Date of Conferral
1-1-2009
Degree
Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)
School
Education
Advisor
Nathan Long; Mark Ryan
Abstract
Researchers have theorized that student achievement and its contingent effects on self-efficacy are important factors in art education. There is, however, a paucity of research addressing this relationship, which in turn affects students' and educators' levels of success. Accordingly, this study was an investigation of the relationship between art education and self-efficacy in middle school students and tested the constructivist theory, as embodied in Bandera's theories on the foundations of self-efficacy beliefs. This pretest-posttest control-group true experimental design tested the relationship between the independent variable, art education and the dependent variable, self-efficacy in middle school students. The instrument, Patterns of Adaptive Learning Scales (PALS), was employed to gather data from a treatment group (n = 60) receiving art education and a comparison-control group (n = 60) who had never taken middle school art. These quantitative data were analyzed using a one-way ANOVA. Inferential statistics yielded nonsignificant findings for the treatment group except on 1 of 14 scales, the Self-Presentation of Low Achievement Scale. Both descriptive and inferential data reinforced that levels of self-efficacy remained in the low to moderate range throughout the testing period for all participants. These reported self-efficacy profiles provided pathways for facilitating social change by driving the development of guidelines for middle school curriculum programs that support and assess the development of adolescents' self-efficacy. Furthermore, results pointed to the need for additional empirical studies that will help educators and communities better understand the relationship between art education and overall academic achievement.
Recommended Citation
Mitchell, Ellen P., "The effects of art education on self -efficacy in middle school students" (2009). Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. 700.
https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/700
Included in
Art Education Commons, Elementary and Middle and Secondary Education Administration Commons, Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching Commons