Learning environments and the role of feedback in sculpting lessons

Abstract

At universities and academies, teaching and learning occur in a range of environments as art students continue to develop their skills. The aims of the study were to determine how art students evaluate the role of their learning environments in achieving their learning goals, and what kind of feedback they consider important for their artistic development. Therefore, ten university students were interviewed. They were advanced art students who had successfully completed different courses in sculpting. The findings indicate that during studio learning the students addressed technical or formal problems related to their artworks, as well as how to implement their artistic intentions, with the help of feedback from lecturers and fellow students. All participants referred to experimentation and trying out different materials, forms or motifs as central to their artistic development and said that exhibiting their own artworks in public as part of university projects motivated them to continue.