Reprint of first chapter of Visual Thinking Strategies: Using Art to Deepen Learning Across School Disciplines

Cognitive psychologist Abigail Housen presents her study of museum visitors at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, using three different methods of collecting data: demographic; attitudinal; and developmental. This article discusses her research methodology, study findings, and gives a comparative analysis of the methods used.

VUE co-founder Abigail Housen gives an account of how she began her study of Aesthetic Development, how she came up with her research methodology, and the overall findings of her 20 years of research. Housen also briefly discusses how she applied what she learned to creating the Visual Thinking Strategies curriculum.  1999.

Housen discusses how she measures aesthetic response and gives examples of viewer responses from Stages I and II. Student growth, in particular, how to foster it, leads to a discussion of the VTS method. This is followed by a brief description of Byron, Minnesota research findings. Originally published in Arts and Learning Research, vol. 17, #1. 2000-2001.

Pages 430-444. In Art Beyond Sight: A Resource Guide to Art, Creativity and Visual Impairment. 2003. Edited by Elizabeth Salzhauer Axel and Nina Sobol Levent. Copublished by Art Education for the Blind, Inc. (AEB) and AFB Press of the American Foundation for the Blind. NY.

About Campus Magazine, College Student Educators International and Jossey-Bass/Wiley Publishers: Virginia Tech. Volume 19, issue 4, September/October 2014.

In D. M. Baylen, & A. D’Alba (eds.), Essentials of teaching and integrating visual and media literacy — Visualizing learning. New York: Springer. 2015.