The effect of gender and school factors on students' success, attitude, and choice of color in free style drawing in learning color theory in the visual arts lesson in 5th grade

This research aims to find out the effect of gender and school factors on students' success, attitude, and the choice of color in free style drawing in learning color theory in the Middle School visual art class. With this purpose a study was conducted on 5th grade students. This study includes fifth grade students in Batman 16 Mayis Middle School and Private Batman Doga Middle School in the city of Batman.This research is application oriented and carried out during the 2012-2013 academic year. A sample is drawn from a total of 100 students that includes 59 public school students and 41 private school students. All students participated in the research are given prior training on color theory. As part of the research each student is required to submit both a free style drawing and a color theory application. The data is collected through the color theory success test, color attitude scale survey, and semi-structured interview methods.To measure the effect of gender and school factors on student success in learning color theory the researcher has developed a 16 question three point likert scale color theory success test under the expert guidance. The statistical analysis of the data obtained by the color theory success test scale reveals the following results: •In learning color theory it is found that female students are more active and better learners than male students. •In learning color theory it is found that private school students are more active and better learners than public school students. To measure the effect of gender and school factors on attitude in learning color theory the researcher has developed an 11 item five point likert color attittude scale under the expert guidance. The statistical analysis of the data obtained by the color attitude scale reveals the following results. •When measuring students' attitude on color it is found that female students are more consistent and sensitive to color than male students. •When measuring students' attitude on color it is found that private school students are more consistent and sensitive to color than public school students. When measuring the effect of gender and school factors on color choice in free style drawing in learning color theory the researcher has developed a six question open ended semi- structured interview form under the expert guidance. The qualitative analysis of the data obtained by the semi- structured interview forms reveals the following results. •When measuring the color choice in free style drawing it is found that female students are more careful, selective of color, and successful in the completion of drawing interpretation than male students. •When measuring the color choice in free style drawing it is found that private school students are more careful, selective of color, and successful in the completion of drawing interpretation than public school students. Keywords: Art Education, Visual Arts Education, Color Theory