[iDC] Off Topic Thesis Research Question

[michelle samuel]

Hi all,

I enjoy reading the writing produced here and have found this list to  
be a great source of reading and research resources.

  I am a longtime lurker who has been hesitant to post, because of  
what I assume to be primarily a “professorial” focus.
I have a fine arts background, (bfa). I also assume I am older than  
most on this list, as I have a teenage son, (many of you seem to be  
in the beginning stages of family). But correct me if I am mistaken.  
I am not a professor, there are, after all, only so many colleges and  
universities... I have gone back to school and am choosing to enter  
the middle or high school realm of teaching.

If I have time to participate, it is in quick chunks, often rough. I  
do not have the time to carefully craft my words as most on this  
list.  My first/natural choice in language would be communication  
through images.  Writing is something I never became accomplished at.

All that said, I am currently doing a masters thesis (action  
research) in education that will explore the value of consciously  
teaching the "stages" of creativity, in conjunction with the "craft".

This would be in conjunction with a "typical" fine arts class,  
teaching the “craft” of various disciplines (printmaking, computer  
graphics, drawing, painting, hybrid media, etc.)

Through my years of experience as a graphic designer (by necessity)  
in the corporate world , I eventually did not experience a big  
demarcation between traditional and hybrid media, in terms of  
creative process, the skill sets transfer easily, unless fear (of the  
unfamiliar?) is factored in.  Traditional media can also encompass  
fear, but culturally it seems that computer anxiety in learning is  
different.  I often found myself wanting to "command z" when working  
in traditional media.  Conversely I have found my approach to process  
in using photoshop and illustrator akin the way I use process in  
traditional media.  I offer this digression as a point of reference  
in the definition of process.

My question and request:

1.)  For the purposes of my paper, I am deconstructing the stages of  
the creative process.  I recognize of course that creativity is not a  
fixed process, but do think there are some common shared processes.

Can anyone point me in the direction of books or papers concerning  
the value of ambiguity in the creative process?

(The most exemplary art instructors I have had deftly interleave both  
aspects as they teach.  I can count those on two fingers.  What is  
your experience in terms of a successful melding of these aspects?)

2.)  Another area of investigation is “teacher as translator or  
intermediary”, (not in a hierarchical manner, as in teacher cascading  
down to student,) but more in the realm of teacher being fluent in  
the "language" of the other and acting from there.

3.) The clincher of course will be how to devise a way to "collect"  
data in a classroom environment once I design the premise of the  
research.  In my reading, although qualitative research is espoused  
as a valid way to proceed, it still appears to need a measurement  
contrivance which I have difficulty devising in a formal manner.

Thanks for all your past and future contributions.

Michelle



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