The Effects of Western Art Education Programs - Research Proposal Example

Quantitative and Qualitative Research on the Effects of Western Art Education Programs Adopted in Saudi Arabia Universities Name Institution Course Professor Due Date Part 1: Quantitative Research Problem statement: What is the problem? The leadership in the universities seems to be fully contented with the western style of teaching art at the university ignoring the drawbacks that this has on the overall educational outcomes. The adoption of the Western art education programs in developing such programs in Saudi Arabia has negative implications on the latter. In order to meet the objectives of providing quality art education to the Saudi students, it is necessary to update the art education programs so that it holds onto the cultural heritage and identity of the Saudi Arabians. Why is it a problem? For whom is it a problem? The current art education programs at the universities in Saudi Arabia ignore an important component that should be included in such programs; the history of art in the country. There is an increase in the number of students who are enrolling in the art and design programs at the universities in Saudi Arabia. Now, the current art education programs bring a problem to the students, teachers as well as the parents. The students miss an important component of art education; the native art and culture of the Saudi Arabians. This will lead to their loss of cultural identity. The teachers have a problem in their instruction as some of the content and practice of the western art education adopted conflict with the religious teachings. Similarly, the program is a problem to the parents who will have their children shortchanged to learn and adopt a different culture, which conflicts with their culture. Why is the problem significant? The institutions of higher learning should be concerned with quality education that contributes to all aspects of development in the society; social, economic, and political development. By addressing this problem, there will be improved policies in the universities that can allow for the update of the art education program in the country so that modern methodologies are just added onto the history of art development/evolution in the country. Hypotheses related to the problem Alternative Hypothesis, H1: The proportion of the art units that touch on the art and culture of Saudi Arabia has positive correlation with the proportion of the students who successfully complete their art education program at the universities. If Pearson’s coefficient of correlation is r, then we have: H1: r>0 Null hypothesis, H0: The proportion of the art units touching on the art and culture of Saudi Arabia has no positive correlation with the proportion of the art students who successfully complete their education at the universities, namely; H0: r≤0. The dependent variable here will be the proportion (percentage) of students who successfully complete their studies for a given academic year in the selected institutions. The independent variable in this case is the proportion of the units included in the art education program that touches on the art and culture of the Saudi Arabians. Alternative Hypothesis, H2: The academic performance of the art students is a function of the number of students enrolled in the program and the number of teachers in the program. If the regression analysis yields B1 and B2 are the coefficients associated with the two independent variables respectively, then we have: H2: B1, B2≠ 0 Null Hypothesis, H0: The academic performance of art students has no association with the number of students enrolled in the program and the size of academic staff. Thus, H0: B1, B2=0 The dependent variable in this case is the academic performance of the students considered as the mean score for all the final-year students in a given institution. The independent variables are the number of students enrolled in the program and the total number of tutors in the program in a given institution. Literature review plan Literature search (on this and other topic) becomes a challenging task owing to the large number of materials that are currently available. Research literatures across all sciences have recorded rapid growth in the past and are yet to continue expanding (Kline, 2008, p.19). Due to the large number, it is often difficult to find all the relevant literatures stored in a single physical library. As such, a mixture of sources from physical library stores to online academic journals to provide insight into this study area. It becomes appropriate to first establish about 50 articles that are related to the topic of discussion then narrow down to the most relevant sources that would have significant contribution to the topic under discussion (Creswell, 2009). This is the approach to be used. The researcher will make use of the popular academic databases: JUSTOR and Google scholar. Google Scholar is very appropriate in identifying articles that talk on effective education systems on a broader perspective. The researcher will make use of key words such as: The appropriate art education system in an Islamist nation The western education culture and Saudi culture JUSTOR will be more helpful in identifying articles that address specific issues such as the influence of foreign culture or public policy on quality of Saudi art education. The research will make use of the numerous peer reviewed online journals. Reference will be made to articles from EBSCO. In particular, the researcher will be interested in the materials that address the following areas: The education policy in Saudi Arabia The western art education programs Saudi Arabian culture Influence if Islam on education programs in the Saudi Methods of data collection Data collection process: The Rationale In order to evaluate the effects of updating the arts education program, measures have to be established that quantify the level of perceived overall quality of the education program. The main measures that will be used in these analyses are the inputs and outcomes of the program, which will be provided in different dimensions: number of units in the program that touch on Saudi art history and culture, student enrolment, proportion of the students who successfully complete the program, and general academic performance. Method The researcher has opted to conduct a survey on ten universities in the country with this art program. There will be a structured questionnaire to be administered to the academic registrars in each selected institutions. Much of the exercise will entail extraction of data from the records. Data will be obtained on the enrollment of a particular cohort of students. In particular, the research will focus on the 2012finalists, thus data will be obtained about the enrolment of this group in 2009. Similarly, the size of academic staff and the records of academic performance indicating the mean scores for the final students will also be obtained for these ten institutions. Data analysis The first hypothesis will be tested using correlation analysis between