A case study on examining activities based on creative drama in secondary visual arts education

The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of creative drama-based activities in the Visual Arts class of 11th-grade secondary school students on their perceptions of the course and the richness of imagery in their art projects. The research employs a case study design, which is a qualitative research method. The study group consists of 21 students from class 11/A at Ekrem Şevket ALAGUŞ Multidisciplinary Anatolian High School in Sur district of Diyarbakır province during the spring semester of the 2023–2024 academic year. Purposeful sampling was used to select the research group. Criteria for selecting the study group included students who had not previously participated in any creative drama activities in Visual Arts class, the suitability of the environment for creative drama activities, certification of the class teacher in creative drama, and support from school management for the process. Permission was obtained from all students' parents before their inclusion in the research. The study involves a six-week implementation period. Qualitative data collection tools such as student information form, researcher's journal, student diary, semi-structured pre-interview form, and semi-structured post-interview form were utilized in the research. Additionally, the visual arts projects created by the students during the activities contributed to the research data. Descriptive analysis and content analysis methods were employed in data analysis. According to the research findings, during the preliminary interviews, all students indicated that they primarily worked on two-dimensional artworks in various subjects in Visual Arts class. A majority of students expressed the necessity to enrich Visual Arts class with different activities and to support it with activities from different disciplines. Students stated that creative drama activities in Visual Arts class stimulated their imagination, made the class more enjoyable, increased their self-confidence, and helped them express different emotions and thoughts. It was observed that students actively participated in the Visual Arts class supported by creative drama activities. In this context, it was seen that creative drama-based activities in Visual Arts class led to a positive change in students' perceptions of the course. Furthermore, in Visual Arts classes not supported by creative drama activities during the implementation process, students were observed to use conventional images such as clouds, sun, house, tree, and river. In contrast, in Visual Arts classes supported by creative drama activities, a significant increase in image richness and diversity was observed in the artworks produced. As a result of the activities, students used expressions containing positive attitudes towards Visual Arts class such as "I enjoyed the class," "the activities excited me," and "I felt happy in class." Based on the semi-structured interview form, researcher's journal, and student diaries, it was observed that alongside some problems arising from the environment, there were also issues related to equipment and accessories shortages during the implementation. Based on the research findings, it is recommended that interdisciplinary teaching methods such as creative drama should be more frequently used in Visual Arts classes, courses related to creative drama should be included in higher education institutions that train Visual Arts teachers, a creative drama workshop should be established in every school where possible, and in-service training seminars on creative drama should be provided to teachers currently serving. Keywords: Visual arts, Creative drama, Case study, Visual arts studies.