Practicing mail art in visual arts course, and evaluation of the artworks of students

Abstract

Purpose of this study is to identify the contribution of the educational use of mail art to Visual Arts Course. This study has been designed to attain an idea from the activity samples, in order for a more effective and eager teaching of the course. This is a descriptive study based on case study model. The study group consists of 4th-grade students from a randomly selected elementary school located in Bartın province of Turkey in 2018-2019 school year. Having been carried out with the participation of 43 students, this study is considered significant; as it enables the students to follow art activities at early ages and introduce them to the concepts of art, artist and process of art-making; emphasizes variety of activities to be applied in visual arts course; and serves as a sample for further researches. Besides, there was no research found on the use of mail art in visual arts course, which makes this study necessary. The study lasted two course hours and the designs of students were collected at the end. Upon consulting expert opinions, designs of the students were subjected to a content analysis in terms of the techniques and objects used, and the choice of subjects. Then the obtained data were tabulated and interpreted descriptively. Based on the observations of the researcher, the most remarkable findings of the study are accepted to be the positive effect of planning an activity different from the regular course format for students; as well as witnessing their enthusiasm, joy, interest, happiness and the authentic works they designed.