the proportion of units on Saudi art and the proportion of students who successfully complete the course. Pearson’s correlation coefficient will be calculated to determine the degree of association between these two variables. The use of t-distribution is appropriate in testing the significance of this correlation coefficient (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009, p.76; Bajpai, 2010, p.488). The test statistics to be used is defined as: t= r √ {(N-2)/ (1-r2)}. The t-statistic obtained follows t distribution with N-2 degrees of freedom (where N is the size of the sample). The researcher has opted to perform the test at significant level of 0.05 for a one-tailed test. The null hypothesis will be rejected when the calculated t is greater than tabulated t at 8 degrees of freedom (t0.05, 8). For the second analysis, the researcher will perform regression of the academic performance (provided by the mean sores) on the number of students enrolled in the program and the size of the academic staff. An ANOVA test for significance of regression is appropriate in determining if there is a linear relationship between one variable and multiple independent variables (Myers, Montgomery and Anderson-Cook, 2009, p.25). Again here, the researcher has chosen significance level of 0.05. An F statistic, F0 (defined as the ratio of mean of squares due to regression and mean of squares due to errors) is computed. The null hypothesis will be rejected if F0 is greater than F0.05 (2,7). What the analysis reveals regarding the stated hypotheses In the first hypothesis, determining the measure of Pearson’s coefficient of correlation will help identify whether or not some relationship occurs between the proportion of the units taught in universities that address the Saudi art and the proportion of students who successfully complete the program. The t-test reveals the significance of the established measure of correlation (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 2009). Similarly, the regression analysis will attempt to establish the functional (linear) relationship between academic performance, the student enrolment and the size of the teaching staff. The F-test will determine the significance of the relationship identified. How the findings inform understanding of the problem The problem addressed by the study is that an education program is adopted that shortchanges the students. The proportion of students who successfully complete the program (or the proportion of students who drop the course before completion) can be an effective measure of the quality of this program. The researcher wishes establish a claim that covering a more on the art and culture of the Saudi Arabian in the university programs will attract more students. Students will report the field to be more interesting and the tutors will find ease in handling these subjects. Subsequently, there will be reduced dropout rates for students taking this course. Similarly, the resulting student/teacher interests will be reflected on academic performance of the students. These are the intended findings for the second hypothesis. IRB classification The study involves human subjects as well as obtaining data from existing documents. The subjects of the study are students who will be interviewed on the perception of education quality. No identifiers are included in the data collection to associate a particular student to a response. Besides, the required document on performance is not private data, and needs to be availed to any researcher. As such, the study is exempted from IRB reviews. The validity and reliability concern Now, the use of student dropout rate as the sole measure of the quality of the program may not be very reliable. The enrollment rate may be an appropriate indicator of the students’ perception of the program. The number of the students enrolled in the program is a precise discrete measurement that contributes to internal validity of data. However, different factors, other than perception of education quality, could lead to students dropping their studies. There is strong sense of validity the data for the second hypothesis. The outcomes of a good education program may be accurately reflected in the academic performance of the students. Both the tutors and the students develop good attitude towards the field. Part 2: Qualitative Research Problem statement: What is the problem? The rather poor program for art education in Saudi universities can be attributed to the public policy that allowed for irrational adoption of the American university programs in Saudi Arabian universities. The leadership in the Saudi universities has adopted art education programs that focus more on the history and practice of art in the western countries with little regard to the history of art in the country. Why is it a problem? For whom is it a problem? Now, the adoption of American education program in the Saudi universities short-changes the students and will be a loss to the students, teachers and parents. The two countries have significant differences in terms of religion, religious history, systems of governance, cultural background and the Saudi market. The differences make the American education programs unfit for Saudi students. For instance, the practice of art in America and other western countries will involve images including human portrait. However, the creation of such images is forbidden in the Islamic teachings. The program then conflicts with the dominant religion in the country. The parents will have a feeling that the university has designed programs to poison the students’ religious perceptions. Similarly, teachers will have problems delivering instructions for such contents that conflict with the perceptions of the learners. Why is the problem significant? Education programs should not conflict with the (dominant) cultures in a given country. Since Saudi is an Islamic nation, the education programs need to be aligned with the teachings and practice of the religion. Besides, education program also needs to be aligned with the governance structures in a given country. Research questions The research seeks to provide an answer to the following questions: What are the factors that contributed the adoption of the western art education programs in art education in the Saudi Arabian universities What approaches can be used to improve the art education programs in Saudi in order to be more appealing to the students, tutors, and the parents? Literature review plan The literatures used to generate views that form grounds for this study are derived from a mixture of print and electronic versions of articles, books, and journals. Reforms in education have also become topical issues in the media. As such, references will also be made to other media reports that address the issues on education. The use of Google Scholar, JUSTOR and EBSCO enabled the researcher to identify the scholarly articles that re helpful in providing a basis for this study. Some of the topics to be searched in the literatures are: Effective educational reform strategies The weaknesses