VIRTUAL: Applying Education

Abstract

Art and design students in higher education tend to focus most of their attention in art and design-based individual or team projects, thus prioritizing draftsmanship skills over oral and written communication. With the opportunity provided by the COVID pandemic to restructure the World Art History survey course within a Land-Grant University towards an increasingly flexible hybrid-blended model, the presenter has tested for four semesters a method to develop teamwork and cultivate a sophisticated set of skills in communication, writing, self-management and productive interdependence that are fundamental to function more broadly within the professional world. This new way of stretching disciplinary boundaries challenges the general perception that art history as a humanities discipline lives in the ivory tower, unconcerned with the professional demands of the real world. Pursuing research in art history is fundamentally a solo enterprise, so how can a discipline rooted in individualism foster team collaborations? This presentation will share highlights from what learnt through practice and explorations on team formation, general dynamics, and specific roles that can be used to build team thematic papers in the art history survey class; it will also share insights on the design of scaffolding activities that tie with the course content while progressively building these skills; finally, the discussion will include challenges encountered and how to try overcome them.