My main personal goal for my arts based research in screen-printing is to learn a new art form for the benefit of my artistic development as well as the benefit for my students. I will be taking an arts approach, which includes action research. Action research includes showing the “situation as it is and as it unfolds” (McNiff & Whitehead, p.12). I will be learning, researching and creating art as an active participator.
I anticipate some struggle in learning the screen-printing process. This will be included as an important part of the research. It is important as it emulates the struggles that students may have learning a new art form. It is also valuable to have set backs, as this is how I will know what to change in the future.
My own experience in screen-printing will be a factor of influence in my research. Personal experiences and ties to the research topic are a crucial part of the research as it can “provide you with a valuable source of insight, theory, and data about the phenomena you are studying” (Maxwell, p. 19).
I have had only brief experiences with screen-printing. The first one was at a summer camp when I was maybe 11 or so. I was at the art camp on scholarship, and therefore was only allowed to be there half the time as the other campers. I signed up for screen-printing but was told I couldn’t make any thing big or involved, because I had missed half of camp. I ended up making a small pin, and being extremely envious and disappointed as I watched the other campers make large posters and t-shirts. The second screen-printing experience was last summer at a MTA conference in Williamstown, MA. This experience was exciting as it had been so long since that disappointing experience in summer camp. The workshop offered was only a few hours and made me want to explore screen-printing more thoroughly. With screen-printing in the back of my mind all of these years, the Arts Approach to the research project will afford me the opportunity to fulfill my desire to learn this art as well as learn how to teach it to my students.
Memos will be an essential part of the action research project. Memos include notes that are taken as they happen, reflections, data and self-critique. I imagine I will be taking memos before, during and after each experience when I am in the art making stages of the research. It is important to take good, organized and accurate memos to make them “so that the observations and insights can easily be accessed for further examination” (Maxwell, p.13). As a visual documenter, I imagine many of my memos will be in the form of photographs and sketches, along with notes and journal entries. Memos will be the primary source for my research as they are taken directly at the time of the art making. This becomes an invaluable tool for the core of the research.
The purpose of research design is to create research “in which the components work harmoniously together” (Maxwell, p.2). Goals, conceptual frameworks, research questions, methods and validity are all part of a structured research design. Each one of these facets interacts with each other facet, which brings to life the research as a whole. This model also includes additional factors, for example personal experiences or environment, as research design needs to include the researcher’s point of view and personal factors. Maxwell (p.19) agrees that recognizing your personal ties to the study you want to conduct can provide you with a valuable source of insight, theory, and data about the phenomena you are studying”. An important aspect to remember is that research design should be non-linear. Facets will work off and influence other facets. Facets will be revisited and re-examined. This model “treats research design as a real entity, not simply an abstraction or plan” (p.2).
References
Maxwell, J. (2005). Qualitative research design: an interactive approach. (2nd ed., Vol.
41, pp. 1-63). Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
McNiff, W. & Whitehead, J. (2009). Doing and writing action research. (1st ed., pp. 7-
28). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
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