Red Hot Clay Pots
Students have a high level of interest in ceramics, but suffer from a lack of opportunity to experience the creation of pottery in their art class. After informally questioning my students about their experiences verses their interest, I found that many students have a great desire to learn to create fired and glazed pottery, but have never had the opportunity to do so. In order to implement a ceramics unit into my classes, we would study the history of ceramics in the cultures of Native America and Mexico, and discuss the techniques used by the people to create various pieces of pottery. The students would then complete an assessment relating to the lecture. Then the students would create pieces from clay, fire, glaze, and fire again. They would then be assessed. A comparison of assessment scores would be done to see if students learn more from the hands-on activity or lecture. The data would be graphed and the rate of improvement would be recorded. The research question would be, “Do students learn more from hands-on activities or lecture?” The resources needed would be kiln, clay, glazes, vent system, equipment to complete the pieces. Test scores will prove the success of the project. I know all positive outcomes will come from this project because the students will not have this opportunity otherwise.