of art education program in Saudi Arabia The Saudi Arabian culture and education policy More emphasis will put on literatures that address educational reforms and the challenges faced by the teachers when trying to bring about such reforms. The use of Google Scholar, particularly, yielded one article by Mark Windschitl “Framing Constructivism in Practice as the Negotiation of Dilemmas: An analysis of the Conceptual, Pedagogical, Cultural and Political Challenges facing Teachers, that will be very useful in grounding theory related to the problem. Methods of data collection Data collection process: the rationale The data to be used in this problem will be obtained from open-ended interviews of academic professionals, policy makers and religious leaders. The selection of participants in qualitative research depends largely on what the researcher desires to know and who he feels can best provide this information (Erlandson et al, 1993, p.91). Fifteen academic staffs selected from five different universities (who are professionals in this field), five religious leaders, and two representatives from the department of education will be engaged in the study. The researcher will engage these professionals to share their views of the factors that contributed to disregard of the native culture in the design of art education programs. The participants are also to provide suggestions on the appropriate ways of improving the education program in order to provide quality and relevant education to our students. Methodology The qualitative approach to be applied for this study is grounded theory. Qualitative research entails making knowledge claims based on constructivist perspectives (Creswell, 2009). Qualitative research is used mainly when the “researcher wants to collect data to construct ideas, assumptions, or principles rather than deductively testing hypothesis as in positive research” (Merriam, 2009, p.15). It aims at developing theories or patterns based on observed sets of data. This implies that a theory of some pattern of behavior can be developed out of the socially and historically constructed individual experiences. The researcher wishes to establish a strong knowledge base on the factors influencing education policies and general curricula development at university level by conducting interviews to a number of professionals and other society stakeholders. Data analysis Analysis of qualitative data should begin immediately after the first interview or observation and the researcher has to proceed with analyses throughout the research period (Marshall and Rossman, 2006). This prevents piling sets of data that may jeopardize the analysis process. The grounded theory analytic approach will be employed in this analysis. The process of coding will be used to categorize the qualitative data obtained from the field interviews. The researcher will begin by open coding to try to establish the initial categories or themes that emerge with respect to the study topic. Towards the end of the study, the researcher will employ selective coding to focus on the core themes or theoretical concepts that emerge. How the analyses address research questions Grounded theory puts emphasis on deep insight into the data obtained so that meanings and relationships are developed (Patton, 2002, p.454). The research questions concern weaknesses to the current education program. The analysis will yield the wealth of arguments that the professionals have regarding challenges to the current education programs and ways of overcoming the challenges. Similarly, the categories of arguments so identified are useful in generating theoretical proposition or formal hypotheses for future quantitative studies in the same topic. How the findings inform understanding of the problem The current problem is to understand the factors that contribute to the adoption of Western education programs in Saudi Arabia, the impacts of such an adoption and the measures that can be taken to counter the associated challenges. The findings from the arguments will shed light into the factors that led to the adoption of the western art education programs in Saudi Arabia and the impacts of the programs on the overall quality of art education. The findings will also highlight the possible approaches to manage the situation such as review of education policies in the country. IRB classification The research involves human subjects; the professionals who will be engaged in the discussion of questions under study. However, the researcher is not interested in any private information from the participants. The researcher will also focus on the arguments provided rather than the source of the arguments. The interest is in the participants’ objective views on the subject matter. As such, the research is exempted from the IRB reviews. Validity and credibility By including over 20 professionals in the study, the credibility of data to be obtained is improved. Reality can be deduced from the multiple constructions noted from the participants. To avoid bias, the researcher will not be influential in the moderation process and will capture the participants’ similar and divergent views as provided. Nonetheless, the constructivist approach applied here is not without weaknesses. As Zevenbergen (1996) observes, constructivism is mainly concerned with the individual construction of meaning thus marginalizing many social and cultural groups that are not included in the study. In this approach, reality is considered as the construction of the researcher (Mir & Watson, 2001, p.1171). This then implies that the data so obtained may lack external validity- it may not reflect the general meaning developed by every individual in the society. References Bajpai, N. (2010). Business Statistics. New Delhi: Dorling Kindersley (India) Pvt. Ltd. Creswell, J.W. (2009). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Erlandson, B., Harris, E., Skipper, B., and Allen, S. (1993). Doing Naturalistic inquiry: A guide to methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications. Marshall, C and Rossman, G. (2006). Designing qualitative research. 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Kaplan, R & Saccuzzo, D. 2009, Psychological testing: principles, applications, and issues. Wadsworth: Cengage Learning Kline, R. (2008). Becoming a Behavioral Science Researcher: A Guide to Producing Research that matters. New York: The Guilford Press Myers, R H. Montgomery, DC. & Anderson-Cook, C M. (2009). Response Surface Methodology: Process and Product Optimization Using Designed Experiments. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons Merriam, S. (2009). Qualitative Research: A Guide to Design and Implementation. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons Mir, R & Watson, A. (2001). Critical Realism and Constructivism in Strategy Research: Toward A Synthesis, Strategic Management Journal, 22, 169-1173 Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Zevenbergen, R. 1996. Constructivism as a liberal bourgeois discourse. Educational studies in Mathematics, 31(1/2), 95-113. Read More