| |
| author |
Zoe Bowser
| | title |
Art History in STEAM: Integrating Art Historical Content and Pedagogy into High School Mathematics Curricula
| | abstract |
My thesis aims to evaluate the integration of art historical content and pedagogy in high
school mathematics curricula. I propose a curriculum reform which establishes an inquiry-based
learning model in which art history acts as the primary point of inquiry. This model functions as
an inversion of the traditional mathematics lesson; it seeks to lead students through concrete
regions of thought, before gradually building towards conceptual abstraction. Throughout the
course of the following paper, I will attest to both the pedagogical and practical benefits of this
integrative model. I begin by examining the current state of art history education in the United
States, and categorizing it within the scope of Bloom's Taxonomy. I then conduct a brief
overview of mathematics education, before ultimately synthesizing the two. The structure of art
history education allows teachers to root each lesson within the concrete elements of the artwork
itself, before using those formal qualities to inform an abstract analysis of the work as an
operative whole. Similarly, an art historical structure within mathematics would allow teachers to
introduce tangible works of art and architecture, before examining how those objects exemplify
abstract mathematical principles. The following paper provides three sample lesson plans in
which teachers may see this integration represented, as well as other educational resources.
Overall, this curriculum reform seeks to facilitate comprehension in mathematics through an art
historical framework.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2023)
|
| advisor |
Dr. Rita Keane
|
| full text | ZBowser.pdf |
| |
