YouTube instruction on ceramic techniques in the middle school art classroom

ABSTRACT Art educators use a variety of teaching and demonstration methods to convey information to students. With the emergence of digital technology, the standard methods of demonstration are changing. Art demonstrations are now being recorded and shared via the internet through video sharing websites such as YouTube. Little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of video demonstration versus the standard teacher-centered demonstration. This study focused on two different demonstration methods for the same clay sculpture project, with two separate groups of students. The control group received regular teacher-centered demonstration for instruction. The experimental group received a series of YouTube videos for demonstration. Quantitative data include scores of clay sculptures using a four-point scale in three separate categories based on construction abilities. Qualitative data include responses to pre and post-questionnaires along with classroom observations. The data is analyzed to look at the difference, if any, between YouTube instruction and regular teacher-centered instruction on middle school students' ceramic construction abilities. Findings suggest that while the YouTube video method of demonstration appeared to have a slightly greater effect on student construction abilities. Although, both instruction methods proved to be beneficial.