Cultural heritage studies with creative drama method in visual arts course

The purpose of this research is to examine the effects of cultural heritage applications on students using creative drama method in visual arts course. These effects are defined as the development of students' cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills with creative drama method, cultural heritage in their own regions, learning processes and effects reflected on artistic works. The research was conducted with phenomenology design, which is one of the qualitative research designs. The study group consisted of 16 students between the ages of 8-10 studying at Malatya Emine Aydıncak Orman Primary School. This group consists of the combination of 3rd and 4th grade branches. The research was conducted in sessions of 80-100 minutes each, for a total of 8 weeks. Initially, open-ended information forms were applied to determine the students' prior knowledge levels about cultural heritage. Following this process, the Arslantepe Mound, which is a cultural heritage element of the students' own region and was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2014, was explained using the creative drama method (supported by games, improvisation, role playing and materials). At the end of the process, information forms were administered to the students again and feedback on the creative drama process was received through semi-structured interviews. Additionally, all activities carried out in the lessons were recorded by the researcher. Research findings show the success of students in remembering information about the Arslantepe Mound and the positive effects of the creative drama method on the development of cooperation, self-expression skills and affective, physical and psychomotor behaviors. Thanks to artistic activities, students both gain technical skills and learn concrete information about cultural heritage by doing and experiencing. The research emphasizes the importance of transferring cultural heritage elements to students with an interdisciplinary approach and creative drama method. In this regard, it is recommended to disseminate interdisciplinary studies in similar fields. Keywords: Art Education, Creative Drama, Cultural Heritage