programming and the intuitive features of Paint graphics software, the author assumed differentiated and dedifferentiated attention states would be developed, both which are crucial in the aesthetic perception of art.
A training program in art appreciation was developed to compare the effects of LOGO turtle graphics and Paint graphics in teaching sixth grade students to respond to color, line, and shape found in works of art. Fifty students were randomly assigned to three treatment groups: (a) LOGO, N = 12, CYBERLOGO turtle graphics programming; (b) PAINT, N = 12, KOALA TouchTablet and graphics software; and, (c) TRADITIONAL ART, N = 13, paints, brushes, paper, and so forth.
Each treatment group was given two weeks training in the use of their particular art medium, six weeks of daily curriculum instruction, and one final week of follow-up activities. All treatment groups were administered a pretest, posttest, and postpost test. A control group was given only the posttest. Individual student responses to three different styles of art (Realism, Surrealism, and Abstract) were tape-recorded and transcribed for each test period. Forty-six complete transcripts were scored using the Acuff and Sieber-Suppes system of scoring aesthetic responses to paintings.
An analysis of variance across all three treatment groups found significant effects for the shape and line variables at the posttest. No significant effects were found for the color variable at the posttest. In addition, post-hoc comparisons among groups showed that only the Paint group was significantly higher than the control group for both the line and shape variables. Post-hoc analysis of the combined variables of color, line, and shape revealed significant differences between the responses of LOGO and Paint students to styles of art.
Although there were no consistent main effects found in this study for either the LOGO or Paint graphics approach, differences between Paint and LOGO students along stylistic categories tentatively suggest a relationship between perceptual skills developed by microcomputer graphics and cognitive style.
