| Lack of digital training for pre-service art teachers has caused a pedagogical vacuum in teaching computer art in schools. Research on pedagogy, instruction, and teaching of the digital art curriculum for pre-service art teachers is limited. Computer art is described as digital media, new media, multimedia, digital space, and virtual space, and a formal description of new possibilities of computer art has yet to emerge that can embody the entire practice. This study was the result of a lack of literature that addressed teaching pedagogy, as well as the role of computers in teaching and learning---especially in teacher training. I began to use action research methodology naturally as a way to improve my instruction in computer art. As I taught and worked with visual software programs, an interesting relation began to emerge. All software programs used selection, layering, optical colors, and formats to varying degrees. Moreover, these digital concepts seemed essential to the way the programs were structured.; The subjects for this study were eight graduate students enrolled in a digital software course offered in a large urban school of education. Narrative inquiry complemented action research strategies and was used as a framework to organize, analyze, and construct the grand narrative for a final thesis. Data are presented in a narrative format, which describes the context of each case study in three categories and a profile section. These narrative accounts include images made by the subjects.; Results of the study suggested that a clear difference existed in the learning of students with an arts background and those without. Most pre-service participants were able to shape new ideas about art and digital imaging mainly as the result of studio-based instruction. The studio format allowed students to explore new ideas, experiment freely with software, find solutions to technical problems, and learn the aesthetics of the medium. The studio format of the course also enabled open interpretations and adoption of personal strategies to solve problems. |
