Browsing by Subject "CLASS"

Objectives. In this study, the aim is to analyze whether the learning environments of drama lessons support creativity. Based on earlier research, creativity was understood as an ability that can be found in everyone. Creative environment, however, was considered to have several characteristics, two of which are; positive climate and student-centered teaching. The purpose of the study is to find out whether the drama lessons have positive climate and whether the teaching is student-centered or not. In addition, the aim is to analyze how these two phenomena function as a part of the creative environment of drama lessons. Furthermore, the aim is to test and develop The Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS) observation tool in the context of drama lessons. Methods. The study is defined as a qualitative case study although some quantitative measures were also made. The subject of the present study was eight drama lessons which were given to pupils ranging from first to third graders. The research material was collected by videotaping two lessons from four class teachers all specialized in drama. The material was analyzed by using two of the CLASS observation tool's parts; one for observing positive climate and another for observing student-centered teaching. In addition to the CLASS tool, the research material was analyzed by measuring the time used for creative and student-centered action. Results and conclusions. The research shows that drama lessons support children's creative learning as pupils generated new ideas and solutions, on average, half of the time during the lessons. The drama lessons received high grades (5–7 on a scale of 1–7) with the CLASS tool, both in positive climate and in student-centeredness. This implies that the drama lessons' learning climate was positive and their teaching was student-centered. On average ⅔ (64%) of the time, the lessons were student-centered. The connection between student-centered teaching and creative action was clear as an average of 80 % of the student-centered action was also creative. The current understanding is that positive climate is one of the key components of creative learning environments. This is why it is justifiable to assume that the drama lessons' high levels of positive climate were one of the reasons why their learning environments supported children's creative learning. In conclusion, positive climate and student-centered teaching are key elements of the creative environment of drama lessons, and the CLASS tool offers one possible framework for developing a new instrument for analyzing the quality of teaching in drama lessons.

Objectives. The aim of this case study is to find out whether negative climate appears in primary school drama lessons. Previous research has shown that climate has a huge impact on schooling. A positive climate in school gives pupils a better opportunity to learn and provides pupils with more opportunities to be creative. Drama and creativity are strongly linked together because in drama, pupils work in creative way. A negative climate in turn reduces pupils' chances to learn and to be creative. Therefore, studying negative climate in drama lessons is of importance. In this study, I compared negative climate in drama lessons given by graduated classroom teachers' with those given by student teachers. I measured negative climate with The Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS). During the study I also evaluated how the CLASS-scoring system worked in measuring the negative climate of the drama lessons. Methods. My study was a qualitative case study and the method was video analysis. I analyzed eight drama lessons with another student, Pauliina Kivi. The lessons were videotaped during the autumn of 2013 and the spring of 2014. Kivi used the same videotapes as material for her study. The level of the pupils in the videos varied from pre-school to third-grade. Four of the teachers in the videos were graduated classroom teachers who all had some kind of qualification for teaching drama. Other four were student teachers who had studied drama education as their minor subject. The videos were analyzed by using the CLASS-scoring system. A negative climate score was given to every exercise of every lesson. Results and conclusions. The results showed that negative climate took place in the observed lessons but the scores were low. One exception aside, the lessons of the teacher students received higher scores in negative climate than the lessons of the graduated teachers. However, none of the scores reached even the middle of the CLASS scale of negative climate. Therefore, according to this study, drama lessons do not have a negative climate in general. CLASS-scoring system turned out to be suitable for observing the negative climate in drama lessons. CLASS-scoring system can also be applied to evaluate how teacher or students create negative climate.

Objectives. The academic relevance of this study is to increase knowledge of the factors that improve the quality of drama education. The study uses Instructional Learning Formats (hereinafter referred to as ILF) as the starting point. The first research question examines what kinds of ILF's were employed in the analysed drama lessons. The Second research question aims to find out if those ILF's are linked to group creativity during drama. The third and final research question scrutinizes the suitability of The Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS) observation instrument to analyse drama lessons. Methods. This study is a qualitative case study. The main focus of the research were the different ILF's employed in first to third grade drama lessons. The research material consisted of eight taped drama lessons held by specialized drama teachers. The material was analysed by using the CLASS observation instrument focusing on the use of ILF's during drama classes and does their use generate group creativity. The main factors that were examined were the influence of teacher's behaviour and the methods used by the teacher on student's staying interested and committed to teaching activities. Conclusions. The examined lessons received mid and high range scores (4-6, scale being 1-7). Central factors to engaging students and increasing group creativity were the teacher's personal involvement, presence, facilitating student's engagement, clarity of learning objectives and creating an understanding and open-minded atmosphere in class. The best drama methods to support group creativity are those that utilize work in small groups. Especially consensual planning in small groups improves the possibility for students to participate, present their own ideas and to strive to find creative solutions together to hypothetical problems presented during drama.

Objectives. The aim of this study is to find out in which ways the examinee drama lessons enhance students' thinking skills and what is the quality of the examinee lessons from the aspect of concept development. Furthermore, the aim is to study how the CLASS-system applies as an analyzing tool in concept development (or enhancing thinking skills) during drama lessons. On the grounds of previous studies thinking skills are defined to contain both creative thinking skills and critical thinking skills. In addition, the unification of creative thinking and critical thinking and the thinking that is generated due to the unification are described in this study. Testing and developing of The Classroom Assessment Scoring System™ (CLASS) in context of drama education is an important part of this study. Methods. This study is a qualitative case study which also contains some features of quantitative study. The subject of the present study was eight drama lessons given to pupils ranging from first to third graders. The research material was collected by videotaping two lessons from four classroom teachers all specialized in drama. The material was analyzed by using the CLASS observation tool's part "concept development". The research material was analyzed by two examiners in the intention of improving the reliability of the study. Results and conclusions. The study shows that drama lessons support the development of pupils' thinking skills as pupils were able to participate to activities that enhance thinking skills during the examinee lessons. Those activities were carried out in accordance of the CLASS observation tool's part concept development. The drama lessons received middle range grades (3–7 on a scale of 1–7) with the CLASS tool in concept development. When the lessons were evaluated with the observation tool that was modified specifically for evaluation of drama lessons, the lessons got even higher grades. These results show that it is possible to enhance pupils thinking skills and support the development of those skills during drama lessons. Some of the lessons got high grades from the dimension of analysis and reasoning and from the dimension of creating at the same time. This indicates that the usage of drama in teaching makes it possible to learn and enhance creative thinking and critical thinking simultaneously and that when using drama it is possible that creative thinking and critical thinking are joined together. In addition, the CLASS-tool turned out to be a convenient instrument for developing a suitable tool for analyzing the quality of drama education. As a result of the study a tool for analyzing the part of concept development during drama lessons was created.